Short Filename Error 1325

[CChong]

I have a situation which seems to affect users that have their usernames longer than 8.3 characters.

When the user tries to start an app that needs the msiexec program it errors with "error 1325.2002TestUser is not a valid short file name"

The user name I'm testing with is 2002testuser but it happens for all our users that have more than 8.3 chars in their username.

The users have their My document area redirected to the server as well as their Application data folder redirected.

They go to \\bhdc02\Year 2002\%username%\Mywork and \\bhdc02\Year 2002\%username%\Application data.

Has anyone come across this before and does any one know how to fix it?

I have in excess of 1000 users and I don't want to rename them all to have less than 8.3 logon names. That would be a nightmare!

I don't think this is limited to Installshield products but is a problem with msiexec itself.

Any help would be appreciated.

Clive

[MHagen]

Clive,

Thank you for your question regarding Windows Installer and error 1325. I believe you are correct in saying that this is a Windows Installer error, in fact, I think it is specific to Windows XP. I did a quick check of the Microsoft Knowledge Base (support.microsoft.com), and found the following article which may be of service:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;290301

I hope this helps, let us know if you have any other questions.

[CChong]

Having looked at the article on Technet it appears it can't be used for Windows XP, which we are using.

It seems the error is linked to the username in some way. is there a way of stepping through an msiexec install to see where the error is occuring? I am working with an MSI that is a snapshot of a setup program (Serif WebPlus 😎

Clive

[MHagen]

Clive,

My apologies on that article, I must have read everything in there _except_ the fact that it wasn't supported for Windows XP. Must have been the idea that it was about Office XP that threw me off...

Anyway, to answer your question, yes, there is an MSI debugger that you can use to try and narrow down the problem. From the AdminStudio wrapper program, bring up the help and search for Debugging under the Index, that should give you a place to start.

Again, my apologies for the mixup, let us know if you have any other questions.

[CChong]

I can't get the debugger working as it's greyed out. Is there a secret to using it?

Clive

[CChong]

Ah, have just discovered that if you open the ISM file you can debug!

Will try it.

BTW, is there a way to get a log file of whats happening when the repair action kicks in. IE when a user starts the app for the first time and it _installs_?

Clive

[RobertDickau]

For one approach, please see InstallShield KB article Q106954, at http://support.installshield.com/kb.

[CChong]

So is this caused by Installshield or msiexec? It's difficult to know which is causing the problem.
I'm certain I'm not the only person to have come across this limitation but there is nothing on the web about it.

Clive