.NET Installer Error

[Steve Barker]

Hi guys,

I've recently written a .NET installer package. It installs a Windows
application and some supporting DLLs. I’ve written these before and never had
problems…. until now.

This is what happens:

The installer gets almost to the end, but then a message box pops up saying:

Could not find file “{install location}\{executable name}.InstallState�.

Obviously, the stuff in curly brackets is replaced with the actual
locations! I’ve got no idea why this is happening! Has anyone got any ideas?!

Thanks in advance,

Steve.

[Jan Bannister]

Hey Steve,

The InstallState file is used to serialize the InstallState Dictionary
to disk after an installation has occured. 2 Things could be happening.
1 You are running an installer that uninstalls a previous version. It
is trying to run the uninstall phase, not finding the serialized
installState file and failing because the installer is accessing a
persisted variable.

2. The installer is just installing and is unable to save the
IstallerState file.

If 1 is your issue, try using MsiZap to clear the previous install an
remember not to delete the InstallState file in future, if 2 is your
issue, I'm at a bit of a lost... file permissions spring to mind, but
that's unlikly as the installer runs with elivated permissions...

Hope that helps,
Jan

[Steve Barker]

Jan,

Thanks very much for your help!

However... I think we're in your second case here, since the install failed
the very first time I tried it! The first time I tried it, I'm pretty sure I
was running with administrator rights too, so I doubt it's a permissions
issue. I've never had problems with installers before, so I'm at a loss as to
what is happening.

Thanks again,

Steve.

"Jan Bannister" wrote:

Hey Steve,

The InstallState file is used to serialize the InstallState Dictionary
to disk after an installation has occured. 2 Things could be happening.
1 You are running an installer that uninstalls a previous version. It
is trying to run the uninstall phase, not finding the serialized
installState file and failing because the installer is accessing a
persisted variable.

2. The installer is just installing and is unable to save the
IstallerState file.

If 1 is your issue, try using MsiZap to clear the previous install an
remember not to delete the InstallState file in future, if 2 is your
issue, I'm at a bit of a lost... file permissions spring to mind, but
that's unlikly as the installer runs with elivated permissions...

Hope that helps,
Jan

[Gary Chang[MSFT]]

Hi Steve,

This issue appears to be an msi setup package issue, would please post this
problem to the microsoft.public.platformsdk.msi group, I think you will get
more specific help in that group.

By the way, when you post this issue to the platformsdk.msi group, it is
better if you can provide more detailed info about the {install
location}\{executable name}.InstallState file which could not be found, for
example is it a CA...
Thanks for your understanding!

Best regards,

Gary Chang
Microsoft Community Support
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[Steve Barker]

Gary,

Thanks for your help. I've reposted in the group you recommended.

The file mentioned in the error message is not something I created. I am
under the impression that the msi creates the file itself, which is why it's
weird that it can't be found. By the way, what is CA?

Thanks,

Steve.

""Gary Chang[MSFT]"" wrote:

Hi Steve,

This issue appears to be an msi setup package issue, would please post this
problem to the microsoft.public.platformsdk.msi group, I think you will get
more specific help in that group.

By the way, when you post this issue to the platformsdk.msi group, it is
better if you can provide more detailed info about the {install
location}\{executable name}.InstallState file which could not be found, for
example is it a CA...
Thanks for your understanding!

Best regards,

Gary Chang
Microsoft Community Support
--------------------
Get Secure! ¡§C www.microsoft.com/security
Register to Access MSDN Managed Newsgroups!
http://support.microsoft.com/default...sdn/nospam.asp
&SD=msdn

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Gary Chang[MSFT]]

Hi Steve,

I am under the impression that the msi creates the file
itself, which is why it's weird that it can't be found.
By the way, what is CA?

The CA means the custom action in the setup package, I just noticed one
community member has posted a reply to your problem in the platformsdk.msi
newsgroup, we will wait for your response there.
Thanks for your understanding!

Best regards,

Gary Chang
Microsoft Community Support
--------------------
Get Secure! ¡§C www.microsoft.com/security
Register to Access MSDN Managed Newsgroups!
http://support.microsoft.com/default...sdn/nospam.asp
&SD=msdn

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.