Error running installer after removing a custom action

[StuRowcliffe]

Hello

I have recently removed a custom action from my install project. Now, when i go to run the install i get the following error:

'There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor.'

When i look at the install logs in appdata/local/temp the first line repeats this error, then adds

'Action: MyRemovedCustomActionProgram.exe, location: C:\Program Files (x86)\XXXX\XXXX\XXXXXX.exe, command: '

It looks like its trying to run the custom action, which has been removed, however the command is blank.

Does anyone have any ideas how i can resolve this issue?

Thanks
Stuart

[Catalin]

Hello Stuart and welcome to Advanced Installer forums,

From what I can understand here, you are stating that the setup still tries to run the custom action even if you have deleted it? This sounds like a strange behavior, indeed.

You have probably only deleted the .EXE (that represents your CA) from your setup, but you have not deleted the call to that .EXE (the custom action from your project - e.g. a "Launch File" custom action, etc.) from "Custom Actions" page.

Could you please double check that and let me know if that is the case?

Best regards,
Catalin

[StuRowcliffe]

Hi Catalin,

Thanks for coming back to me. The exe is still present in the installer as I still want the program to be installed, just don't need it to be launched following install any more.
I removed the launch file custom action from the custom action list but it still appears to be attempting to process it, although not fully looking at the install log.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Thanks
Stuart

[Catalin]

Hello Stuart,

In order for me to have a better look about this, could you please forward me the following:

- the verbose log of the installation process

- the .AIP file used to build the setup

- the name of the EXE that you were trying to launch

by e-mail at support at advancedinstaller dot com?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Catalin

[Catalin]

Hello Stuart,

First of all, thank you for the provided files.

I have investigated the sent .AIP file and the sent log file.

In the log files, I could notice multiple actions failing, such as: InstallFinalize, INSTALL, ExecuteAction and also the MainEngineThread returning 1603.

Pretty much all of these actions are failing due to other action(s).

After having a look over your project, I could notice that you have moved the "RemoveExistingProducts" standard action after the "Finish Execution" action group. Please keep in mind that this standard action is meant to be scheduled after the "InstallValidate" standard action, during the Preparing action group.

Standard actions are the same for every Windows Installer package and it is not recommended to change their order (since there may be one standard action depending on another standard action).

With that being said, I think that this may be the reason behind the failure of the above mentioned actions.

Could you please try to schedule the "RemoveExistingProducts" action where it normally should be scheduled and let me know if that works?

Also, could you please give me some more details about why have you re-scheduled it to execute after the "Finish Execution" action group? I have been trying to think of a reason for this, but to be fully honest with you, I could not find any scenario in which you would need to re-schedule it.

Best regards,
Catalin