Running an EXE during uninstall on vista

[BrianRHobbs]

Hi There, hope you can help.

So, I include a 3rd party app in my install package. it's not MSI - all I get is a setup.exe that runs. Now, I've managed to get this running correctly on both vista & xp, but the uninstall is causing me grief.

The problem occurs because the 3rd part setup actually installs 4 seperate programs, each with their own uninstall EXE. So I've added custom actions to my installer that on REMOVE="ALL" that simply call this EXE. I've had no problems with this on XP, but on vista I just can't seem to get them to run at all. I've tried a number of combinations of Execution Properties & Execution Options, but with no success.

Has anyone else been in this situation, and if so, can you provide any guidance please?

Thanks in advance,

Brian

[Cosmin]

Hi Brian,

Please note that on Vista the custom actions which affect the system should run as "Deferred with no Impersonation". Let me know if the problem persists even when using this option.

Regards,
Cosmin

[BrianRHobbs]

Hi Cosmin,

that works fine for running the install component, but what seems to be happening is that during the uninstall, it tries to run, but all that seems to happen is the uninstall app simply deletes itself - implying that it cannot see the other components that it is trying to remove. Does that make sense?

Thanks,
Brian

[Cosmin]

Hi Brian,

Please try scheduling the custom action under the "InstallExecuteSequence" -> "CostFinalize" standard action (in order to run before any files are removed). Also, make sure that it has the condition set to:

Code: Select all

REMOVE = "ALL"

Regards,
Cosmin

[BrianRHobbs]

Hi Cosmin,

I tried that, but unfortunately, moving the action into that stage only allows me to run it immediately, so I lose the "deferred no impersonation" option

Thanks,
Brian

[Cosmin]

Hi Brian,

Please move it under "InstallExecuteSequence" -> "InstallInitialize" (it supports deferred custom actions). If the problem persists please send us the AIP and a log of the uninstall to support at advancedinstaller dot com so we can investigate it. You can log the uninstall process by using this command line:

Code: Select all

msiexec /x GUID /L*V "C:\package.log"

where "GUID" is the Product Code of the MSI package.

Regards,
Cosmin

[BrianRHobbs]

Hi Cosmin,

that looks like it has solved it.

thanks for the help with this - I appreciate the quick response!

Brian