never mind, i found out a workaround, but i was using the regular windows installer, i was trying to direct it to a new folder to not mix them with the others, but i just installed it to the main.minecraft folder after giving up and loaded it through and it worked.
i'm trying to install the latest version of forge for 1.11.2
I have launched minecraft through the folder i've been trying to install it in, but it says, "The directory is missing a launcher profile. please run the minecraft launcher first" I have made a file and everything and have made a profile for everything that it's going to be saved in.