Uninstallable Patches for Installscript MSI projects

[shamik]

Hello Friends,

I have an Installscript MSI project. Whenever I try to build a patch for this project, it gives a warning - "Patches for traditional style InstallScript MSI projects will not be displayed in Add/Remove Programs and cannot be uninstalled. Error Code -7202

Can anyone please tell me if uninstallable patches are possible to create for InstallScritp MSI projects

From the warning message, it seems that uninstallable patches are never created for InstallScript MSI projects


Thanks,
Shamik.

[joshstechnij]

This is a limitation of InstallScript MSI projects. Due to their design and implementation, patches will not be displayed in Add/Remove Programs and also cannot be uninstalled.

You may try using an embedded InstallScript MSI to work around this limitation. Please see Using the InstallScript Engine as an External vs. Embedded UI Handler for InstallScript MSI Installations for more information.

[shamik]

Can this approach work even if my installation contains dynamically linked files ?

[joshstechnij]

If the package is authored carefully in the base and upgrade package(s), dynamic file links can be used in any MSI project type. Starting with IS 2009, best practice dynamic file links should be used, along with the existing previous package setting in the release that builds the upgrade package (to ensure dynamic component, file, and directory keys are synced). Also, once a file or folder has been included by a dynamic link, it can only be removed through a major upgrade (otherwise, minor upgrade component rules will be broken).