Error - SysCore install failed: 255

Technical Articles ID: KB72550
Last Modified: 7/2/2020

Environment

McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) 8.8

Problem

You see the following error in the VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) 8.8 installation log:

>> Installing SysCore: "C:\Program Files\McAfee\VirusScan Enterprise\VSCore\mfehidin.exe" -i -q -l "C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\McAfeeLogs\vse8.8.0.core_install_071811_220129.log" -x vse.xml OAS EmailScan ScriptScan
!> Error - SysCore install failed: 255
NOTES:

The VSE installation log is in C:\WINDOWS\Temp\McAfeeLogs\VSEInst_MMDDYY_HHMMSS.log, where MMDDYY and HHMMSS represent the installation start date and start time.
No log is created for the SystemCore installer.

Cause

A known cause for this symptom is that the following value is missing or its data is blank/corrupted.

x86 nodes:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion, CommonFilesDir

x64 nodes:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion, CommonFilesDir
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion, CommonFilesDir

The SystemCore installer uses a Microsoft Application Programming Interface (API) that returns the shell folder for Common Files. This API queries the registry key and value. If the data is missing or blank, the SystemCore part of the VSE installation fails.

Solution 1

Create or populate the CommonFilesDir value in the registry.

CAUTION: This article contains information about opening or modifying the registry.

The following information is intended for System Administrators. Registry modifications are irreversible and could cause system failure if done incorrectly.
Before proceeding, Technical Support strongly recommends that you back up your registry and understand the restore process. For more information, see the Microsoft Windows registry information for advanced users article.
Do not run a REG file that is not confirmed to be a genuine registry import file.

Click Start, Run, type regedit and click OK.
For the following locations, select the following keys in the registry:

x86 nodes:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

x64 nodes:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
In the right pane, double-click the string value CommonFilesDir.

If this value is missing, click Edit, New, String Value, and name the value CommonFilesDir.
Type the following path in the Value data field, then click OK:

x86 nodes:
C:\Program Files\Common Files

x64 nodes:
C:\Program Files\Common Files
The data for the value is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion)

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files
The data for the value is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion)

NOTE: This location is the default. You might have to specify a different path to match this folder location on your computer.
Close the registry editor.

You might have to remove the original installation to successfully retry the installation. You can bypass this requirement by specifying the FORCEINSTALL=True switch at the command line.

Solution 2

If your issue remains unresolved, use the troubleshooting article KB77681 to resolve other known 'SysCore install failed: 255' issues.

Affected Products

Install/Uninstall
Known Issue/Product Defect
VirusScan Enterprise 8.8 (EOL)

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Error - SysCore install failed: 255

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Error - SysCore install failed: 255

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