windows 10 installing oracle client 12c or 18c hanging at step1

I had a look in the installation log under C:\Program Files (x86)\Oracle\Inventory\logs\installActions<CurrentDate_Time>.log

It was stuck on the step:

INFO: Checking whether the IP address of the localhost could be determined...

After a lot of playing around with hosts files, etc. I ended up disabling EVERY network adapter visible in Windows 10. Installation went off without a hitch from that point. I re-enabled the needed adapter(s) following the Install step.

I tried disabling all of my network adapters (as suggested by N Dattler) and this did not solve my issue. In desperation I started trying out different command-line parameters and I think I found the right one. It worked for me both times I tested it:

setup.exe  -ignoreprereq -J"-Doracle.install.client.validate.clientSupportedOSCheck=false"

I tried removing either of those parameters, but it only worked with both in place. Both seem innocent enough and the proof is that now I have a fully functional Oracle 12c client install.

P.S. Don't forget to open the command prompt window as Administrator (right click and select Run as Administrator).

Disable IPv6 settings in your system and start a fresh install (whether it is 12c, 18c or 19c) if you find the below error as one of yours. It worked like a charm after searching a lot in this issue.

[nativesystem.WindowsNative.Native] Reading from the pipe

Remove all the spaces in the name of directory and run it as administrator.

I was facing similar issue when directory path was long and had spaced. I cut/pasted at D:\ root and bang, the setup ran successfully.