So we have a 2010 basic msi that places files in the GAC. These have had no issues in the past and placing them there has been stable for a really long time.
Fast forward to yesterday...
If we do a clean install of our application on a machine the files are placed in the GAC. Great.
However, if a user runs a major upgrade and installs a newer version over itself, ONLY on XP machines does that file not get replaced in the GAC. It simply disappears on the uninstall sequence. Now if we do the same on Windows7 it works fine, the upgrade occurs and the files are still in the GAC from the second part of the upgrade.
So to be succinct....
1. Windows 7, run MSI major upgrade on itself files are placed in GAC on upgrade. 2. Windows XP, run MSI major upgrade on itself , files are removed from GAC.
Now, this file install into GAC is exactly the same on both versions. There has been no change here. I'm starting to suspect this may be a Windows installer bug since it's happening on one version and not another.
Anyone have any ideas about this? Or a possible workaround? thanks!
This link solution above, doesn't allow one to run custom actions outside install finalize that affect the operating system. So this solution doens't work for us. Instead we wrote an EXE that will be called to put some files in the GAC instead.
