Install Issue - Failed to start previous app. Error: The system cannot find the path specified

gianu

So I have fresh Windows 11 install that is joined in the corporate network (Active Directory). I am an admin on the VM but when I install 1Password 8, I get this message: "1Password was unable to complete installation and will roll back changes". But when I installed 1Password 7 (7.9.828), it worked.

I have the following on the logs

INFO [op_windows_starter::installer] op-windows-starter\src\installer.rs:587: Setup logs path set to : C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\logs\setup
INFO [op_log::private] foundation\op-log\src\private.rs:70: system locale detected as 'en-US'
INFO [op_log::private] foundation\op-log\src\private.rs:70: selected translations for EN_US based on detected locale en-US
INFO [op_windows_starter::installer] op-windows-starter\src\installer.rs:501: Starting fresh install to 80700049
INFO [op_windows_starter::installer] op-windows-starter\src\installer.rs:273: Copying files to C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\update
INFO [op_windows_starter::transaction] op-windows-starter\src\transaction.rs:70: copying files to: C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\update\8
INFO [op_windows_starter::installer] op-windows-starter\src\installer.rs:277: Renaming C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\app to C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\previous
INFO [op_windows_starter::transaction] op-windows-starter\src\transaction.rs:128: renaming C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\app to C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\previous
INFO [op_windows_starter::transaction] op-windows-starter\src\transaction.rs:170: renaming C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\app to C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\previous
INFO [op_windows_starter::installer] op-windows-starter\src\installer.rs:285: Renaming C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\update to C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\app
INFO [op_windows_starter::transaction] op-windows-starter\src\transaction.rs:170: renaming C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\update to C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\app
ERROR [op_windows_starter::transaction] op-windows-starter\src\transaction.rs:54: failed to rollback rename of C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\app to C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\previous. Error: The system cannot find the file specified. (os error 2)
ERROR [op_windows_starter::installer] op-windows-starter\src\installer.rs:160: failed to move app files. Error: Io(PermissionDenied)
INFO [op_windows_starter::installer] op-windows-starter\src\installer.rs:359: starting C:\Users\gianu\AppData\Local\1Password\app\8\1Password.exe
ERROR [op_windows_starter::installer] op-windows-starter\src\installer.rs:187: Failed to start previous app. Error: The system cannot find the path specified. (os error 3)

PeterG_1P

Hello @gianu, thank you for contacting us with this issue. Typically the permission denied message is the most informative one here.

My first suggestion would be to try rebooting that Windows VM in Safe Mode with Networking, and see if you're able to install under those conditions.

Let me know how it goes! And if that doesn't work, please send us a brief email at support+windows@1Password.com, and our Windows team (myself included) will be happy to provide customized support. 😃

jkane001

I ran into the same issue (see https://1password.community/discussion/128101/beta-installation-failure-windows#latest), and was able to get it installed w/ Safe Mode, but updates all fail from there out. My company security team cannot find any reason on their end that it wouldn't work - to quote one of the guys: "AppData by design is supposed to be a place for apps to read/write in a user context - so we'd never impose security controls to lock that down - it would probably break a tooooon of other apps as well (Google Chrome would probably just break completely, for example)"

Since I can't easily boot into Safe Mode every time there's an update (thanks to BitLocker), I've opted to just roll with the Chrome Plug-In instead. But this showing up again, makes me wonder if there's some other issue with the installer?

PeterG_1P

Hello @jkane001, thank you for informing us of this - and I'm sorry to hear of the trouble involved. I'll be happy to speak to my understanding of the issue, as well as follow up with you (and/or your security team) to make sure you can get back to full functionality with 1Password.

Let's take this one step at a time:

I ran into the same issue [...] and was able to get it installed w/ Safe Mode, but updates all fail from there out.

This is fairly common in situations where someone is encountering the permission denied message and then the Safe Mode test works. The reason for that is that Safe Mode is a temporary intervention - and of course not one we would want or expect folks to use every time they want to run 1Password.

So if someone is trying to install the app, and a security product or other element in the OS environment is blocking it, Safe Mode takes that variable off the table. It's a great way to test a hypothetical: can 1Password install into its typical location, on a system with relatively little going on, absent any interference from other apps?

If the test works, that gives us a good idea of the general kinds of things we need to look into. Sometimes that is a security product locking down a directory, but there are other ways these apps can interfere with 1Password too. It doesn't always have to be restrictions or security controls on the localappdata or appdata directory itself.

We'd love to help get you to a resolution on this issue, since it typically is possible for most people (even in business environments with lots of active security software) to run 1Password for Windows. My first suggestion would be to ask your security team to add 1Password's directory ( %localappdata%\1Password) to the allow list of any security software that applies to your device. After that's done and the device is rebooted, the problem is typically fixed for the majority of folks who come to us with this issue.

And if you'd like personalized help, feel free to follow up with us further at support+windows@1Password.com. We'll be happy to help out.

jkane001

As it turns out, I had to get a new laptop for work, and 1Password installs just fine on it. That's good, but doesn't help understand the problem I had on my old laptop. I'll chalk it up to a glitch in the (Windows) Matrix.

PeterG_1P

Hi @jkane001, congrats on the new hardware, and it's great to know that the issue has resolved for you too! 😃