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I try to upgrade Netwrix 10.8 to 10.9.16386
I execute the MSI as Admin and get within the installer after a short while the error:
Could not access network location NotSet
Just Retry or cancel. No Update done. Any Help?
Usual Questions:
Rebooted: Yes
Temp cleaned: yes
Os Version : Server 2025 std - english
Hello Julian,
Welcome to the Netwrix Community! Happy to help you work through this.
The error you’re seeing — “Could not access network location NotSet” — is actually Windows Installer Error 1606, and it’s caused by a shell folder registry entry on the server being empty or pointing to an invalid path. The “NotSet” in the message is Windows Installer’s way of saying it tried to resolve a folder location (like Documents, AppData, or Favorites) and came back with nothing. This happens outside of Netwrix Auditor as well, and it’s a Windows-side fix rather than an installer or download issue.
To track it down, check these registry keys under the account you’re running the installer as:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
Look for any values that are blank or point to a network path that no longer exists (Personal and Favorites are the usual suspects). Fixing those should let the installer complete.
If you’d like to confirm exactly which folder is failing before touching anything, you can generate a verbose MSI log with:
msiexec /i "C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\#\NetwrixTempFiles\netwrix_auditor_setup.msi" /L*V "C:\Temp\NetwrixInstall.log"
Note that the path may vary slightly. You’ll need to update the “USERNAME” and there may be a folder in Temp that has a number on it. For example, mine is located at: C:\Users\Michael\AppData\Local\Temp\2\NetwrixTempFiles\netwrix_auditor_setup.msi
Search the log for “NotSet” and it will point directly to the property that couldn’t resolve.
If you have an active support contract and want a set of eyes on it directly, we can open a ticket and I can get one of the team engaged with you on it. Let me know how it goes.
Michael Purdin
Manager, Technical Support Engineering
Found it: A global variable couldn’t be resolved. I copied it from another Netwrix installation, and adjusted it. After that, the update was possible.
Thanks.