JamesJ said:
OS: Windows XP Home Ed SP2. All Windows Updates are up to date. P4 3.2 GHz.
Windows installer appears randomly stating "Preparing to install..." it does
not say what. When cancelled the messge remains on the monitorfor about 30
seconds during any other activity is frozen.
How can I prevent this?
Hi,
Most likely it is Windows Installer doing an on-demand installation...
See "Every time I launch my application, Windows Installer performs an
installation. How can I determine the cause of the on-demand installation?"
in the FAQ at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/community/centers/management/msi_faq.mspx
To access the Application Log in the Event viewer,
run the following command from Start/Run:
eventvwr.msc
If you are running Windows XP (or have access to a Windows XP computer,
you can copy MSIZAP.EXE over to your Win2k computer):
If a product code is listed there and this product is not really installed,
MSIZAP.EXE is maybe able to fix this issue, it is included as a utility in
the support tools installation package (on your WinXP CD) with some additional
documentation included in suptools.chm (installed by suptools.msi).
It will remove all Windows Installer entries for a product key that you feed
it with.
Note that if MSIZAP.EXE is used incorrectly it can affect other applications
on the machine.
Based on the documentation in
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/msi/setup/msizap_exe.asp
this is what you should run:
msizap T {product code}
an example:
msizap T {FFB37294-1155-17D3-A809-0250BAAFB1AB}
Alternatively, for a more user friendly interface to MSIZAP.EXE ,
take a look at this article:
Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301