[SOLVED] Failed Cursor Second update for the day. Unable to Reinstall

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[SOLVED] Cursor Installation Error 0x80070005 & Code 5 - Complete Fix

After struggling with persistent Cursor installation errors (both Error Code 5 and 0x80070005 “Access is denied”), I finally found a complete solution that worked for me. Sharing this in case anyone else encounters the same frustrating situation.

The Actual Problem

The root issue turned out to be my antivirus software silently quarantining Cursor.exe and preventing file operations during both installation and updates. Even after uninstalling and trying to reinstall, the quarantined files were causing conflicts.

Complete Solution Steps

  1. Check Your Antivirus Quarantine

    • Open your antivirus software
    • Navigate to Quarantine/Virus Chest section
    • Search for “cursor” or “Cursor.exe”
    • Restore these files and add them to exceptions

  2. Clean Up Previous Installation

    • Unpin any Cursor icons from your taskbar (especially blank/broken ones)
    • Close all Cursor processes via Task Manager

  3. Disable Antivirus Temporarily

    • Disable your antivirus protection for 10 minutes
    • Make sure to disable all protection layers (real-time scanning, application control, etc.)

  4. Fresh Installation

    • Run the Cursor installer as administrator
    • If you encounter any errors, click “Try again”
    • Complete the installation process

  5. Post-Installation

    • Before re-enabling antivirus, add these to exceptions:
      • Cursor.exe
      • The entire Cursor installation folder
    • Now re-enable your antivirus protection
    • Restart your computer

This worked perfectly for me after trying many other partial solutions. The key insight was that the antivirus had quarantined files but wasn’t clearly notifying me about it, which kept causing the “Access denied” errors during installation.

Hope this helps someone else save time troubleshooting!