Python version not found in registry error

Problem

Once you start installing many Python modules, you are sure to run into this error. When installing a Python module, it pops up this error:

Python version 3.2 required, which was not found in the registry.

I do have Python 3.2 installed, so what’s up?

Solution

The problem is that some module installers look in the wrong place for Python version information. For example, in the case of this one module, the installer was looking for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Python\PythonCore\3.2 in the registry. I found that my Python 3.2 installer had placed this information in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Python\PythonCore\3.2 instead.

Once you know the reason, solving it is easy. Open Registry Editor (may need administrator privilege) and export HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Python\PythonCore\3.2 into a text file. Open the exported .reg file in a text editor and replace the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE entries to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Add these new entries back to the registry (here is how). The module installer should now be able to proceed without throwing the error.

Tried with: Python 3.2 64-bit on Windows 7