The Google Toolbar and a Maddening Error Message

As research for an article, my plan was to install and review some of the toolbar offerings that are available. I started with Yahoo - and that toolbar did not last very long on my computer. If I thought the Yahoo toolbar was annoying, the Google toolbar is maddening.

I wasted hours and hours on the Google toolbar for Internet Explorer. Because of me, some of my tech friends, in real life and online, wasted hours on the Google toolbar. And still, I have not been able to review this toolbar. The problem is that the Google toolbar will not install for me [insert a very loud scream here].

The error message is “The installer can’t extract the Google Toolbar files. Please install as an administrator.”

I am the administrator on the machine. This is my home desktop - a very reliable machine with a Windows 2000 operating system. I tried everything I knew how to try to install this Google toolbar program. I tried every suggestion I received…

tried safe mode

tried earlier versions

tried adding a Microsoft installer

tried looking to an answer on the Google toolbar help pages

tried logging on as ‘Administrator’, instead of my name

tried downloading from other sites

tried to see if there were any malware programs on the machine (there were none)

tried exiting the virus protection programs

tried lower the security and privacy settings in Windows

tried reading through a list of Microsoft bulletins

I could go on and on but you have the general idea. What seemed like a simple task turned into an absolute nightmare. And still, the Google Toolbar refuses to install on Internet Explorer… or Windows 2000 is not allowing the installation.

One other of my tech friends, on a Windows 2000 test machine, also is receiving the same error message. It is a small consolation - but it’s not just my machine.

Catherine