SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

1638102 - Installation Best Practices for Crystal Reports

Symptom

  • How to successfully install Crystal Reports?  
  • What are the best practices for installing Crystal Reports?

Environment

  • SAP Crystal Reports 2016
  • SAP Crystal Reports 2020
  • SAP Crystal Reports 2025

Resolution

  1. Download the right version Crystal Reports
    • If you are using Crystal Reports with:
      - SAP Crystal Server; or
      - SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform

      Then download the version of Crystal Reports that match the version of the server you are using, including the Support Pack and Patch. To know the version of Crystal Reports that correspond to the version of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, see KBA 1968027
                 
    • Otherwise, download the latest update of Crystal Reports for the version you purchased.
          
    • To download Crystal Reports, see KBA 1291961            
        
  2. Extract the installation package on the local computer  
    • If you run the installation from the archived package, it may cause a "Blocked port" error. 
    • Copy the installation package to the local hard drive to avoid any networking issues.
                      
  3. Disable the Antivirus software temporarily
    • Antivirus and Security software can interfere with a software installation and causes issues, this is why it is always best to disable it whenever possible.
                    
  4. Ensure port 4520 is open, if you have a Firewall
    • Crystal Reports installation requires open port 4520. If the port is blocked it will generate errors like: 
           
      "Fatal Error : At least one port in the range 4520 - 4539 must be open for the installation to proceed..." or "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library Runtime Error!"
           
      For more details, see the SAP Knowledge Base Article 1864841
              
  5. Ensure there is enough disk space to install Crystal Reports
    • If you are not sure you have enough disk space, run a "Custom" installation with the minimum components. The non-mandatory components can be added at any time.  
                   
  6. Get the Installation keycode for Crystal Reports
    • To obtain your license key / keycode, see the SAP Knowledge Base Article 2606876
    • If you are not sure about the validity of the license key, get a temporary key from the SAP Support Portal: 1288121
    • Tips: During the installation, copy and paste the license key, or type it in Uppercase, and remove dashes. 
          
  7. Install Crystal Reports as an Administrator of the local computer
    • Login to your computer as the Local Computer ADMINISTRATOR, if possible.
        
    • On the latest versions of MS Windows, even if you are logged as the Local Administrator, you may not have all the rights to perform a successful install. To install Crystal Reports as an Administrator:   
         
          1. Right-click the Crystal Reports setup.exe file.
          2. Select "Run as Administrator"
        
      Otherwise it may register the product in a Virtual store, and causes issues.
      For more details, see the Microsoft Registry Virtualisation on Microsoft website.
              
    • If you do not have access to an Administrator account:
      1. Right-click the setup.exe file.
      2. Select "Run as" then select the current user.
      3. Uncheck the option: "Protect my computer and data from unauthorized program activity".   
         
            
  • Notes:
    • If you have other SAP BusinessObjects software installed on the same computer, ensure all the software are updated to the same version and Support Pack.

    • From Crystal Reports 2020, side by side installation of Crystal Reports and SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform or SAP Crystal Server is NOT supported.
        
    • If you already have an Installation Package of Crystal Reports downloaded, and want to know what version it correspond to, see the SAP Knowledge Base Article 2978825     
       
        
  • Installation Issues:
    • Error:  "Incomplete Operation Detected Installer has detected that a previous operation did not complete under another user. Program will exit"
      Cause: This error occurs when there was a previous installations of SAP BusinessObjects software that failed. 
      Solution: Rename the folder:  "C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\InstallData"  to:  "InstallDataOLD"  and restart the installation.
                 
    • On MS Windows 8, Crystal Reports and other SAP BusinessObjects products are required to be installed on the "C" drive only.

See Also

Keywords

CR, install cr biins,bpkba,cr,sapbi,crystal , KBA , BI-RA-CR , Crystal Reports designer or Business View Manager , How To

Product

SAP Crystal Reports 2016 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2020 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2025