What is the 1603 Install Error
The 1603 MSI installer error is a generic error code “A fatal error occurred during installation” on Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10. Basically, it’s not specific; anything could have gone wrong.
Microsoft document this error and lots of possible ways to solve it here…
You receive an “error 1603: A fatal error occurred during installation” error message when you try to install a Windows Installer package
Fix AutoCAD specific 1603 Errors
Aside from the Microsoft documented 1603 errors above, AutoCAD itself has numerous issues with their installer mechanism which when failures occur can also generate the generic 1603 MSI error code.
AutoCAD 2020 Licensing Error 1603
It seems that AutoCAD 2020 has some issues installing mainly due to their Licensing system component.
Installation incomplete. Some products failed to install.
AutoCAD 2020 did not install (error code: 1603)
Autodesk documents how to fix it here
All other AutoCAD 1603 Errors
There is an App built which specifically scans AutoCAD’s setup so that either the 1603 error is gone (fixed) or it does not affect the install… Check out the blogs on how to fix your AutoCAD’s 1603 error (if your version is not listed below use the search box at the top right of this page)
2017/2/23:12:42:02 Gautam GAUTAM-PC === Installation started on GAUTAM-PC by Gautam ===
2017/2/23:12:42:04 Gautam GAUTAM-PC Install MSI Runtime 3.1 Skipped Windows Installer upgrade is not required. System Version = 5.0.7601.18896
2017/2/23:12:42:04 Gautam GAUTAM-PC Install .NET Framework Runtime 2.0 Skipped .NET Framework Runtime upgrade is not required. System Version = 2.0.50727.0
2017/2/23:12:42:04 Gautam GAUTAM-PC Install .NET Framework Runtime 2.0 Language Pack Skipped Installation not required
2017/2/23:12:42:44 Gautam GAUTAM-PC Install DirectX 9.0 Runtime Succeeded Command = “support\DirectX\DXSETUP.exe” /silent
2017/2/23:12:42:44 Gautam GAUTAM-PC Install MDAC 2.7 Skipped MDAC upgrade is not required. System Version = 6.1.7601.17514
2017/2/23:12:43:05 Gautam GAUTAM-PC Install Autodesk DWF Viewer Succeeded Command = “support\aev\DWFViewerSetup.exe” /u2 /q2 /b0
2017/2/23:12:43:06 Gautam GAUTAM-PC Install Flash Failed Failure is ignored, Result=1
2017/2/23:12:48:54 Gautam GAUTAM-PC Install AutoCAD 2007 Failed Installation aborted, Result=1603
2017/2/23:12:48:54 Gautam GAUTAM-PC === Installation ended ===
Please contact Longbow Software support directly, they can help – https://shop.longbowsoftware.com/contact-send.sc
Review the setup log, check to see if the installer is failing on installing multiple components.