1 reply to this topic

[rbrinda]

Hi All,

During product installation, i'm copying the .msi file to the INSTALLDIR so that uninstalling the product from Add/Remove programs will just use this msi file instead of having the users to insert the source media.  But i've done this only partially in the sense that when users click on Remove button without inserting the CD, they will get a prompt from WI asking them to browse for the msi file and users should be able to locate the local copy of .msi file to continue with uninstallation. Since most users will not be aware of this, i would like to have the product's Remove button in the Add/Remove Programs linked directly to this msi file so that clicking on Remove will silently use the local copy of .msi instead of requiring the source CD. My question here is:

If i change the UninstallString in the product's Uninstall registry key, will that affect the product's maintenance mode? Because this local copy of .msi can only be used for uninstalling the product as repairing or modifying the product still requires the CD.

Please help.

Thanks in advance.

[PhilWilson]

Some of what you're saying doesn't sound right. Usually, an uninstall does not require the original msi file, so maybe you've got a bug or a ResolveSource action that's conditioned incorrectly.
The uninstall string does not usually name the MSI file, it names the product guid, so I'm not sure what you would change it to.
Obviously once the installation has started from a CD, that's the source that's recorded, and simply copying the msi file during the install will make no difference. Look at the SOURCELIST property and the AddSource automation calls, but I think you  can solve your problem by finding out why your uninstall requires the source MSI file, and I'll guess you've got an inappropriate ResolveSource action.