A couple months ago, I created an InstallScript project for our beta release. For various reasons, we decided to switch to Basic MSI for the final release. Since both products had the same name, but different project GUIDs, I figured it would be best to force an uninstall of the beta before users install the final release. This all works great.
The problem is, in the course of my testing, I ran the MSI install with the InstallScript project still installed to see what would happen and it caused all sorts of problems I can't get rid of. When I tried to install the final release (MSI), on one occasion the installer just disappeared, and on another occasion it ran to completion and put two products of the same name in Add/Remove programs. So then I tried uninstalling both, but when I ran the uninstall for the final release (MSI), the program was removed from Add/Remove programs and the uninstall shortcut link in the start menu disappeared, but my desktop shortcut was still there, all other start menu shortcuts were still there, and the majority of the project files were still installed. But now with no option to uninstall, I had to manually delete my program files and shortcuts to get rid of them. I also tried deleting all registry keys associated with the program to get a clean slate, but now everytime I install the release and then uninstall, the same files and shortcuts are all still left behind. Is there anything I can do to resolve this issue? All I really want is to go back to a clean slate without having to reimage my computer. Any suggestions?
Sorry for the complicated question. Thanks in advance for your help!
This may be caused by shared file reference counts in the registry that are being incremented each time these setups are installed (the first time each was installed, the MSI package likely would have bumped the share counts to 2, assuming the files were installed to the same folder; items such as shortcuts would be treated differently, though). After cleaning up all files, check the registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDlls for any references to files installed by these setups. If any are present, delete them and try installing and uninstalling again.
