Prerequisite wizard ending up in scheduled tasks

[AlexH]

Hello all,

Our software uses PhysX by Nvidia, and we install the PhysX runtime along with our application. NVidias installer being somewhat buggy (silent mode does not request elevated privileges under Vista, ending up failing silently), we had to run it as a prerequisite. This seems to work fine. The prereq wizard shows up, installs the PhysX runtimes, and then continues with our main app. The problem arises if the user cancels the installation of the prerequisite and aborts the entire procedure before the prereq could be installed. In that case, our installation package somehow ends up as a scheduled task, and it will automatically run every time the user logs on ! The only way to get rid of it is to allow the installation of the prerequisite (or by removing it through sysinternals, but that's obviously not an option for our customers).

This is under XP SP3. AI is version 7.3.

The NVidia runtime exe (which is itself a bootstrapped MSI) was added under Software Prerequisites, as a file in package. There is an install condition by product code. The "Force installation of prerequisite" is enabled (our software cannot run without it). The "Global prerequisite installs before main MSI package" is enabled. All other settings are at default.

Any ideas ?

- Alex

[GabrielBarbu]

Hi Alex,

You are encountering this behavior because the installer supports rebooting. It thus sets a scheduled task beforehand, so that in the event of a reboot it can launch itself again.

Short of letting the prerequisite finish installing, the alternative is to use a Feature-based prerequisite. This would let the user choose whether to install the prerequisite or not. Make sure you are using a SetupTypeDlg instead of a FolderDlg on the Dialogs page, so the user has the interface to select which features are being installed.

Regards,
Gabriel