Installer directory purged a few days after restore

[jeffareid]

Part of my system maintainance is to backup, compare, format, restore,
compare to backup and defrag partitions. I use a 2nd os (partition) to do
this with the primary os partition.

After a few days, all the entries in \Windows\Installer will be deleted. I
notice this because some icons are lost. I then restore the entries from the
back up, log off and back on, and the icons are restored.

What triggers this self purge of the \Windows\Installer directory?

 

[Iceman]

Part of my system maintainance is to backup, compare, format, restore,
compare to backup and defrag partitions. I use a 2nd os (partition) to do
this with the primary os partition.

After a few days, all the entries in \Windows\Installer will be deleted. I
notice this because some icons are lost. I then restore the entries from the
back up, log off and back on, and the icons are restored.

What triggers this self purge of the \Windows\Installer directory?

There seems to be a bug in Windows Installer 3.0 (the version that ships
with XP SP2), so that Installer log files are deleted immediately. However,
this Wikipedia article could point you in the right direction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer#Disadvantages