Warning in install.packages: unable to move temporary installation

Question

I\'ve found a number of questions related to this warning when installing or updating packages in R/RStudio, but none seem to completely match my situation:

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Answer 1

We've had the same problem at my workplace, and one of my coworkers discovered a great workaround. Unfortunately it's a temporary thing you'll need to do each time you install packages, rather than a permanent fix. We're running corporate Windows 8 (no admin privileges) with McAfee, and I've tested this in R 3.4.0-3.4.3.

Temporarily turning off McAfee's "On-Access Scan" feature (in Threat Prevention) solved this for us -- R packages now all install on the first try the way they're intended to. Here's detailed steps to turn that off:

1. Right-click the McAfee icon in the notification area at the right of your taskbar, and select McAfee Endpoint Security.
2. Click on Threat Prevention. This opens up a screen where you should see categories such as "Access Protection", "Exploit Prevention", and "On-Access Scan".
3. Un-check "Enable On-Access Scan", and then click Apply. (NB: it's easy to forget to click Apply, but it's essential)

Once you've installed your packages, it's best to repeat the process to turn On-Access Scan back on.