Unable to update R packages in default library on Windows 7

Question

I\'m trying to update packages on RGui (64-bit) using update.packages but I\'m getting the following message:

Warning in install.packages(update         


        

Answer 1

I had this exact problem and just changed it for myself. That is I navigated to C:/PROGRAM/R and then right clicked on the R to bring up properties. Went to the Security tab clicked on the Group/User that you want to add permissions for. That for me was USER then clicked EDIT and then selected the boxes that were unchecked to Allow control over. I had to do this specifically for each user (of course I was running the entire time as administrator). Clicked Apply/OK and all is well. I can now update/install/ new libraries and what have you for this computer without having to run R as the admin.

Answer 2

I had a similar error recently. Running RStudio as an administrator didn't work. And changing the permissions on C:/Programs/R is a bit clumsy, as you'd have to repeat it for every user.

The solution for me was changing the library path for R as follows

1. In the R console, type .libPaths(). You'll see something like this,

   "Path/to/user/R/win-library/x.x" "C:/Programs/R/R-x.x.x"

   The two paths exist because you have defined a user-specific lib path during installation. Replace x.x.x with your R version.

2. Now set the lib path to the Programs directory

   .libPaths = "C:/Programs/R/R-x.x.x"

Now you can install.packages() or update.packages()!

Answer 3

Sometimes there may also be a possibility that your Antivirus is blocking the application. Unblock the application if anti virus has blocked it.

Answer 4

Without more information, my first guess is that you have insufficient permissions to write to the R site library folder. Usually, R would prompt for creation of a user lib folder to install to, but this can be unreliable under Windows Vista/Windows 7.

Try:

dir.create(Sys.getenv("R_LIBS_USER"), recursive = TRUE)

In the R console. Libraries should now install to /Users/"you"/R/win-library/x.y, for which you have the appropriate permissions.

Answer 5

Uninstalling from C:\Program Files and re-installing to C:\R worked for me

[See mdsumner's comment and Windows FAQ found here]

"...Users of Vista/Windows 7/8/Server 2008/2012 installing for a single user using an account with administrator rights1 should consider installing into a non-system area (such as C:\R)"