MS installation, why I need both setup.exe and the msi files?

[Guest]

It seems that the installation runs if I just run the .msi file but from the
internet instructions it says I need to have both files at the target machine
and run the setup.exe file. Would it be a problem if I just run the .msi
file?

 

[Guest]

Also, I would select the install drive to be F:, and when I check the Disk
Cost, it would show C: drive requires 404M and F drive requires only 14M? I
would think the 404M would go on F drive instead.

 

[Larry Smith]

It seems that the installation runs if I just run the .msi file but from

the
internet instructions it says I need to have both files at the target
machine
and run the setup.exe file. Would it be a problem if I just run the .msi
file?

I'm not sure which installation you're referring to but I doubt there will
be any significant difference in practice. Unfortunately, you don't know for
sure unless MSFT provides some documentation that clarifies the issue (for
your particular installation). Normally "setup.exe" is just a thin wrapper
that launches the ".msi" file anyway. There's usually a little housekeeping
that's handled by "setup.exe" but it's frequently immaterial. I'd say
there's a good chance you're safe but only MSFT knows for sure. Rather than
take the chance however (which I wouldn't unless there was a very good
reason), why can't you just rely on "setup.exe" itself.

 

[Larry Smith]

BTW, I'm not sure what this has to do with C#. If it's for a VS installation
then you should post it in a more appropriate NG.

 

[zacks]

I'm not sure which installation you're referring to but I doubt there will
be any significant difference in practice. Unfortunately, you don't know for
sure unless MSFT provides some documentation that clarifies the issue (for
your particular installation). Normally "setup.exe" is just a thin wrapper
that launches the ".msi" file anyway. There's usually a little housekeeping
that's handled by "setup.exe" but it's frequently immaterial. I'd say
there's a good chance you're safe but only MSFT knows for sure. Rather than
take the chance however (which I wouldn't unless there was a very good
reason), why can't you just rely on "setup.exe" itself.

The MSI only works alone if you have the latest Windows Installer.
Older systems that did not keep up with Windows Updates that does not
have the latest Windows Installer muse install with the exe, which in
turn invokes the msi.

 

[Larry Smith]

I'm not sure which installation you're referring to but I doubt there

The MSI only works alone if you have the latest Windows Installer.
Older systems that did not keep up with Windows Updates that does not
have the latest Windows Installer muse install with the exe, which in
turn invokes the msi.

You can't know with reliability if it's safe to run a given ".msi" file
directly unless the publisher says so. That applies even if you have the
latest version of MSI installed.

 

[Guest]

Thank you both for the reply and I'll be more careful in posting to the right
place next time.