Written by Ian Britten and Tibby Fielding

Are you having issues when installing and uninstalling programs on your Windows computer?

Sometimes, but not always, you may receive error messages that contain the code 2502 or 2503. A Windows computer has a built-in Windows account called Trusted Installer which assists in installing, modifying and removing updates and other Windows components. Over time your computer can become corrupted which causes the Trusted Installer to lose some of its access to the Temp Folder which holds temporary files used during installation. This can cause programs to stop installing or uninstalling all together.

To fix these issues, follow the steps below:

Step 1:

In the search bar type ‘cmd.’

Next, from the menu, right click ‘Command Prompt App’ and select ‘Run as administrator.’ 

Click ‘yes’ to the pop up.

Step 2:

Copy and paste the following commands in the command prompt box and press the ‘Enter’ key:

TAKEOWN /F C:\Windows\Temp /R

Icacls C:\Windows\Temp /Q /T /C /RESET

Step 3:

Open ‘File Explorer.’

Navigate to C:\Windows\Temp.

Right click the ‘Temp folder.’  and select ‘Properties.’

Step 4:

From the ‘Properties’ menu, select the ‘Security’ tab.

At the bottom of the Security Tab, select “Advanced.’

Step 5: 

At the top of the window, next to ‘Owner:’, select Change.

Step 6:

In the Advanced Security Settings Window, press the button named ‘Locations…’.

Step 7:

In the Locations window, select your device name under ‘Location:’.

Select’ OK’

Step 8:

In the textbox, ‘Enter the object name to select’ type: NT Service\TrustedInstaller

Next, select ‘Check Names’.

Step 9:

Once TrustedInstaller displays (with underline), select ‘OK’.

Step 10:

At the bottom of the Advanced Security window, click ‘Apply’ to set TrustedInstaller as owner.

 When you are finished giving Trusted Installer the access it needs, you should not have further issues installing or removing programs.