Skype is a program which is used by so many users throughout the world to stay in touch with their family, friends, loved ones even with colleagues. It is a program which runs through an internet connection.
Skype auto updates, which means it automatically downloads the latest version and send a message to user to accept and install. However recently Skype has been causing an Error whilst downloading, once the user selects to install the latest version it would give an error message “installing Skype failed Error code 1638”.
Many users will try to uninstall the program and download the version again; however the error message will still appear. To check if Skype program is installed in the Control Panel, go to Control Panel > Programs and search for Skype, you will notice that Skype is not installed as a program in the system.
Why this Error message occurs? We don’t normally have a correct answer, however usually it is when a program is being uninstalled or upgraded and the installation or uninstallation has been interrupted and does not get fully completed. It results in corrupted files and registry entries which affect the functioning of the program.
There are two solutions explained here. Either can be followed to avoid the “error message 1638” to appear:
Uninstalling Skype by using Command line you can manually uninstall Skype by the following steps:
- Open up Command Prompt with administrative privileges
- Then go to “C:\Programs\Skype” and run dir command to list the contents of Skype folder.
- Select and open the first folder with the name similar to “7F051EAD89204D1008D517DCAFCCBCA4BF49F1B1”.
- To open the folder, you can run following command: cd 7F051EAD89204D1008D517DCAFCCBCA4BF49F1B1
- Then run the following command inside the folder: msiexec / x sype.msi
Using Microsoft Fixit to fix registry entries for Skype
If the Skype registry entries are corrupted then you will need to use this tool to remove all corrupt entries:
- Firstly you will need to download Microsoft Fixit tool. Click this link and look for the following option “Fix problems that programs cannot be installed or uninstalled“
- After downloading it, just run the program. No configuration is required, the tool will automatically detect and fix the issues in the system, and you wouldn’t need to do anything.
- Once done, install the latest version of Skype again on the system and the error message should not appear.
About Author:
Abo Bakar is a technology enthusiast, blogger and music lover. He is an expert in finding cracks for softwares. He writes for www.fullsoftversion.com. You may like following posts from him:
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