6 replies to this topic

[David Fillet]

Hello,

I have a component with a key file that is used to create an advertised shortcut. If I move or delete this file then when I launch IE6, I get a Windows Installer window. It tries to reinstall my component but cannot find the MSI package.
I will use key path in the registry instead of key files, is this correct or is there a better way to avoid this problem.

David

[Ian Blake]

Windows installer is supposed to do that.  It is trying to repair damaged components.  Normally this is a great advantage.  In general you do not want deletion and moviement of files once a product is installed.

You can not use a registry key as the 'keyfile' for a component of an advertised shortcut.

If this auto repair is causing problems on a development machine you can set a policy to disable some aspects of msi.

[David Fillet]

Thank you for your quick answer.

I understand files should not be moved. But a user did it... And the auto-repair didn't work as it can't find the msi package. So every time IE is launched, auto-repair also starts and never works.

The workaround I have found, is to disallow advertisement at feature level. Now auto-repair works correcly. (at the components level, I still have advertisement and key file)

Is this a correct way to use ISWI?

[Ian Blake]

It works and I would not argue it is incorrect, but disabling the advertisement of the feature kills installation on demand a feature other users may wish for.

It is possible to setup the custom setup dialog to allow every feature to install to a different location.  That would probably allow the awkward user to place the files where he wants using your installer.   The key to this is to create seperate directory entries for each feature derived from INSTALLDIR so that they can be changed independently within the custom setup dialog.

[moverton]

Ian,

In an answer above you said:

If this auto repair is causing problems on a development machine you can set a policy to disable some aspects of msi.

This has caused me great problems in a development environment.  Could you point me in the direction of some help for setting these policies and what effect they have?

Thanks,
Martin

[Ian Blake]

You can temporarily DisableMSI when you are pushing files around during  development

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
setting the value DisableMSI to "2" turns msi off.  (May need a reboot).

Search for System Policy in msi help.

[David Fillet]

Ian, thanks for your help.

In the section "Bug in merge modules" of this web site, there is a topic saying "Oleaut32.msm Triggers Auto Repair". I tried to change merge module, but couldn't find a correct Oleaut32.msm.
Do you know where to find a this file?

Thanks,
David