Did you escalate privileges? Just being an Administrator is not enough.

>I can no longer install SQL Server on Windows 8.1 This is Windows 8.1 Pro with SQL Server 2012 SP1 Developer edition. Everytime it arrives at the end, it complains with this:
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>"Could not find the Database Engine startup handle"
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>I tried with my account, which is part of the administrator group.
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>I tried with the administrator account.
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>I tried four times and it end up at the end like that. I ran the Setup.exe as administrator.
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>Why can't I install that version on Windows 8.1?