Clicking on created shortcut triggers reinstallation

[Benjamin]

I have a very strange problem.

I have developed a .NET solution. To set up user clients I have also
included a "Deployment Project" in the solution:

Using "File System Editor | User's Program Menu" configuration a "Shortcut"
is created and pointing to the client EXE-file.

The created msi-file, NETProgram.msi, works perfectly on the clients.
A Start Menu shortcut is correctly created in "C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\NETProgram", and the client EXE is started when
clicking on the shortcut.

The strange thing is that after "a while" the shortcut doesn´t work anymore.
When clicking on the shortcut instead following happens:
1. First a dialog with text "Preparing to install..." is shown.
2. After a few seconds a new dialog is shiown with the text "The feature you
are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable.
Click OK to try again, or enter an alternative path to a folder containing
the installation package 'NETProgram[1].msi' in the box below."

Why this corrupted behaviour ?

I have yet no idea what it is that makes the shortcut to stop working.
Nothing has happened with the EXE-file that the shortcut is pointing out.

Any hint is appreciated.

Best regards,
Benjamin, Sweden

[Benjamin]

After looking around little - I have now understood that it is relevant to
mention that we have implemented an auto-update-client-feature that is
working well.

http://windowsforms.net/articles/appupdater.aspx

Anyway - I do not Windows to do any automagically repair checks for this
application. How to configure the "Deployment Project" ?

[Felix Wang]

Hi,

The behavior you observed is the "resiliency" feature of Windows Installer.
The shortcuts generated by Setup Project are all "advertised shortcuts"
which can trigger resiliency.

INFO: Description of Resiliency in Windows Installer
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=290997

We have no direct way to disable this feature in the Setup Project. You
have two options here:

1. Do not generate the shortcut in the Setup Project. Instead, wrtie a
custom action and use IShellLink to create a shortcut on your own. The
following article will be useful to you:

Using the IShellLink interface to create file shortcuts.
http://www.mvps.org/emorcillo/dotnet...shortcut.shtml

You need to pass the installation target folder and the programs menu
folder into the custom action:

Walkthrough: Passing Data to a Custom Action
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/vsintro7/ht
ml/vxwlkWalkthroughPassingDataToCustomAction.asp?fram e=true

2. You can build your current Setup Project with the shortcut and then use
Windows Installer Platform SDK tool to modify the resultant MSI directly:

How To Use the Orca Database Editor to Edit Windows Installer Files
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=255905

You need to modify the "Shortcut" table. Replace the "Target" column with
the formatted identifier for the EXE file (e.g. " [#filekey]" where
"filekey" is the "File" column of the EXE file in the "File" table). You
may need some basic Windows Installer knowledge here:

Shortcut Table
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/msi/setup/s
hortcut_table.asp

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Felix Wang
Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
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