Err Msg: Unable to Determine or Construct a Path for the Program Files Folder

When you are installing Internet Explorer, you may receive the following error message: In Internet Explorer 4.0 or 4.01, components may not be installed, and you may see a red X next to the affected components in the component list.

This error message can occur for any of the following reasons:

• The Program Files folder has been renamed. Internet Explorer Setup checks the
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ ProgramFilesDir
  registry key for the correct name of the Program Files folder.
• When Windows 95 was installed there was already a folder named Program or Programs. This caused the Program Files folder to have a short file name other than Progra~1.
• Long file names have been damaged.
• In Windows 95, the value NameNumericTail has been added to the
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
  registry key with a value of 0.
• In Windows NT 4.0, the value NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation has been added to the
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
  registry key with a value of 1.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

To resolve this issue, use the appropriate method:

• Check the following registry key:
  Hkey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ ProgramFilesDir
  By default, this key contains a path similar to C:\Program Files. Make sure this folder exists.
  
  NOTE: You can change this key to match the folder you are actually using in the root folder for the Program Files folder.
• Rename the Program folder to something else and then reinstall Windows 95 to fix the registry information.
• Reinstall Windows 95 to restore the long file names.
• Delete the "NameNumericTale=0" value from the following Windows 95 registry key:
  Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
  Then, using Windows Explorer or My Computer, rename the Program Files folder to Programs.fld. Then, rename the Programs.fld folder to Program Files. Renaming the folder forces a new short name for the folder to be generated.
• Change the value of the NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation key to 0 (zero) in the following Windows NT registry key:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
  Then, using Windows Explorer or My Computer, rename the Program Files folder to Programs.fld. Then, rename the Programs.fld folder to Program Files. Renaming the folder forces a new short name for the folder to be generated.

For more information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Various tools and components installed in the Program Files folder may use short file names internally or during installation. If the short name for the Program Files folder is different from the short name expected by a tool or component, the problems described in this article may occur. This problem can affect any program installed in the Program Files folder.