 <blockquote> <p><em>Python should have permission to read and write files in its installation folder</em></p> </blockquote> <p>That's not actually true. Permissions are resolved on Windows not by the program that is running, but the <em>user account</em> which is doing the action. So the answer is that <em>your user account</em> does not have access to write to the Python installation folder.</p> <p>In general, to install system-wide software (which you're trying to do), you would need to run your commands under a local administrator account. However, a better option might be to find a way to install your program somewhere else (for testing purposes).</p>