Windows Installer Error

[KUKI1245]

So I just bought Cities Skylines off of steam and when it was done downloading I tried to launch it, only for it to say "This installation package could not be opened. Verify that the package exists and you have access to it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid windows installer package." PLEASE HELP I JUST WANT TO PLAY MY GAME!!

[_I_]

it does not make a difference if steam is installed on what drive

steam needs to be running as admin in order for it to install the redist correctly

even trusted or folder permissions make no difference, or could make it worse, if steam is not running as admin, it cant write to a folder without permissions

folder permissions have been around since window nt, or 3.51
and xp kinda boosted it since thats when it started using ntfs which has more security built into the os/kernl than 3.x and 9x

[KUKI1245]

Originally posted by PopinFRESH:

Originally posted by AmaiAmai:

0. If you have Windows 24 H2 there is a known issue with Steam and some games simply not running or installing properly. If you use Windows 12 or are part of the BETA you can get assistance on MSDN even if it is not linked to that issue stated.
...

They are running Windows 10 Home; which is why I asked them to run the CPUz validator to check that their hardware actually meets the games requirements and which OS they are running to see if there are any known issues with the game.

Originally posted by KUKI1245:

ive just searched everything for a couple minutes and still nothing with exe popped up.

I have both Cities Skylines and Cities Skylines 2 so I can install it when I get home and tell you what the specific executable filename is called (Will be about 8hr). Are you meaning the original Cities Skylines or Cities Skylines 2?

Do you know if your Windows user account is a limited user account or if it is an admin account?

You have two disks; a 500GB NVMe SSD and a 1TB SATA HDD. Do you know which disk you have Windows installed on and which disk you have Steam installed on? Also, do you have a Steam library folder on both disks?

Try to repair the Steam Library folder via the Steam Storage UI

1. Open the Steam client.
   
2. Click on Steam in the top left corner menu and then click on the Settings option in the context menu.
   
3. In the settings window, scroll down and click on the Storage tab.
   
4. You should see your two disks along the top of the right side of the Steam Library UI; one of them will have a Star next to it indicating your selected Default installation location. If you don't have a library on both disks try adding a library to the other disk to test installing to that disk if this doesn't work.
   
5. Select the disk where your default library is located
   
6. With the disk selected, click on the horizontal ellipsis (three dots) on the far-right side of the Steam Library UI.
   
7. Select the Repair folder option from the context menu and allow Steam to attempt to repair the Steam Library folder.
   
8. Uninstall the game through Steam
   
9. Go back to the Steam settings menu and scroll down to select the Downloads tab.
   
10. In the Downloads setting find the Clear Download Cache section and click the Clear Cache button on the right side.
    
11. Reinstall the game through Steam
    
12. Try to launch the game

I have Cities Skylines 1. Its downloaded on my SSD and my windows is installed on my hard drive. I just tried all the steps you sent and its still giving me the error unfortunately. Also Im pretty sure its an admin account but how would I verify that? My steam is also installed on my SSD and not on my hard drive.

[KUKI1245]

I just tried to run steam as admin with no success, and ive also found cities.exe in my files and tried to launch that as admin, with also, no success.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

I had this game (and other Unity Games) crash when I had Unity Engine installed - another issue I had with Cities: Skylines was that it seemed to like way more RAM then suggested so increasing Virtual memory seemed to help a bit, then another thing that helped me was lowering the GPU boost clock some, but ultimately, the solution was found in Event Viewer for all the crashes which pointed to an application conflict - recently, it was this new "Phone Link" app crap and the other application was the old Apple Bonjour so it could be a conflict such as those but look into the Event Viewer as it usually will tell you something.

Win11 update 24H2 is also a mess and is crashing games and such, but I suspect this is not the issue - Cities: Skylines can be a bit finicky - I remember it hated running on my M.2 but is fine on the HDD.

[KUKI1245]

Originally posted by WinterSolstice:

I had this game (and other Unity Games) crash when I had Unity Engine installed - another issue I had with Cities: Skylines was that it seemed to like way more RAM then suggested so increasing Virtual memory seemed to help a bit, then another thing that helped me was lowering the GPU boost clock some, but ultimately, the solution was found in Event Viewer for all the crashes which pointed to an application conflict - recently, it was this new "Phone Link" app crap and the other application was the old Apple Bonjour so it could be a conflict such as those but look into the Event Viewer as it usually will tell you something. :badluck:

What am I looking for when I open event viewer? I know almost nothing about computers so this process has been nothing short of hell for me.

[KUKI1245]

Originally posted by KUKI1245:

Originally posted by WinterSolstice:

I had this game (and other Unity Games) crash when I had Unity Engine installed - another issue I had with Cities: Skylines was that it seemed to like way more RAM then suggested so increasing Virtual memory seemed to help a bit, then another thing that helped me was lowering the GPU boost clock some, but ultimately, the solution was found in Event Viewer for all the crashes which pointed to an application conflict - recently, it was this new "Phone Link" app crap and the other application was the old Apple Bonjour so it could be a conflict such as those but look into the Event Viewer as it usually will tell you something. :badluck:

What am I looking for when I open event viewer? I know almost nothing about computers so this process has been nothing short of hell for me.

Someone also mentioned that windows defender and other related programs might be the problem, so how would I turn them off?

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

My question to you is if you have dowser.exe installed Steam\steamapps\common\Cities_Skylines because there was talk of this being missing that could cause issues.

For the Event Viewer method, all you do is run the game, make it crash, then look for anything weird appearing at the same time as said crash - if you run Unity Engine (or ever tried it in the past) there is also an issue pertaining the Engine and game conflicts which use the same engine (I saw it when experimenting with Unity Engine and I tell you never again, I'm sticking with Unreal Engine).

[KUKI1245]

Originally posted by WinterSolstice:

My question to you is if you have dowser.exe installed Steam\steamapps\common\Cities_Skylines because there was talk of this being missing that could cause issues. :csd2smile:

For the Event Viewer method, all you do is run the game, make it crash, then look for anything weird appearing at the same time as said crash. :chirp:

I cant install dowser.exe because the same error message pops up. As for running the game, I haven't been able to like at all lol. The error pops up every time I try and launch it.

CORRECTION. dowser.exe actually is installed, i just cant open it. The windows installer isn't installed for some reason, and of course Its not letting me install it because of the same error that i've been getting.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

I'm going to link this from Cities: Skylines forum (maybe it can help you):

https://steamcommunity.com/app/255710/discussions/0/596262211620446377/

Also, do you have a log located in Steam\steamapps\common\Cities_Skylines with a date similar to this → 2024-04-27_100418 > error.log because this is how I found that Bonjour issue as it is stated in the crash log files here in Module 3 but I tried the game and that Paradox Launcher IS acting up quite a bit and is not updating for two games I tried.

[KUKI1245]

Originally posted by WinterSolstice:

I'm going to link this from Cities: Skylines forum (maybe it can help you): :csd2smile:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/255710/discussions/0/596262211620446377/

Also, do you have a log located in Steam\steamapps\common\Cities_Skylines with a date similar to this → 2024-04-27_100418 > error.log because this is how I found that Bonjour issue as it is stated in the crash log files here in Module 3 but I tried the game and that Paradox Launcher IS acting up quite a bit and is not updating for two games I tried. :chirp:

Should I try what that video says and get back to you?

Sorry for the 4 hour gap.

[KUKI1245]

Originally posted by WinterSolstice:

I'm going to link this from Cities: Skylines forum (maybe it can help you): :csd2smile:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/255710/discussions/0/596262211620446377/

Also, do you have a log located in Steam\steamapps\common\Cities_Skylines with a date similar to this → 2024-04-27_100418 > error.log because this is how I found that Bonjour issue as it is stated in the crash log files here in Module 3 but I tried the game and that Paradox Launcher IS acting up quite a bit and is not updating for two games I tried. :chirp:

I’m doing the steps they posted and I’m getting hung up on step 13. There’s no launch box in the general tab so I’m confused as what to do next.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Originally posted by KUKI1245:

Originally posted by WinterSolstice:

I'm going to link this from Cities: Skylines forum (maybe it can help you):

https://steamcommunity.com/app/255710/discussions/0/596262211620446377/

Also, do you have a log located in Steam\steamapps\common\Cities_Skylines with a date similar to this → 2024-04-27_100418 > error.log because this is how I found that Bonjour issue as it is stated in the crash log files here in Module 3 but I tried the game and that Paradox Launcher IS acting up quite a bit and is not updating for two games I tried.

I’m doing the steps they posted and I’m getting hung up on step 13. There’s no launch box in the general tab so I’m confused as what to do next.

I think they mean, "Launch Options".

[KUKI1245]

Originally posted by WinterSolstice:

Originally posted by KUKI1245:

I’m doing the steps they posted and I’m getting hung up on step 13. There’s no launch box in the general tab so I’m confused as what to do next.

I think they mean, "Launch Options". :csdsmile:

where could I find that? im soooooo sorry omg !!

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Steam Library < Rt-Click the game < Properties < General Tab

[KUKI1245]

Originally posted by WinterSolstice:

Steam Library < Rt-Click the game < Properties < General Tab :csd2smile:

omg thank you so much!