Python version 2.6 required, which was not found in the registry

Question

I realize this question is a year old - but I thought I would contribute one additional bit of info in case anyone else is Googling for this answer.

The issue only crops up on Win7 64-bit when you install Python "for all users". If you install it "for just me", you should not receive these errors. It seems that a lot of installers only look under HKEY_CURRENT_USER for the required registry settings, and not under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. The page linked by APC gives details on how to manually copy the settings to HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

Or here's the PowerShell command to do this: cp -rec HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Python\ HKCU:\SOFTWARE

Warning for new viewers: this answer is now several years old (the clue is that it describes Windows 7 as "new"). By now (2014) most Python libraries should have 64-bit support. However, if you still have problems you can always take the advice of @KamilSzot and install 32-bit Python instead. In most cases it probably doesn't matter that much.

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[In 2010] it appears there are a lot of Python utilities which don't work on 64-bit Windows 7, as it's still a very new platform. So you may frequently find yourself on the cutting edge, which is not a comfortable place for someone who describes themselves as a beginner.

For instance, Valentine Gogichashvili discusses a potential solution here but do you know enough Python to understand what it's doing?

For me this happens on a 32 bit system with activepython installed. It seams that the regs are not in HKEY_CURRENT_USER so here is what I do to fix that.

1. Export the "Python" section under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> Software
2. Open the export in notepad notepad. Replace "LOCAL_MACHINE" with "CURRENT_USER"
3. Since I have 2.7 installed I also had to replace "2.7" with "2.6" (make sure that you do not affect the path which points to the installation of python).
4. Over write the reg backup and run it.

Now if you run the installation of whatever package you needed it will find python. This helped in my case but be aware that it might not work for you.

On Feb 14 marblecatdog posted a comment to the posted answer by Andrew. I want it to be found more easily as I see several people recently getting similar trouble. This is a very likely solution for many installs. Per marblecatdog ..

I was having the same error as the poster, and this worked perfectly and flawlessly for me in windows 7 64 bit. Just uninstall python, and reinstall "for just me".

The Cause Of it All In a Nut: installed python "for all users".

Apparently, there's many python add-on, of which pyjs is one, that do not search the windows registry for the "all users" programs entries. I nearly always install for all.

My Own Problem: installing windows COM files required by python GUI add-on pyjs.

I was looking pretty desperate yesterday having invested much time and hope in pyjs. It requires "comtypes" which the windows installer for those spit up with "No Python installation found in the registry". Reinstalled python 2.7 just for me and the com-installer.exe had NO ISSUES.

To avoid such issues I switched to activepython and its working fine till now (fingers crossed).

The community version (read free) is here - http://www.activestate.com/activepython/downloads

This error can occur if you are installing a package with a different bitness than your Python version. To see whether your Python installation is 32- or 64-bit, see here.