QuickBooks 2018 - Fatal Error during installation. .Net Framework 4.5.2 - 4.6 or 4.7 installation or update failure.

QuickBooks installation may fail due to missing dependency, Microsoft .Net Framework for example may fail to install in the background. If you dig deeper you may discover that some of Microsoft .Net Framework versions 4.5.2 and higher updates, and some developer tools updates may also left a trail of failed updates under Windows Updates.

There are multiple suggestions on how to resolve this issue with a few relevant threads listed below (These suggestions should work for Windows 7 and newer operating systems):

 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-update/unable-to-install-kb2934520-microsoft-net/612c22cf-aa10-4ccf-814f-3593430bdb5d

 https://www.sysnative.com/forums/windows-update/17659-story-goes-net-framework-4-6-installation-issue.html#post137014

 https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vsnetsetup/2014/10/27/error-997-overlapped-io-operation-is-in-progress-kb2918614-breaks-windows-installer-service/

Even tough my Windows Installer and Updater were not damaged and official Microsoft .Net Framework cleanup and fix-it tools did not work, last thread managed to point me in the right direction. Apparently there is a problematic security update Microsoft released a few years ago which may mess with a few critical MSI packages: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2918614/ms14-049-description-of-the-security-update-for-windows-installer-serv


Below is what resolved my .Net Framework installation error:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the open box, and then click OK.

Locate and then click the following subkey in the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value. Type SecureRepairPolicy for the name of the DWORD, and then press Enter.

Right-click SecureRepairPolicy, and then click Modify. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

Locate and then click the following subkey in the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key. Type SecureRepairWhitelist for the name of the key, and then press Enter.

Everything below might be optional and you can save your registry settings and reboot your computer right here. Try this and leave a comment if this works or not.

Double-click the SecureRepairWhitelist key to open it. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click String Value. Create String Values that contain the product codes (including braces {}) of the products that have to be added to the Safe Recipients list.

I've managed to find my .Net Framework 4.6 product code in the installation log file but I've also managed to install .Net Framework 4.7 and developer tools update without entering their respective product codes into registry. Microsoft article provides further instructions on finding product codes through their SDK Orca tool, but we probably want to keep this fix as simple as possible.