Error 1706 "No Valid Source Could Be Found"
September 27, 2008 by Jason Bean
Filed under Computers
One of the errors I regularly came across during my recent computer issues was an error that occurred when I tried to reinstall programs from scratch.
Basically what happens is that when you try and install he product, the installer can’t find the installation files it needs to finish the installation.
No problem right?
You receive the error message and then just hit the browse button to tell Windows exactly where the installation files reside and you’re on your way. You think it’s even more perfect because the browse mechanism displays exactly what it says you’re missing.
There’s the problem though.
The browse function doesn’t really work for some reason. The problem lies deep within the registry. Here’s Microsoft’s statement of the cause:
The MEDIAPACKAGEPATH property wasn’t properly set. MEDIAPACKAGEPATH is a public property that enables you to define where on the removable media the MSI file is located. This can happen if the media that is currently being used and the media that was originally used to install the program have the MSI file at different relative paths.
For example, this error can occur if the original media had the MSI file in a folder called App1, and the current media has the MSI at the root of the media. This error will not occur if the same media is used for the original installation and the current install operation.
Here’s the further problem I ran into though when I tried to follow their solution for fixing the problem.
The guidance they provide for trying to fix the MEDIAPACKAGEPATH you need to look for registry keys that look something like the following:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Installer\Products\<Compressed ProductCode>\SourceList\Media
Did you notice the "<CompressedProductCode>" part? How do I find out which product is the one I’m looking at with the error easily? I’ve got hundreds of products installed, at the time, most of which were having problems and errors.
