![]() Similarly, clicking the Remove button in the Add or Remove Programs panel runs a product's uninstaller with a basic user interface, again with the result that any actions that occur in the user interface sequence will not be performed.Therefore, any actions that occur in the user interface sequence will not be performed during a silent installation. A user can install an MSI package in quiet mode, bypassing this phase entirely, by running the msiexec.exe command-line utility with the /qn (or /qb or /qr) option and specifying on the command line all the information that the wizard would normally gather.However, the user interface sequence should not make any changes to the system. ![]() The user interface phase typically queries the target system and displays an installation wizard and enables the user to change various options that will affect the installation. A word-processing program, for example, might provide features for the main program executable, the program's help files, and optional spelling checker and stationery modules. The package author defines the product features. More complex installation programs usually display a "custom setup" dialog box at run time, from which the end user can select which features to install or remove. Many software packages only involve one feature. ![]() No two components should use the same key path.Ī feature is a hierarchical group of components-a feature can contain any number of components and other features (a feature contained in another feature is called a "subfeature"). This process is also known as self-healing or self-repair. If there is a mismatch between the current system state and the value specified in the MSI package (e.g., a key file is missing), then the related feature is re-installed. When an MSI-based application is launched, Windows Installer checks the existence of these critical files or registry keys (that is, the key paths). A component can contain at most one key path if a component has no explicit key path, the component's destination directory is taken to be the key path. Because a file is the most common type of key path, the term key file is commonly used. The end user does not directly interact with components.Ĭomponents are identified globally by GUIDs, thus the same component can be shared among several features of the same package or multiple packages, ideally through the use of Merge Modules (although, for this to work correctly, different components should not share any sub-components).Ī key path is a specific file, registry key, or ODBC data source that the package author specifies as critical for a given component. Components can contain files, directories, COM components, registry keys, shortcuts, and other data. A product is made up of components,Ī single, installed, working program (or set of programs) is a product.Ī product is identified by a unique GUID (the ProductCode property).Ī product is not the same as a package: a single MSI package might install multiple different products.įor example, an MSI might install French and English versions of a program, each of which is a different product.Ī component is the minimal part of a product-each component is treated by Windows Installer as a unit: the install developer cannot, for example, use a condition to specify to install just part of a component. Identified by a GUID (the PackageCode property). Handle dependencies between products) and is universally More full products (Windows Installer does not 3.5 Merge Modules and Nested ExecutablesĪ package describes the installation of one or.Important features such as rollback and versioning depend on a consistent internal database for reliable operation. Microsoft encourages third parties to use Windows Installer as the basis for installation frameworks, so that they synchronize correctly with other installers and keep the internal database of installed products consistent. Windows Installer is positioned as an alternative to stand-alone executable installer frameworks such as older versions of InstallShield and Wise (later versions of both products are based on Windows Installer) and NSIS. New features include a GUI framework and automatic generation of the uninstallation sequence. Windows Installer contains significant changes from its predecessor, Setup API. The installation information, and often the files themselves, are packaged in installation packages, loosely relational databases structured as OLE COM Structured Storages and commonly known as "MSI files", from their default file extension. The Windows Installer (previously known as Microsoft Installer) is a software component used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software on modern Microsoft Windows systems.
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