5 replies to this topic

[David Konrad]

I have an installation that works ok. Some EXE files has to be registered, so i made some Custom Actions which registered them after the installationproces (pure EXE-calls and a single RegSvr32). But, i forgot the "NOT INSTALLED" condition, so the setup tried to register the files under repair, remove and update. Now I cant get the install to work properly, even when I have removed the Custom Actions - it insist to register the files under remove, for instance, even when Custom Action and EXE-files is removed from the project - and all I want is to start from scratch. Saving it under a new name didnt improve anything - deleting entries in the registry didnt improve anything - so now I have a setup, that only is able to remove, update etc - but rolls back at the very end, because it cant run the files removed by the removeprocedure...

How can I start from scratch?
Where is installinformation located?
Why is MSI so sensible for such "errors"?

[Ken Gross]

There is a package that Microsoft has erleased called the "Windows Installer Clean Up" (utility?). It canm be found somewhere on Microsofts website.

It will allow you to remove everything from your PC for a bad install.

Hope this helps,
Ken

[Ken Gross]

Here is the URL for the cleanup utility:

http://support.micro...b;EN-US;q238413

Hope this helps,
Ken

[hambone]

have you tried changing the product and package code ( GUIDs ) of the current package ?

[David Konrad]

Hi,Thank you all for responding. I was not aware of a clean utility, and change the GUID was an very godd idea, that will work. I found the entry in the registry under HKEY_USERS/"current user"/Software/Microsoft/Installer/Products ->key with semicrypted info. Deleting these/this entries/entry solves the problem.

regards,

[DazzaH]

Here is another way around your original problem :

The installed MSI is stored in %systemroot%\Installer.  

If the backout will not work due to something like a Custom Action failing, you can stop the action from running.
Directly edit the MSI, find the offending action in the InstallExecuteSequence table, and add a condition that will always fail (eg 1=0).