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Questions tagged [windows-installer]

Windows Installer is the installation service provided with Windows, based on the creation and installation of MSI files. In practice there will be a tool you're using to generate the MSI files, and you should tag your question with Windows Installer and that tool (WiX, Visual Studio Setup Project, InstallShield, Advanced Installer etc). Your issue may be with building, designing, or installing MSI files.

From the MSDN documentation:

Microsoft Windows Installer is an installation and configuration service provided with Windows. The installer service enables customers to provide better corporate deployment and provides a standard format for component management. The installer also enables the advertisement of applications and features according to the operating system.

Installer also handles registry related changes.

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How to replace a file in a msi installer?

I want to replace a single file inside a msi. How to do it?
luntain
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Visual Studio 2012 Windows service .vdproj project migration

I'm trying to move a solution I have over to Visual Studio 2012 and one of the project types is .vdproj. According to this link this project type is not supported in Visual Studio 2012: MSDN says they recommend that you use InstallShield Limited…
Andrew Walters
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What is the purpose of administrative installation initiated using msiexec /a?

Windows Installer technology supports administrative installation. The command line for initiating administrative installation is: 'msiexec /a setup.msi'. I want to understand the purpose of this type of installation and in what scenarios are they…
Anand Patel
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Run MsiExec from PowerShell and get Return Code

With BAT/CMD script I can simply use "msiexec /i /quiet /norestart" and then check %errorlevel% for the result. With VBScript, using the Wscript.Shell object Run() method, I can get the result like this: "result = oShell.Run("msiexec…
Skatterbrainz
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How do I make a WIX MSI always remove a previous version?

I have CI build system builds an MSI whenever a developer checks in a change. We run automated acceptance tests on the installed MSI. Basically every MSI is a complete install of the product, so we don't have any versioning (ala Windows installer)…
grillp
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How do I pass msiexec properties to a WiX C# custom action?

I have an MSI file being created with Wxs 3.0. My MSI references a C# custom action, written using the new C# Custom Action project. I want to pass an argument to msiexec that gets routed to my custom action - for example: msiexec /i MyApp.msi…
David Laing
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Typelib Generation and Installation with WiX

After asking about what Visual Studio does to register a COM Library, it became clear that VS did two things for COM registration: Registered the COM Library Creates and registers a Type Library Visual Studio seems to do this registration using…
Robert P
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What does the EXE do in the Visual Studio setup project output

We are working on a winforms app in Visual Studio 2005 and the setup project we created output both an MSI and an EXE. We aren't sure what the EXE file is used for because we are able to install without the EXE.
Scott Keck-Warren
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WiX script with only Welcome and Completed screens

I need a WiX 3 script to display to display only 2 dialogs: Welcome & Completed. Thats it no need for EULA, folder selection etc. All help appreciated.
Tim Murphy
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WiX: How to register application to start when Windows launches?

I'm exploring distribution of .NET desktop applications with MSI generated by WiX. So far it works great. But I've got a few questions, googling can't help out with. What's the advised way of registering application to start when windows launches…
Rinat Abdullin
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Is there any definitive documentation on writing software installers?

I've read a bunch of documentation on installers and haven't come across anything good that explains the underlying concepts. Most of the installer software I've come across is based on the same "database" like structure that I just don't…
BobTheBuilder
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How do I set the default install path with a windows installer?

How do I set the default install path when deploying a program using a windows installer.
user589195
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Windows Installer and the creation of WiX

We currently use WiX for building our MSI files, and as such it is the only MSI builder I have had experience using. I know you can build installers natively in Visual Studio though. What are the differences between using WiX and Windows Installer,…
codewario
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WiX ServiceControl Stop a service on uninstall, but don't start it on install

I need the service to stop and be removed on its uninstall, but I don't want it to start on install. The problem is, the start attribute on the ServiceControl element does not provide an option to disable starting. Or am I just missing it? I'm using…
Jonn
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Installing/Uninstalling Services in Windows 7: "Error 1001. The specified service has been marked for deletion"

I am currently developing a Windows Service in .NET 4.0, Visual Studio 2010, Windows 7-32bit. I have an installer project that does the installation for me. When I install the service, uninstall it, and try to install again, I get the following…
Mas
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