Digital Light & Color

My notebook comuter had a version of PWP 8 that was about 8 months old. When I try to install the latest version, I get the message "Error writing to file: C:\Program Files\Digital Light _ Color\Picture Window Pro 8\Profiles\Dot Gain 20%.icm. Verify that you have access to that directory.
I am logged into the computer as administrator.

You might try manually deleting the folder C:\Program Files\Digital Light & Color\Picture Window Pro 8\Profiles -- possibly one of the files is erroneously marked as being in use.

When the installation fails, an Installer Information window opens with Retry and Cancel buttons. At this point the directories \Digital Light & Color\Picture Window Pro 8\Profiles exist and the Profiles directory is empty. If I click on Retry, the window reappears. If I click on Cancel, the \Digital Light & Color\Picture Window Pro 8\Profiles directories disappear. Trying installation again yields the exact same behavior.

Oh, I just realized that on trying to install I do not see the common message window saying that the installation wants to make changes to my system, and do I want to let it do so.
Also another potential factor; it is likely that the previous successful installation took place while McAffee antivirus was in effect. It has since expired and I'm now protected just by the windows security features all of which are on except for Core Isolation.

A few things to try:

1) Manually uninstall any previous versions of PWP from the Windows Control Panel
2) If it asks, set the installation for all users. If that doesn't work try for just current user
3) Make sure when you are looking at the program folder to make sure it is empty to enable display of hidden files
4) Try rebooting the machine before installing
5) Make sure the downloaded installer file is intact by downloading a fresh copy

Alas, none of your five suggestions changed things. Additionally, I had the installer try installing to a directory outside the Program files directory, and this failed in the same way. Should I try turning off the Windows security system and the notebook's Wi-Fi (for safety) and then try running the installer?

It does sound like something like an antivirus program is blocking the installation. You might also want to check that McAfee was actually uninstalled. You might also want to check out this:

https://www.mcafee.com/support/?article ... ticle-view

Removing McAfee didn't help, nor did installling the latest update to windows 11.
I think in the past that I've seen somewhere, that PWP can be installed on a usb drive. Is that still possible, and could I install it on the drive using my desktop computer, and then plug the drive into my notebook and expect it to run OK?

No need to respond to my previous question. I found it under Help in PWP. I was expecting to find it on the web.

You can do a portable install to a folder on your hard drive -- it doesn't need to be a flash drive unless you want to move it between computers. This is what I was going to suggest next.