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Our application install will install .NET if not present. About 20% of the time according to our reporting, a reboot is required to complete the .NET install. Users often defer the reboot of course since they are in the middle of doing other things.

What happens when users then attempt to launch our app with a partially installed .NET framework? What can we do to detect this situation and handle gracefully (e.g. popup a messages stating a reboot is required and then close). Sometimes our app runs, sometimes it crashes, sometimes nothing happens. Clearly not an acceptable user experience.

Best Wishes, Todd

halt00
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1 Answers1

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To forewarn, my knowledge of this topic is outdated, but I believe that in the case that you describe there will be a registry entry present under

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

with the Product ID or its prefix, from the MSI file - since the installer needs to resume after the reboot. Maybe your application can check for that key and ask the user to complete the installation first.

From usability perspective though I wouldn't block the user more than once, so if you detect the key and ask the user to complete the install, I'd record the fact that you already did and if they launch the app again just proceed and let it fail where it would.

(Here's a short discussion of product ids Understanding Windows Installer Product ID)

mockinterface
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