CODEWITHSUNDEEP
installationwixwindows-installerremoveall
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Reputation: 41

Wix - remove all files when apply major special update

In previous version of installer, created by Wix, next code exists:

<InstallExecuteSequence>
<RemoveExistingProducts After="InstallInitialize" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>

In order to work around the bug in Windows Installer described in this knowledge base article code has been fixed:

<InstallExecuteSequence>
<RemoveExistingProducts After="InstallFinalize" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>

But now, if I install program with installer with first code and then install program with installer with second code without remove installed program, all files remove and my path exist empty folders (all files in both installer have equal name).

If I open second installer and press Repair - all files appear.

What wrong and how this problem fix?

P.S. Sorry for my English :(

Upvotes: 2

Views: 434

Answers (1)

Wim Coenen
Wim Coenen

Reputation: 66793

Just a guess: It sounds like the first and the second setup install the same files but as part of components with different component id's. To verify this, you can open both msi files with orca.exe and compare the component ids.

The component IDs should stay the same, so that they can be properly reference counted. Otherwise you will get different components trying to manage the same files, which will in this case result in disappearing files when either of the components is uninstalled.

If you follow the windows installer rule that the content of a component should never change (i.e. never remove or add files to it) then the component GUIDs generated by wix should automatically stay stable. This is one of the reasons why it is best to have one component per file.

Upvotes: 2

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