Reverse engineering a setup - lesson 1 - .NET Framework 1.1

re: Reverse engineering a setup - lesson 1 - .NET Framework 1.1

campbelln@shaw.ca — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 21:58:00 GMT

Hi,
It is clear you know a great deal more about computers than I do. I am a user of some 20 years, but I have not had formal training in the field.

I have Drive Image 7 installed, and shortly after the original installation a year ago, I downloaded and installed version 7.01. More recently, there was yet another patch which I have installed as well. As far as I can tell, my installation is right up to date.

However, when I double click on the Drive Image 7 icon, instead of getting the program I want, I get an installation process for Microsoft's .NET program, and part way through the installation, the system says I have to provide (browse to) the directory where "netfx.msi" is available, and though I have searched my own drive, another computer, the Drive Image 7 original CD, I can not find the file anywhere. I downloaded and installed the .NET 1.1 file dotnetfx.exe, thinking that would solve my problem, but I still end up with the same thing.

Where can I get the file I need, and how can I get Drive Image to work?

Why does Windows Installer start installing some other product when I try to install or use a different MSI-based product?

Aaron Stebner's WebLog — Wed, 25 Aug 2004 00:30:00 GMT

re: Reverse engineering a setup - lesson 1 - .NET Framework 1.1

Aaron Stebner — Tue, 24 Aug 2004 21:38:00 GMT

Hi, this is a really good question. I created a new blog entry at http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2004/08/24/219764.aspx where I try to address the root cause of this. For your particular issue I would recommend looking at the ending of my new post and using the steps to export the application event log on your system. Then if you can zip it and email to me at aaronste "at" microsoft "dot" com, I can take a look and try to help you figure out what is going on and get it fixed.....hope this helps!

re: Reverse engineering a setup - lesson 1 - .NET Framework 1.1

J Baker — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 02:44:38 GMT

Great article. I am currently having an issue with a particular .msi file. I am attempting to install a software package on a thin client and drive space is extremely limited. When this particular .msi file begins to load, the temp folder created to unpack the files takes up a majority of the available space and causes the package installation to fail. I would like to know how (if possible) to edit the .msi file to use another drive for the temp. I've done s significant amount of research onthis matter, but I can't seem to get a resolution. I have installed Orca and I am aboe to edit the .msi file. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

re: Reverse engineering a setup - lesson 1 - .NET Framework 1.1

astebner — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 03:32:55 GMT

Hi J Baker - You may want to look into creating an administrative install point for this scenario. I believe doing that will eliminate the need for the extra temp space needed by MSI. You can run msiexec /a <your msi> TARGETDIR=<path> to create an administrative layout in the location of your choice, and then install it from that location. Can you give that a try and see if it meets your needs?

Come funziona tecnicamente un setup per Windows Installer?

Alessandro Del Sole's Blog — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 14:04:49 GMT

How can I change the TARGETDIR of a MSI during installation?

kaushik_aj — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:07:26 GMT

I have a requirement where I want to configure the Target Directory for the MSI being installed. I need to set it when the MSI is actually being installed. The Target directory path is stored in the registry.

Is there some vb script which reads the Target Directory path from the registry and sets it as a parameter for the Installing MSI? Can the script can be added as a Custom Action -> Install?

Thanks

Kaushik

re: Reverse engineering a setup - lesson 1 - .NET Framework 1.1

astebner — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 06:36:55 GMT

Hi Kaushik_aj - You do not need a custom action to achieve this. You can use a RegLocator to check the registry value and then use it to set a property that is used for the target directory for your application.

Framework 1.1 reinstall error 1935

JCOKE — Wed, 30 May 2007 00:05:35 GMT

Having researched this problem for many hours, your blog has yielded the best advice and hints. Problem: We have many Panasonic Toughbooks which were built on a 2005 corporate Image. We have Net 1.1 Hotfix 1 loaded, XP SP2. We have a couple of new programs which have had problem running under .net. The system will not load Net SP1. After we uninstall everything and starting over we are completely blocked. Where we are now is that we have tried all of the suggestions on the web but none have worked. We consistently get the "1935" error. Loading various diagnostic tools and creating logs have pointed to a file that can not be found: "netfxsbs11.exe". There is a netfxsbs10.exe, which resides in the Framework folder, but the former is nowhere to be found. I suspect it may be part of the "mscoree.dll" file. The ORCA dump has a call for a CA Patch uninstall and install of the netfxsbs11.exe in the Custom Patch table. The "dotnetfx.exe" we are using is 1.1.4322.573 1/14/2002.

If you have any ideas we would be very grateful.

re: Reverse engineering a setup - lesson 1 - .NET Framework 1.1

astebner — Thu, 31 May 2007 21:07:50 GMT

Hi JCOKE - You don't have to worry about the missing netfxsbs11.exe. This is a hook that we put in place in case we needed it later, and we haven't needed it yet, so that action will just result in a no-op.

I would suggest trying to fully clean off the .NET Framework 1.1 using the cleanup tool described at http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/05/30/611355.aspx and then attempt to re-install it.

If that doesn't help, please use the steps listed at http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2005/03/29/help-me-help-you-if-you-have-setup-bugs.aspx to gather a verbose log from the .NET Framework installation that is failing and zip and send it to me so I can take a further look. You can send it to Aaron.Stebner (at) microsoft (dot) com.