Unwanted dir

D

Deep

Hi All

MSI creates unwanted dir on machine.
The steps are...

I installed a product (say version 4.0) on my machine and
then uninstall it.

The entries left behind in the registry are
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----
Reg Path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18
\Components\A040916F08CC1A7428AA90C085D0CEA0

Name : 6FC6240C0A888F749A3893A117A977F6
Type : REG_SZ
Data : C:\Program Files\Product Dir\


Reg Path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Installer\UpgradeCodes\FC4E5F89970EA5745A9E1CB77BCBFBD0

Name : 6FC6240C0A888F749A3893A117A977F6
Type : REG_SZ
Data : (value not set)
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
----

Now I delete C:\Program Files\Product Dir\ from my PC.

Now I again install product 4.0. For this installation I
give path as F:\Program Files\Product Dir\.
The product is now successfully installed.

But this installation creates unwanted dir at "C:\Program
Files\Product Dir\".

To resolve this we come to a conclusion that if we
specify "REINSTALL" property to "ALL" For MSI,
Then these registry entries are not created.

This resolves our issue when we talk about our next
version of our product (say version 4.1).

But as per our business need, we want end users should
upgrade their version for 4.0 to 4.1 or an end user first
uninstall 4.0 and then install 4.1.
In that case if these registry entries are there on the
end user machine then even with the 4.1, install will
create these unwanted dir.

To resolve this we can write install shield script code to
remove these unwanted registry entries and it should be
the very first task done by our 4.1 install program.

I had some queries on removing these entries from the
registry. They are

1. Will A040916F08CC1A7428AA90C085D0CEA0 be a constant
value for a respective GUID (our product GUID) ? Is it
depends upon the OS, service pack, version etc?

2. Will FC4E5F89970EA5745A9E1CB77BCBFBD0 be a constant
value for a respective GUID (our product GUID) ? Is it
depends upon the OS, service pack, version etc?

3. Is there any harm in removing
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Components
\A040916F08CC1A7428AA90C085D0CEA0 and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Installer\UpgradeCodes
\FC4E5F89970EA5745A9E1CB77BCBFBD0 from the
registry?


Is there any other way to get rid of these unwanted dir.

Thanks for your support in advance.


Regards
deep
 
P

Phil Wilson

If you are saying that installing the product to F:\Program Files creates the
empty folder C:\Program Files\Product Dir, then you've got something wrong with
your setup. MSI doesn't arbitrarily create folders like that. It looks like you
have a component going to the default TARGETDIR, and the component doesn't have
a keypath, so it's using the folder as a keypath. There might be something
you're doing with HKCU registry entries if you're installing for everyone and
using it from another account - I'm just speculating that the C:\Program Files
folder is being created as the default installation folder because of a repair
that's creating entries for some other user.

Either way, it's a really bad idea to go around deleting MSI registry entries.
Are they doing any harm?
-
Phil Wilson [MVP Windows Installer]
----
 
D

Deep

If I change C:\Program Files\Product Dir\ to C:\Program
Files\Product Dir1\ then unwanted C:\Program Files\Product
Dir1 is created on my PC (installing product on PC).
Also if i make it blank then unwanted dir is not created.
So the root case for creating unwanted dir are these Reg
Paths. I want to get rid of this.

regards
deep
-----Original Message-----
If you are saying that installing the product to F:\Program Files creates the
empty folder C:\Program Files\Product Dir, then you've got something wrong with
your setup. MSI doesn't arbitrarily create folders like that. It looks like you
have a component going to the default TARGETDIR, and the component doesn't have
a keypath, so it's using the folder as a keypath. There might be something
you're doing with HKCU registry entries if you're installing for everyone and
using it from another account - I'm just speculating that the C:\Program Files
folder is being created as the default installation folder because of a repair
that's creating entries for some other user.

Either way, it's a really bad idea to go around deleting MSI registry entries.
Are they doing any harm?
-
Phil Wilson [MVP Windows Installer]
----
Deep said:
Hi All

MSI creates unwanted dir on machine.
The steps are...

I installed a product (say version 4.0) on my machine and
then uninstall it.

The entries left behind in the registry are
-------------------------------------------------------- ---
-------------------------------------------------------- ---
-----
Reg Path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18
\Components\A040916F08CC1A7428AA90C085D0CEA0

Name : 6FC6240C0A888F749A3893A117A977F6
Type : REG_SZ
Data : C:\Program Files\Product Dir\


Reg Path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Installer\UpgradeCodes\FC4E5F89970EA5745A9E1CB77BCBFBD0

Name : 6FC6240C0A888F749A3893A117A977F6
Type : REG_SZ
Data : (value not set)
-------------------------------------------------------- ---
-------------------------------------------------------- ---
----

Now I delete C:\Program Files\Product Dir\ from my PC.

Now I again install product 4.0. For this installation I
give path as F:\Program Files\Product Dir\.
The product is now successfully installed.

But this installation creates unwanted dir at "C:\Program
Files\Product Dir\".

To resolve this we come to a conclusion that if we
specify "REINSTALL" property to "ALL" For MSI,
Then these registry entries are not created.

This resolves our issue when we talk about our next
version of our product (say version 4.1).

But as per our business need, we want end users should
upgrade their version for 4.0 to 4.1 or an end user first
uninstall 4.0 and then install 4.1.
In that case if these registry entries are there on the
end user machine then even with the 4.1, install will
create these unwanted dir.

To resolve this we can write install shield script code to
remove these unwanted registry entries and it should be
the very first task done by our 4.1 install program.

I had some queries on removing these entries from the
registry. They are

1. Will A040916F08CC1A7428AA90C085D0CEA0 be a constant
value for a respective GUID (our product GUID) ? Is it
depends upon the OS, service pack, version etc?

2. Will FC4E5F89970EA5745A9E1CB77BCBFBD0 be a constant
value for a respective GUID (our product GUID) ? Is it
depends upon the OS, service pack, version etc?

3. Is there any harm in removing
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Components
\A040916F08CC1A7428AA90C085D0CEA0 and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Installer\UpgradeCodes
\FC4E5F89970EA5745A9E1CB77BCBFBD0 from the
registry?


Is there any other way to get rid of these unwanted dir.

Thanks for your support in advance.


Regards
deep
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