Strange value in the REG_MULTI_SZ registry entry

[pbenes]

Hello,

I am using Advanced Installer 6.2 on Win XP SP3. I have several file associations to create during installation. After installation when I click the files whose association should be added, the installer itself is invoked instead of the registered program which should handle the file extension. In registry in the folder (for example) - My Computer\HKEY_CLASSES\...\shell\open\command there are two entries

(Default) REG_SZ "C:\Program Files\Sun\JavaFX Production Suite\ViewerFX\ViewerFX.exe" "%1"
command REG_MULTI_SZ d1nJV&!mO@d9b)ctlem8>P,{a%`b^}=59%nlIE0V@ "%1"

when I manually delete the command entry everything works fine. Do you know where the gibberish in the command entry comes from and what does it mean?

Thanks for any help.
Pavel

[GabrielBarbu]

Hi Pavel,

This behavior is known as self-healing. When a component from an installed application is missing, for example a file that was installed with the application is missing, Windows Installer starts and repairs the installation, restoring the missing file.
More details about this feature can be found here:
http://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-g ... aling.html

What you see there in that registry value might be Windows Installer's way of enabling self-healing, although I'm not sure.

Best regards,
Gabriel

[pbenes]

Hi Gabriel,

thanks for reply. Yes, I have done some investigation as well and found out that the entry is actually called "Darwin descriptor" and is somehow used to check integrity of an installation. For some reason Windows thinks that the application is broken and starts the installer to repair it. This problem seems to be quite common and only workaround is to remove the 'command' entry manually - either directly in registry or by re-applying the file type association.
It is not sure where the problem actually is - Windows or Advanced Installer. I would be willing to sacrifice this self-repair feature, is there a way how to tell Advanced Installer not to create the 'command' entry? I have checked the 'Disable Modify' and 'Disable Repair' options in the 'Product Details' page but the entry is still being created.

Thanks.
Pavel

[GabrielBarbu]

Hi Pavel,

On the Organization page in Advanced Installer, select your features and for each one click "Disable Advertise" from the right pane.

The repair usually occurs when a file is installed, then your application deletes/renames/moves it.

Let me know if it worked.

Regards,
Gabriel

[pbenes]

Hi,
unfortunately not, the entry is still there as before.

Pavel

[GabrielBarbu]

Hi,

Hmm, upon further studying, it appears auto-heal is always enabled for file associations. There is no way to disable it.

To get more information about the cause of the on demand install, open the Event Viewer ("Start -> Run", "eventvwr.msc") and look under the Application node for "MsiInstaller" log messages of the form:

> Event Type: Warning
> Event Source: MsiInstaller
> Event ID: 1001
> Description:
> Detection of product '{000C1109-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}', feature 'Example' failed during request for component '{00030829-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}'

The message and the GUIDs will of course be different on your machine. You can then check the GUIDs in the "Organization" page of your project to see which component triggers the repair.

Regards,
Gabriel

[pbenes]

Hi Gabriel,

thanks for timely response, I was able to to move a little bit further, but the problem is still there. However I believe it will be better to have it in another topic http://www.advancedinstaller.com/forums ... =2&t=10733

Thanks and regards,

Pavel