‘Unable to execute the desired program’ message when attempting to launch Elder Scrolls Online

the-elder-scrolls-online

When trying to install the Elder Scrolls Online I get the following error:

Unable to execute the desired program.

Please get another copy of the installer and try again.

Best Answer

Quick Answer: Install the game from another Windows user; if all the users have different My Documents ("User Files") folder locations instead of the default Windows location create a new temporary user to install the game.


Detailed Answer: As it turns out the installer does NOT like it if you've changed the registry to move the My Documents folder (in Windows 7 Microsoft decided to call it "User Files"). In example since unlike Windows XP where you can simply right-click on the My Documents folder to change it's location you have to go through the registry and manually update the paths and disk id. My installation is to D:\My Documents on a RAID 1 SSD setup so if I have to wipe the C:\ for some reason I don't have to worry about moving my files.

I switched to a placeholder account (as Windows user accounts can get corrupted) and was able to initialize the installer. Once it starts verifying (I simply copied an install from my laptop) I switched over and the launcher worked just fine for the user with the My Documents loaded via D:\My Documents.