I know this might not be the best place to ask about this but I have hope. I'm trying to install the physical edition of this game on a Windows 7 computer. But the installation gets stuck, while trying to 'Update the component register'. The progress bar won't progress, and trying to cancel install via TaskManager will not work; only way is to open the DVD unit, which by this point is making noises, scaring me that I might be dealing with one of those hardware-breaker DRMs (I'm not seeing any process in TM that could be about it but I'm far from being an expert).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Seems like one of the latest Windows 7 updates interferes with the installation of some games. Read for more info here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2428633

Tried unistalling the 2 updates mentioned in Grargar's link, still having the same problem. Maybe a more recent update is reintroducing the same effect? I tried searching for newer threads regarding the same issue, no luck.

OK. It seems to be an issue that affects other Activision games like the Call of Duty series. One other suggestion is to copy the contents of the DVD to your hard disk and install it from there.

Try copying the contents of the disc to a hard drive and running the installer from there. That worked for me when C&C3 had the same issue.

Alternatively, affected installations should eventually continue if you wait long enough, but it can be a very long time.

Thanks both, it finally worked.

Worked here, too, eventually, and on Windows 10 at that. It did hang for some time on "Updating Component Registration", but nowhere near as long as it had when trying to read the DVD. I would guess, as BlackMageJ suggests, that installs from disk would work too, if you wait long enough.

I had actually made a copy of the DVD (in case it was a disk fault), and that copy was still in the drive when I ran the install from the HD. At one point, the install program complained that the disk in the drive was a copy, and I should put the real install DVD in the drive. This leads me to think that Activision were doing weird things with DVD reading and timing (otherwise it wouldn't have known the difference). This is probably why newer versions of Windows barf on it.

Man, I really want to play this someday...