4 replies to this topic

[GalwayDude]

Hi Guys, a query on the Files In Use process. Ive installed a program Ive written on a machine. I open the program and attempt to uninstall it. At this point I get a dialog saying "The following applications should be closed before continuing the Installation : " It lists my program but it also lists almost all other programs that are open on that machine too such as Windows Media player, Notepad, Outlook.

Im using a Basic Msi project in Installshield 10. Ive trawled the Internet to research this and it seems to be related to "FilesInUse". Ive looked in the "Direct Editor" part of my project and I do not see a FilesInUse table.

Does anyone know what could be happening here? Is there somewhere I can go in my MSI project to have a closer look at how the dialog is populated? Is there some way I can screen out the other applications so it will just show me my own?

Thanks a lot!

Edited by GalwayDude, 04 June 2008 - 11:40.

[Zweitze]

During InstallValidate, Windows Installer checks this. It looks at the features that the customer wants to install, retrieves the components and ultimately the files. It checks where it should install these files (sometimes users can set their own destinations), and whether these files can be installed.
One of the reasons it cannot be installed is that an earlier version is already present at that location, and that file cannot be updated because it is currently in use. If that is the case, Windows Installer detects which program is using that file and displays that to the user.

Apparently you want to install a file that is used by many programs - for instance you install the very latest version of a common run-time library. You may consider to use an older version with your software.

[Stefan Krueger]

A log file (www.msifaq.com/a/1022.htm) might tell you which file(s) are causing the problem.

[GalwayDude]

Thanks for the reply guys. In the end, I just inserted a VBScript after the CostFinalise stage to do some checking and display only the open processes related to our program.

As an aside, If I had Installscript, could I have done something similar with it? Could I populate the FilesInUse dialog directly myself? I only have the Basic Msi at the moment.

Thanks again.

[Zweitze]

Once I did an install for an Outlook COM Addin and got to deal with that issue, since Windows Installer could not detect during uninstall that one of my files was in use when Outlook was open (apparently Outlook opens these files in a separate process, either way Outlook did not appear in the FilesInUse dialog).
In the end: you cannot manipulate the FilesInUse list shown by InstallValidate. However, you can show your own FilesInUse dialog and handle the results. The end result may be that the user is confronted with *two* FilesInUse dialogs, yours and the one by InstallValidate.

Not the solution that I was looking for, but it did work and it did save my users a couple of reboots.