msi repair auto update block

[gl]

I'm currently using the old appudater util from asp.net, however this is very
similar to the updater application block offered by microsoft. Basically, I
set up a folder structure using a setup and deployment project that mimics
the folder version setup of the update block. Then i install the program and
the basic idea is that any msi will automatically update to our version on
the server (since it installs to a directory with the appstart exe and
version folder). This seemed to work fine however we ran into an issue (that
might not even be related to updating).

We create a standard shortcut that links to the appstart.exe on the user's
desktop. This works fine the first time, however after updating, the shortcut
instead starts an install process just like we were installing the msi from
scratch. We think that the msi/windows detects something with the app has
changed (which it has) and tries to fix itself. The app then generates an
error.

The temporary way to fix this is to recreate the shortcut on the desktop and
have it point directly to the appstart exe. It then works properly however
this isn't very acceptable in the long term.

So basically my questions are:
1) Can you stop that repair action, or build the project in a different way
so that the shorcut continues to work properly even though the app has
changed?
2) Is there a way to link a shortcut in a setup and deployment project
directly to an exe that you put into the project manually? (not the primary
project output). Right now the shortcut seems to point to the directory, and
not the exact file.

Thanks for any help. This has been a tough issue that i can't seem to find
an answer to.