#1

Hello,

I am new to the community, and I hope I am reaching out in the proper channel, and I hope that this is not a redundant topic:

I am trying to install the xlsx package in R Studio, and I continue to get the following error when I try to run library("xlsx").

> install.packages("xlsx")
Installing package into ‘C:/Users/annar/Documents/R/win-library/3.4’
(as ‘lib’ is unspecified)
trying URL 'https://cran.rstudio.com/bin/windows/contrib/3.4/xlsx_0.6.1.zip'
Content type 'application/zip' length 405569 bytes (396 KB)
downloaded 396 KB

package ‘xlsx’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
Warning in install.packages :
  unable to move temporary installation ‘C:\Users\annar\Documents\R\win-library\3.4\file60c528077f0\xlsx’ to ‘C:\Users\annar\Documents\R\win-library\3.4\xlsx’

The downloaded binary packages are in
	C:\Users\annar\AppData\Local\Temp\RtmpURvwld\downloaded_packages
> library("xlsx")
Error in library("xlsx") : there is no package called ‘xlsx’

As a true novice to R programming, I am stumped. Could someone please shed some light as to how I might move forward from this?

Thank you,
Anna

1 Like
Issues with installing the "xlsx" package
#2

Hi! Welcome!

The installation is getting stuck at the point when R tries to move the downloaded package files from a temporary directory into your R library.

The most common reason for this problem seems to be anti-virus/anti-malware software preventing files from being moved within your User directories (which is where your R library lives). This is usually meant as protection against ransomware.

As a test, you could try temporarily turning off any anti-malware software you are running, and then try installing again. If it works, then you’ll need to figure out how to change settings in the anti-malware software to remove these restrictions from RStudio and R. There are some pointers for a few popular anti-malware software packages in the comments on this StackOverflow answer: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5700505/windows-7-update-packages-problem-unable-to-move-temporary-installation#5714458

P.S. It is unlikely this problem has to do with the RStudio IDE, so I’m moving the post to a different category to cut down on noise in the #rstudio-ide channel. You also have the power to recategorize your posts: FAQ: How Do I Change Categories, Tags, and Title?

3 Likes
#3

@jcblum ,

Thank you so much for the tip! I am currently working with R on my work laptop, so I will contact my IT department to fiddle around with the anti-virus settings. Once I have tested this, I will update you with my results.

Also, thank you for moving the post to the appropriate category, and for the helpful FAQ link.

Best,
Anna

1 Like
#4

@jcblum

UPDATE: The StackOverflow thread provided me with a workaround! I entered this code

debug(utils:::unpackPkgZip)
install.packages("packageName")

And followed the directions to "step through the code (by pressing enter many times)", and now I can use the read.xlsx() function!

Also, thank you to @tbradley for formatting my code text in my original post! I have made an effort to format the code text in this reply, and I hope it suffices.

Thank you for the support you guys!

Best,
Anna

2 Likes
#5

Your code formatting in your reply is exactly what we are looking for! Thanks for taking the time to do it!

I am glad you found the answer to your question! If your question's been answered (even by you!), would you mind choosing a solution? It helps other people see which questions still need help, or find solutions if they have similar problems. Here’s how to do it:

1 Like
#6

Got it - thanks for keeping me organized!

1 Like
#7

Thanks for your post Anna marie!
I was trying it with the dplyr package but haven't been successful, have you tried your method with it?
Malena