Sourcetree won't install or run for some users

Question

I've been trying to get one of our developers setup with sourcetree but it refuses to install/run properly for his user. It works for another user on the same machine.

The user has full local admin rights but there appears to be some sort of registry permission issue.

We see this error in the log:

ERROR [2017-08-16 17:47:53,263] [1] [SourceTree.App] [.ctor] - finish EnsureSquirrelExecutionStubIsCopied
ERROR [2017-08-16 17:47:54,022] [1] [SourceTree.App] [OnStartup] - Failed to start
System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the registry key 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION' is denied.
at Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.Win32Error(Int32 errorCode, String str)
at Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.CreateSubKeyInternal(String subkey, RegistryKeyPermissionCheck permissionCheck, Object registrySecurityObj, RegistryOptions registryOptions)
at Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.CreateSubKey(String subkey, RegistryKeyPermissionCheck permissionCheck)
at SourceTree.AppRoot.RegisterBrowserEmulationModeKey(String feature, String appName, UInt32 value)
at SourceTree.AppRoot.OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
at SourceTree.App.OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)

Ana Retamal · Answer

Hi Jason, it looks indeed like a registry permission issue.

Can you make sure the user has full permissions for the specific key mentioned in the error? You can find the instructions on how to do that at How to gain full permissions for registry keys.

If you're still having issues, can you let us know which version of SourceTree and Windows is he using? Also, is he able to open SourceTree atl all? Does it crash right after it's opened?

Best regards,

Ana