Windows Error: TARGETDIR is undefined, the Directory table seems malformed. Aborting...

Updated Jan 18, 2023

Issue Details

The installer of NI software under Microsoft Windows aborts with the following message:

Error TARGETDIR is undefined, the Directory table seems malformed. Aborting...

Solution

When doing a NI software install: 

The installer needs a specific folder in the public directory on your hard drive. On some Windows computers, this folder was not created during the installation, causing this error. If you find you're receiving this error and the C:\Users\Public\Documents folder is present already, you can try deleting and then recreating the folder using the following steps:

Note: Follow these steps exactly as making a directory in Windows Explorer will not allow Windows to detect it correctly.

Go to the command line to manually create the missing folder:
  • In Windows, press START » Run and enter cmd.exe to open the command prompt window
Navigate to the correct folder by typing the following:
  • Change to root directory: cd\
  • Change to users directory: cd users
  • Change to public subdirectory: cd public
  • Verify, that the folder documents do not exist: dir
If this folder does not exist, continue with these steps by typing the following (see picture below):
  • Create a new documents folder: md documents
  • Verify, that the folder was created successfully: dir
Note that Windows XP computers will also fail if the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents folder does not exist. If it does exist, please contact NI Technical Support
 

    When doing a LabVIEW application install: 
    • Go to the Installer Properties under your build specifications 
    • Go to the Destinations category
    • Check that the default destination folder is created on your system