Why does the Altera installer exit abnormally when the installation target is the root directory of a drive?

Description

Due to a problem in the Altera Installer for Windows version 11.0 and later, installing the Quartus® II software may fail if the target installation is set to the root directory of a drive such as C:\ or D:\. A message such as the following may appear:

Installer subprocess for Arria GX Family exited abnormally.
status code = 1
command = "D:\quartus\bin\quartus_sh.exe" --qinstall -qda "D:\11.0sp1_quartus_free_windows\altera_installer\bin\..\..\devices\subscription\arriagx.qda" -show_qt_progress

Resolution

To avoid this problem, specify a directory underneath the root directory as the installation target.

This problem is fixed beginning with the Altera Installer version 12.0.