Why am I getting the error "Can't create output file setup" when running the MathWorks Product Installer?

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When I run the MathWorks Product Installer, I get following error and it fails to launch:
Can't create output file setup
It may show an error about another file other than setup:
Can't create file activate.ini

Accepted Answer

MathWorks Support Team
MathWorks Support Team on 27 Mar 2025
Edited: MathWorks Support Team on 27 Mar 2025
This error usually occurs when running the MathWorks Product Installer from the downloads folder. Depending on your system configuration, the MathWorks Product Installer may not be able to write to this folder, this is usually due to permissions restrictions on the downloads folder.
As a workaround, move the file to your desktop and then run it. This will create a _temp_matlab_R20XXy folder on your desktop. The installer is contained within this folder and may be able to launch it from there.
This error can also occur when running the MathWorks Product Installer from a burned DVD. To work around the issue, create a folder on your desktop (or another temporary location on your computer and copy the entire contents of the DVD or downloaded files to that folder, and start the installer from the new folder.

More Answers (1)

Paul
Paul on 16 Nov 2016
Just extract it manually.
To do: right click, extract to matlab_R201xx with winrar or zip. You will get a notification that autorun.inf can't be extracted, but you don't need it because you will run it manually. Go to the extracted files and do double click in setup.exe :)

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