Uninstalling an older version installed by the Group Policy

[janik.otto]

Hello!

We need to install a newer version of a PDF-Viewer, but it doesn't uninstall the previously via Group Policy installed Version. We imported the msi of the newest version into AI and saw, that it should detect and uninstall the older versions. We noticed that the GPO-Version has another GUID than AI gets from the MSI-Package, so we added it manually - but it still doesn't uninstall the old Version.

We can uninstall the old Version by using msiexec.exe /x{GUID}, but when trying to run this command while the setup is running, we get the message, that another setup is running.

What could we do?

[mihai.petcu]

Hello and welcome to the Advanced Installer Forums,

We can uninstall the old Version by using msiexec.exe /x{GUID}, but when trying to run this command while the setup is running, we get the message, that another setup is running.

This is the standard behavior of the Windows Installer process in the InstallExecuteSequence, you cannot have two setup install threads running at the same time. You can only run another install/uninstall process during the InstallUISequence, but if you are installing your product silently through GPO, this is not the case.

What could we do?

To solve this you could also try to add the Upgrade Codes of the old versions in the Upgrades list on the Upgrades Page. This way if they are installed on the target machine they will be uninstalled before the main installation.
You can get the Upgrade Codes of the old versions by opening the MSIs with Orca.exe.

Here is a link to our tutorial that shows how to remove previously installed packages through GPO.

Best,
Mihai

[crazymetzel]

Hi

We have tested it with the Update Code, given by the GPO Msi package, but it did not work.
What is the right command which the upgrade needs?
In our Case, we dont find the Upgrade code inside the registry of our workstation, only the Product code.

[mihai.petcu]

Hello and welcome to the Advanced Installer Forums,

What is the right command which the upgrade needs?

Please follow our "Deploying a MSI through GPO" tutorial. The "Redeploy a MSI package" section should answer your question. You should have these settings in place for your upgrade to perform in GPO environment.

In our Case, we dont find the Upgrade code inside the registry of our workstation, only the Product code.

To find out how the upgrade code is stored in the registry, please follow this post.

Best,
Mihai