How file sequences identify the file source for installation, and how patches resolve source for new files....

An update to problems I was having with the Palm Treo 700w....

Reasons for setting ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT to 1 despite the dangers....

How to condition your standard and custom actions to run depending on whether your repairing, or installing or uninstalling a patch....

Download public symbols for Windows executables to debug stack issues....

How to create a patch-specific property to help identify whether patches were applied to an administrative image being installed....

How to install retail redistributables of Windows Installer on checked builds of Windows....

I've been away for a while, though I've barely left the Microsoft campus. As we prepare for Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1, I've been very busy with issues: especially an issue with the size of the patch. Visual Studio is probably the biggest product...

A reader pointed out that the list of fixes for .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 were published. I also see from the .NET Framework 3.5 download page that the list of fixes for .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1 were also published. Both are listed below...

As announced on Soma's blog, Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Beta is available today. You can sign up to download the beta and receive more information about what was fixed. Shortly after you complete the survey to sign up you'll receive an email with...

Some have noticed that the msiexec.exe process seems to run for quite some time after a known installation completing, or that the Windows Installer service starts and stops even though it is set to manual startup mode. These are often the same process...

As Developer Division starts to ship patches for the Visual Studio 2008 , some users are being prompted for installation source media. This is a resulting of Windows Installer needing the original source files if, for example, files are missing from disk...

Windows Installer is a client/server application. When you install a package using msiexec.exe - which is executed by default in response to shell verbs such as Install - or APIs like MsiInstallProduct the package is initially processed under the user...

Users have asked why space is required on the system drive (typically the C: drive) when they choose to install Visual Studio 11 to another drive. While Visual Studio 11 does allow you to install the majority of features to another drive, VS11 still requires...

Customers have been offered KB937061 for Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 from Microsoft Update when they have already installed it. The Microsoft Security Response Center blog has more information about the problem and what they have done to fix it...

In a recent change - while we were still known as Developer Division Sustained Engineering - I addressed a functional change that relied on locales instead of languages for MUI support. I see this mistake a lot in developer forums and so I wanted to address...

The tool msizap.exe that is available in the Windows SDK and elsewhere on the web (remember to always download from a trusted source) is a powerful but dangerous tool that is often used to quickly and casually, and can leave your machine in a corrupted...

A few customers have reported the following error after upgrading from VS2012 Beta to the Release Candidate (RC): Invalid License Data Reinstall is required. Aaron Marten on the Visual Studio Extensibility team has a post describing how...

How to find the ProductCode or the product package in the local cache given a product name....

Windows Installer 5.0 is shipping in Windows 7 as part of the operating system. To address the issue where the User Account Control consent dialog is displayed with an “Unidentified Publisher”, the .msi package is cached in its entirety. Prior to Windows...

As announced in Soma’s blog post , Visual Studio 2010 SP1 has been released to MSDN subscribers today and will release to the general public on Thursday, March 10th. We have made a number of significant changes in Visual Studio 2010 SP1 from past releases...

In preparation for the biggest release in entertainment history - Halo 2 - I finally decided to buy a wireless bridge. The Linksys Wireless-G Game Adapter (WGA54G) seemed a little pricey at first glance, but after using it tonight I think it's well worth...

In response to a previous post about how large patches can cause problems, reader Zodman asks , "Would it be fair to say that SP1 is actually ready, and that the only hold up is problems with the install?" While I can't comment on any dates or availability...

.NET 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 will require Windows Installer 2.0 on 9x and 3.0 on NT, but you can download 3.1 now to be ready to install patches....

The Application Compatibility (AppCompat) platform in Windows is a powerful feature that allows for fixes on practically any program or package to be loaded on Windows. Windows Installer takes advantage of a protected database full of fixes in the form...