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Questions tagged [windows-installer]

Windows Installer (which was previously named Microsoft Installer) is a component of modern Microsoft Windows systems used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software. It is a competitor to other, 3rd party installation software, such as Install Shield.

Windows Installer (which was previously named Microsoft Installer) is a component of modern Microsoft Windows systems used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software. It is a competitor to other, 3rd party installation software, such as Install Shield.

It has currently gone through 5 major versions, with version 1.0 being available as a part of Office 2000, and version 5 being included in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. Wikipedia has a table with a complete list of Windows Installer versions, the products they were first available on, and the products those versions are also available for.

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The corporate benefits of using MSI files

What are the advantages of using .msi files over regular setup.exe files? I have the impression that deployment is easier on machines where users have few permissions, but not sure about the details. What features does msiexec.exe have that makes…
Frode Lillerud
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Find GUID of MSI Package

How can I find the GUID of an MSI package? I would like to script the removal of a program on a large number of desktops by using: msiexec.exe /x ProductCode Any reason why this would not work for any applications listed in "Add/Remove…
SamErde
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How can I speed up MSI package install and uninstall?

When installing and uninstalling Windows Installer packages, or MSI files as they are called, the progress of the installation appears signifiantly slower than with other installation packages. Why is this the case, and what can I do to speed things…
Stein Åsmul
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Windows Installer always says "Another program is being installed"

Somewhere some software install must have died. Now when I try to install software, I get popup message from the Windows Installer saying "Another program is being installed. Please wait until that installation is complete, and then try installing…
Cathy Sullivan
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Why Windows Installer can only install a single program at a time?

I have always been wondering why Windows Installer only allows you to install one program at a time. It is very frustrating not to be able to launch multiple installations, especially when setting up a new installation of Windows. What is the reason…
Rytis
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How do I determine what the Windows Installer (msiexec) is doing?

After rolling out a new software package, I'm seeing high CPU usage on machines. One process that seems to be really active is msiexec, which really shouldn't be running. I'm watching it in process explorer and every now and then I can see it…
Boden
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Roll back suspended .MSI install from command-line

We deployed a Java installer to a large number of machines, and it froze up on about half of them. Now, subsequent deployments are failing because of the following message: User 'SYSTEM' has previously initiated an install for product 'Java 7…
Kasius
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What, exactly, is the SCCM client doing when it installs an .msi for a system?

I've been working with a particular .msi (AppleApplicationSupport.msi). I have installed it two different ways which I thought would be equivalent. However the results differ as follows. PSEXEC -i -s cmd Installing using a psexec -i -s cmd command…
alx9r
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How can I eliminate the huge, cached MSI files in C:\Windows\Installer?

The size of the MSI cache folder (C:\Windows\Installer) has grown substantially, and is now taking up way too much disk space on my (domain) computers. Can this folder be eliminated or shrunk? Same question goes for: C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS…
Stein Åsmul
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Unable to launch MSI installers off NFS share

I have a Linux server where I've configured a read only NFS share. The client I'm currently working on is a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine that has the NFS features installed. I'm able to open and execute all files except any MSI file. For some…
wewantbananas
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I want to install an MSI twice

I have a peculiar wish to install an msi twice on a machine. The purpose of the double install is to first install under the pre-production folder, run the deployment in a safe environment prior to deploying in the production folder. We typically…
Don Vince
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"Touching" software deployment group policy programmatically or via script

I have an internal application that uses the Windows Installer. Each update to this application is a "major upgrade" (different product code, same upgrade code) and it calls RemoveExistingProducts. (In effect, this means that any time a new build is…
Nicholas Piasecki
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What could be causing MsiInstaller to continuously reconfigure applications(EventID 1035)?

I have a brand-new machine that we just installed Windows Server 2008 Enterprise on about two months ago. In the event log, I am seeing thousands of EventID 1035 logged. This is MsiInstaller reconfiguring about a dozen products over and over,…
user7862
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Keep Windows Installer from using largest drive for temporary files

By default Windows Installer uses the largest drive for temporary storage, no matter if that's needed (meaning there would also be enough space on the system drive). Taken from…
stefan.at.wpf
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Is it possible to disable msiexec help GUI?

I'm automating unattended retrieval & installation of specified .msi packages with a powershell script but if the command is invoked with syntax errors the msiexec will wait indefinitely for an OK click on its help display despite the presence of…
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