QuickBooks Error 1310: Why the Installer Cannot Write to a File

Back up and write down the exact path from the error

Create a fresh backup of the company file, or copy the whole company-file folder if QuickBooks will not open. Then write down the full path shown in the 1310 dialog — for example C:\Program Files\Intuit\QuickBooks 20xx\BusinessObjectProvider.dll or C:\Config.Msi. That path tells you where to apply the fixes below.

Close every QuickBooks process and run the installer as administrator

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, switch to the Details tab, and end any instance of QBW32.exe, QBDBMgr.exe, QBDBMgrN.exe, QBCFMonitorService.exe, QBUpdate.exe, and msiexec.exe.

Right-click the downloaded installer (usually QuickBooks.exe) and select Run as administrator. If the file sits in a OneDrive, Dropbox, or mapped-network folder, move it to a local folder such as C:\Temp first — sync clients and network paths regularly interfere with setup.

Clear the read-only attribute on the file named in the error

Open File Explorer, browse to the path from the error, right-click the file, select Properties, and clear the Read-only checkbox. To do the same from a command line, open Command Prompt as administrator and run attrib -r "C:\Program Files\Intuit\QuickBooks 20xx\BusinessObjectProvider.dll", using your own path. A read-only flag set by a backup or file-copy tool can survive reboots and silently block every install attempt.

Clear the temp folder and verify TEMP and TMP

Press Windows + R, type %temp%, and press Enter. Select all the files and delete them, skipping anything Windows says is in use. Then confirm the variables point to a real folder: type echo %TEMP% and echo %TMP% in Command Prompt. Both should return a local path such as C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Local\Temp. If a path does not exist, recreate the folder or correct the variable under System Properties → Advanced → Environment Variables.

Run the QuickBooks Install Diagnostic Tool

Download the current QuickBooks Tool Hub from Intuit, install it, and open it. Select Installation Issues, then QuickBooks Install Diagnostic Tool, and let it run — it repairs the Microsoft .NET, MSXML, and C++ components that QuickBooks setup depends on, and can take up to 20 minutes. Restart Windows when it finishes, then try the install again. This is the best first fix because it repairs the installer environment without touching your company data.

Re-register and restart the Windows Installer service

Open Command Prompt as administrator. Type msiexec /unreg, press Enter, then type msiexec /regserver and press Enter to rebuild the installer registration QuickBooks setup relies on.

Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. Find Windows Installer, confirm its Startup type is Manual, and select Start if stopped or Restart if running. Retry the QuickBooks install afterward. If later errors continue, the same Tool Hub is where you return for error 1603.

Take ownership and grant permissions at the exact path

If step 3 did not resolve the write failure, take ownership of the folder named in the error. Open Command Prompt as administrator and run these commands, replacing the example path with the folder from your own message — Intuit uses C:\Config.Msi in its documentation, and the same pattern works for the QuickBooks program folder:

takeown /f "C:\Config.Msi" /r /d y
icacls "C:\Config.Msi" /T /C /grant administrators:F

The first command makes Administrators the owner; the second grants full control and continues past files it cannot read. As a GUI alternative, right-click the folder, open Properties → Security → Advanced, change the owner to Administrators, and grant Full control. Apply the same rights to the QuickBooks program folder if the error names a file inside it, then retry.

Lower User Account Control temporarily and retry

Open Control Panel → User Accounts → Change User Account Control settings. Note the current slider position, move it down one or two notches, and select OK. Restart if Windows asks, run the installer as administrator, then return the slider to its original height.

Rule out antivirus and disk problems, then retry

Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings and switch Real-time protection off only for the length of the install, then turn it back on. If Ransomware protection is active, open Manage ransomware protection and switch Controlled folder access off briefly — it blocks installers from writing to protected folders. Add the QuickBooks program folder as an exclusion afterward. On a managed PC, ask IT instead of disabling corporate antivirus.

Finally, check the drive: open File Explorer → This PC, right-click the drive that holds the QuickBooks folder, and run Properties → Tools → Error checking. From an administrator Command Prompt you can instead run chkdsk C: /f; if Windows cannot lock the drive, accept the option to run it at the next restart.