Powerchute Personal edition fails to install on Windows 8.1 machine

[Anonymous user]

I recently acquired two XS-1500 UPS units.

I downloaded PCPEInstaller.exe PCPEInstaller.exe for windows 8 from the APC website.  It is 15,550 KB in size.

When I double click on the file there is a brief "wait" symbol on the screen and then nothing.

I've read the FAQ and did look into Microsoft's .NET 2 - but I understand that is integrated into Windows 8.  I did ensure that the ".NET Framework 3.5 (includes 2.0 and 3.0) was fully enabled in the "turn windows features on" section of the control panel.

I was able to download and run the install for the business edition.  I really want the personal edition although worst case scenario maybe I should learn how to run the business system.  I do have another computer that will have the other XS-1500 installed later and a laptop and some other items running other APC UPS units.  I was disappointed that after installing this business edition and uninstalling it I had lost the battery settings in Windows Power Management.  Used to show how long to run on battery but now those options have disappeared.  The business edition installation changed my Windows Power Management options - can I restore those somehow?  I did run CC-Cleaner a utility that did reset all the registry changes made by the business edition (there were a lot) but that did not restore my battery option in my "Power Plan" section - still no battery features.  This is a desktop so maybe those battery options were not relevant anyway - I thought maybe they would control how long the unit ran on the UPS battery but I don't know if that is the case anyway. 

I dug out an old APC CD that I had from a previous purchase years ago (2005 edition) I was surprised when it installed and runs fine on my Windows 8.1 machine.  Currently I'm using Powerchute version 1.5.  Seems to work fine - except that the "self test" fails - it turns off the system.  Could be that the batteries are bad - I've ordered a new set.  They are older and while the LCD and the Powerchute report that they are 100% - they both say that there is 3 minutes of run time on battery.  Shutting the power to the UPS results in the system immediately going down.  Hope new batteries solve this problem.

I did see the suggestion to go to the "Documents and Settings" directory and look for the PCPE_Setup.exe file.  But Windows 8 does not have a "document and settings" directory and searching for the exe in question returned no results.  The install file didn't get that far. 

I did try re-downloading the file - a couple of times.  File downloaded was identical in name and size.  No difference. 

Rebooted - no effect.

Logged in as the "administrator" - no change.  My usual user is also an administrator level but thought that having a new user might make a difference - it didn't.

Tried Windows "run as administrator" - no effect

Tried running as Windows 7 setting - no effect

What else can I do to get Powerchute personal to load?

[Anonymous user]

I recently acquired two XS-1500 UPS units.

I downloaded PCPEInstaller.exe PCPEInstaller.exe for windows 8 from the APC website.  It is 15,550 KB in size.

When I double click on the file there is a brief "wait" symbol on the screen and then nothing.

I've read the FAQ and did look into Microsoft's .NET 2 - but I understand that is integrated into Windows 8.  I did ensure that the ".NET Framework 3.5 (includes 2.0 and 3.0) was fully enabled in the "turn windows features on" section of the control panel.

I was able to download and run the install for the business edition.  I really want the personal edition although worst case scenario maybe I should learn how to run the business system.  I do have another computer that will have the other XS-1500 installed later and a laptop and some other items running other APC UPS units.  I was disappointed that after installing this business edition and uninstalling it I had lost the battery settings in Windows Power Management.  Used to show how long to run on battery but now those options have disappeared.  The business edition installation changed my Windows Power Management options - can I restore those somehow?  I did run CC-Cleaner a utility that did reset all the registry changes made by the business edition (there were a lot) but that did not restore my battery option in my "Power Plan" section - still no battery features.  This is a desktop so maybe those battery options were not relevant anyway - I thought maybe they would control how long the unit ran on the UPS battery but I don't know if that is the case anyway. 

I dug out an old APC CD that I had from a previous purchase years ago (2005 edition) I was surprised when it installed and runs fine on my Windows 8.1 machine.  Currently I'm using Powerchute version 1.5.  Seems to work fine - except that the "self test" fails - it turns off the system.  Could be that the batteries are bad - I've ordered a new set.  They are older and while the LCD and the Powerchute report that they are 100% - they both say that there is 3 minutes of run time on battery.  Shutting the power to the UPS results in the system immediately going down.  Hope new batteries solve this problem.

I did see the suggestion to go to the "Documents and Settings" directory and look for the PCPE_Setup.exe file.  But Windows 8 does not have a "document and settings" directory and searching for the exe in question returned no results.  The install file didn't get that far. 

I did try re-downloading the file - a couple of times.  File downloaded was identical in name and size.  No difference. 

Rebooted - no effect.

Logged in as the "administrator" - no change.  My usual user is also an administrator level but thought that having a new user might make a difference - it didn't.

Tried Windows "run as administrator" - no effect

Tried running as Windows 7 setting - no effect

What else can I do to get Powerchute personal to load?

[BillP]

Hi,

Hmm, let's see if we can get any information by running the .exe in a verbose mode. Here are some instructions.

1. Trigger the 3.0.2 installation process by executing (double clicking) PCPEInstaller.exe (or whatever the file name is that you will try first that you had downloaded, if not the APC one)

2. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\ or Search for PCPE_3.0.1.msi to find where it was installed to. (not a typo. The MSI was not renamed from the 3.0.1 installer) - As you noted, there is no Documents and Settings anymore so check C:\Users\ perhaps? It should hopefully be somewhere but if it is not, I guess this won't work..

3. Copy the PCPE_3.0.1.msi file to the desktop.

4. Open a Windows command prompt as Administrator

5. Change directory to desktop

6. Run the command   

msiexec /i PCPE_3.0.1.msi /l*vx install.txt  (letter L then *vx) 

7. The installer UI will be launched again.

8. Run the normal installation steps.

9. Attach the log file "install.txt" for analysis that is created to this post as an attachment. (When you reply, select Use Advanced Editor on the top of the reply box.)

As far as Windows Native Power Options go and restoring them.. -> What to do if the system is missing native shutdown battery options / How to restore HID UPS device ...

Also, Back-UPS products won't work with PowerChute Business Edition so the options will be Windows Native UPS support or PowerChute Personal Edition.

Let me know if you have any questions or the steps don't work.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Thanks Bill P.  that worked like a charm. 

Wonder why PCPEInstaller.exe would not run on my machine?

Anyway it is now up and running and APC is already offering to "upgrade" my system.