Sketchup Pro 2018 crashes before startup

[DaveR]

Run as administrator allows SketchUp to make install some required stuff that Run does not even if you are logged in as Admin due to the way Windows has locked things down. See:

Why the installer must be "run as administrator"

Since the release of SU 2017, there has been a tidal wave of posts from people who encountered problems with SU because they did not install it properly on Windows. The only correct way is to right-click the installer and select “Run as Administrator”. It is not enough to be logged on as an adminstrator. This requirement (which is not unique to SketchUp) is because modern OS’s have upped their security requirements to protect against malicious code that tries to modify crucial system areas su…