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StephenHick
Level 3

Uninstall DeskTop Shorcuts Error

I have been evaluating Install shield Spring 2012 Express, this program meets all my needs and I am very pleased with it. While testing it I did find one issue which looks unprofessional if I release my product with it. When using the uninstall program after installing my program with installshield express the uninstall program produces an error when removing shortcuts that where set up for the desktop. The actual error message is ‘Warning 1910. Could not remove shortcut XXXX.lnk. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it.’ After I press the OK button for each shortcut error the shortcuts are removed from the desktop by the uninstall program. I have tested this on a clean build of Windows 7 with no service packs installed and a clean build of Windows 8, with both editions producing the same error.

I have discussed this with the local distributor ‘Microway’ in Australia who have been very helpful, they have confirmed this problem in Install Shield express and said either via a windows update or Install shield update in the future should fix this bug as it is a known issue, they directed me to this web site which discusses the issue in general terms..

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winformssetup/thread/09f72e05-f43f-4e7e-81b6-f81c1b60dc6c

My concern is I am six weeks away from the release of my product and would appreciate to hear if this bug is to be fixed soon. I do not want to look at another product as Install shield express is an excellent product that does all I need except for this issue.

Many thanks for any input someone can give me or even better a work around. Microway suggested don’t install shortcuts on the desktop with Installshield, this is a critical need of my installation and would not do.

Stephen
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RobertDickau
Flexera Alumni

From the discussion you linked to, and other items turned up by a web search, it appears that this is an issue with Windows or Windows Installer, and not the technology used to build your installation package.

That doesn't help with your project, of course, but it doesn't seem to be something that an InstallShield upgrade would address, but rather would require a Windows update.

Robert
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StephenHick
Level 3

Many thanks for your input, I agree its seems its a Windows issue, when discussing with my local distributer they where hopeful of a Windows solution or an install shield update, on their initial testing of the problem I am of the understanding they did not have an issue with Installshield removing the links it was only Installshield Express that showed the problem. I have not been able to confirm this as I only have installshield express and that edition defiantly has the problem.

I have also tested this problem on new builds of windows 7, windows 7 with SP1 and Windows 8. Because all editions have the same problem it doesn't give confidence that Microsoft have any real concern fixing the problem. I also own a copy of Wise Installer and it doesn't show the problems Installshield shows with removing the desktop links.

Probably a question to ask would be if the problem is with Windows has anybody from Flexera approached Microsoft over this issue and what was their response?
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StephenHick
Level 3

I went and tried a different installer today, `Advance Installer' and it had the same issue of not being able to remove the desktop short, this really begs a response from Microsoft as to when a solution is coming, if nobody at Flexera has yet contacted Microsoft over this issue can I encourage that this path is followed through your contacts at Microsoft. Many thanks
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carsten
Level 4

Send an error issue to Flexera some weeks ago about this issue, and got the same answer. Really hope they contact Microsoft for a fix!

-cpede
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joshstechnij
Level 10 Flexeran
Level 10 Flexeran

We haven't been able to reproduce this behavior either on fully patched Windows 7 SP1 (x64) or Windows 8 (x64) machines. This either indicates the test MSI packages we have built don't completely contain the shortcut information needed to reproduce this behavior, or, the issue is somehow machine specific.

For anyone experiencing this behavior, please provide as much information as possible regarding the following questions:
- Is UAC fully enabled or disabled on the machines reproducing this behavior?
- Do the machines this behavior occurs on have NVidia graphics cards, and if so, does an update with a name similar to "nVidia - Graphics Adapter WDDM1.1, Graphics Adapter WDDM1.2, Other hardware - NVIDIA XXXXX" appear in the Windows Update history on the machine? (see http://community.flexerasoftware.com/showthread.php?t=203507 and http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winformssetup/thread/09f72e05-f43f-4e7e-81b6-f81c1b60dc6c)
- Does a sample MSI package that installs one component, one file, and one shortcut to that file (on the desktop) reproduce this behavior? If so, can you attach the sample MSI package to this thread?
- Does a Process Monitor (www.sysinternals.com) log during an uninstall of these packages show any attempted accesses by the Windows Installer service (msiexec.exe) to the shortcuts that produce 1910 errors? Do any of these accesses fail?
- Are SYSTEM and/or TrustedInstaller present in the permissions list for these shortcuts? Do these accounts have full access to the shortcut file? Are there any accounts listed in permissions that have any deny ACEs?
- Is 8.3 filename generation enabled or disabled on the volume that these shortcuts are installed on (what is the output of the command 'fsutil behavior query disable8dot3 c:' from an administrative command prompt)?

Please be aware that installations built with InstallShield Express editions or with Basic MSI or InstallScript MSI projects in the Professional and Premier editions of InstallShield do not use any InstallShield runtime code to install core items such as registry data, files, and shortcuts. The installation of such items from these projects is handled by the Windows Installer (MSI) service that is a component that ships with Windows. As such, issues related to runtime errors that are not due to incorrectly populated MSI databases are outside of our control (in this case error 1910 is produced by the standard MSI action 'RemoveShortcuts'). Short of being able to reproduce the issue and possibly obtain a workaround in-house or from Microsoft, we unfortunately do not have the ability to resolve issues with the Windows Installer.
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StephenHick
Level 3

I have found a thread on MSDN that discusses this problem, its a long discussion which is worth scrolling to the end of it in which Microsoft are saying this is a problem and which could have been caused by a NVidia update.

Stephen
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StephenHick
Level 3

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