ThinApp package wanting to run MSIEXEC

[TrevorIT]

Hi,

We have an application which we are attempting to ThinApp, the application installs onto Windows 7 with no issues and only requires SQL Native Client.  When I have built the ThinApp package and run the EXE the application is attempting to run Windows Installer and errors with Error 1719: The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed.

I was able to successfully create a ThinApp of the application when it was installed on Windows XP, but we are now in the process of migrating to Windows 7 and need to update this package too.

I am using Windows 7 SP1, and have tried both pre-installing SQL Native Client and installing it as part of the package both.

Is it possible to find out why MSIEXEC is attempting to run, and how could I stop it from needing to do this?

MSIEXEC runs each time the package is executed, it wouldnt be as much of an issue if it needed to only do this the first time a user runs the package.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

[Lakshman]

Windows Installer Error 1719 could be caused for many reason.

Create a detailed log for the MSI by running msiexec /i thinapp.msi /l*v "C:\log.txt" and check if you can find something.

[TrevorIT]

Even though the package doesnt have a MSI generated?  We are accessing the package by running the executable.

Matt

[Lakshman]

Ah. Sorry i misunderstood the problem.

Can you check the Event viewer logs for any Windows Installer errors?

[TrevorIT]

OK, in the Event Viewer on the PC I am attempting to execute the package I can see an error from MsiInstaller (same message as contained on the dialog box), however located after this entry (and there are several errors, but the following data is the same for all of them), there is an Informational message with the following details:

Source: MsiInstaller

Event ID: 1042

Message: Ending a Windows Installer transaction: {8B211A54-4D2D-44F6-8E70-451F44F62419}.  Client Process Id: 2592.

I then did a text search of all files contained within the captures folder for the package, and found two files of interest the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.txt and Package.ini files.

Contained within the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.txt file is the following, there were a total of 5 entries in this file for this hex string (they are all contained in the file attached):

isolation_full HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\45A112B8D2D46F44E80754F1446F4291
  Value=ProductName
  REG_SZ~Elite Enterprise 3.9#2300
  Value=PackageCode
  REG_SZ~BE9E67C5D8EE40A4AA124143753D2390#2300
  Value=Language
  REG_DWORD=#09#04#00#00
  Value=Version
  REG_DWORD=#00#00#09#03
  Value=Assignment
  REG_DWORD=#01#00#00#00
  Value=AdvertiseFlags
  REG_DWORD=#84#01#00#00
  Value=ProductIcon
  REG_SZ~%SystemRoot%\Installer\{8B211A54-4D2D-44F6-8E70-451F44F62419}\ARPPRODUCTICON.exe#2300
  Value=InstanceType
  REG_DWORD=#00#00#00#00
  Value=AuthorizedLUAApp
  REG_DWORD=#00#00#00#00
  Value=DeploymentFlags
  REG_DWORD=#03#00#00#00
  Value=Clients
  REG_MULTI_SZ~:#2300#2300

And contained within Package.ini is the two sections:

[Enterprise (2).exe]
Source=%SystemRoot%\Installer\{8B211A54-4D2D-44F6-8E70-451F44F62419}\Enterprise.exe
Shortcut=Elite Enterprise 3.9.dat
Disabled=1

[ARPPRODUCTICON.exe]
Source=%SystemRoot%\Installer\{8B211A54-4D2D-44F6-8E70-451F44F62419}\ARPPRODUCTICON.exe
Shortcut=Elite Enterprise 3.9.dat
Disabled=1

Now I may be way off the reservation here, but are these potentially the cause of the installer running?  Is there are way that I can disable these or comment out these lines or something?

My entry point (and DAT file) lines look like the following if this helps in any way.

[Elite Enterprise 3.9.dat]
Source=%ProgramFilesDir%\Thomson Elite\Enterprise\Enterprise.exe
;Change ReadOnlyData to bin\Package.ro.tvr to build with old versions(4.6.0 or earlier) of tools
ReadOnlyData=Package.ro.tvr
MetaDataContainerOnly=1

[Enterprise.exe]
Source=%ProgramFilesDir%\Thomson Elite\Enterprise\Enterprise.exe
Shortcut=Elite Enterprise 3.9.dat
WorkingDirectory=%ProgramFilesDir%\Thomson Elite\Enterprise\
Icon=%SystemRoot%\Installer\{8B211A54-4D2D-44F6-8E70-451F44F62419}\Enterprise.exe
Shortcuts=%Programs%\Elite Enterprise

The application is a 32bit application, which runs without any problems when installed onto a Windows 7 64bit PC.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

[TrevorIT]

In addition to the Error and Informational messages in the Event Viewer, I also just saw there was a wanring message:

Source: MsiInstaller

Event ID: 1001

Message: Detection of product '{8B211A54-4D2D-44F6-8E70-451F44F62419}', feature 'Supporting_Files" failed during request for component '{22056900-C842-11D1-A0DD-00A0C9054277}'.

This message is found before the Informational message advising the MsiInstaller is beginning a transaction.

[Lakshman]

Matt,

Is that Application supported on Win 7? Can you try installing the app locally and check please?

[TrevorIT]

Yes, the application is supported and functions properly when installed on Windows 7 (we run x64).

[Lakshman]

Delete or comment out all the reference to the components mentioned in the Event viewer from package.ini, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.txt and HKEY_CURRENT_USER.txt. Rebuild the ThinApp and check it out. Make sure you have a backup of the project folder.

If that doesn't help, try capturing the application on Win 7 and test it on a clean machine (Win 7)

[VmAwareness]

Hopefully these tips will help you out, and some may be already known.

1) Know your app intimately from an installer/runtime  perspective. Or, get someone that really knows it and drag them along  kicking/screaming into the thin-apping process.

2) 32bit App on 32bit OS, 32bit App on 64bit OS, 32bit thinapp on 64bit OS, etc... = headache

If you can, use the lowest common supported OS and avoid using default C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) directories. To sometimes increase your chances of ThinApp success for a 32bit app on 64bit Windows 7 OS... then

•   Use a clean Windows 7 32bit machine (Or even Windows XP 32 bit)
  • I had an app that needed the XP centric msvbvm60.dll, olepro32.dll to run properly that did or did not install depending on the capture base OS. See POINT 1.
    *** I had a 32bit app that would locally install and run on a 32bit and  64bit versions of XP and 7. But would not run as a ThinApp on 64bit  Windows 7 unless it was captured on 32 bit Window7. 32bit/64bit XP, and  64bit 7 captured versions would all have runtime errors.
•   Install the app in any other folder than C:\Program Files\ or C:\Program Files (x86).  Best to install it on a non standard non defaultly created folder.
  • ThinApp  runtime sometimes get confused on the %Program Files% environmental  variable when running on 64bit or 32bit OSes. Just remove the headache  and don't use the default directories.
    *** With that said, I had an  app that functioned properly at launch when not using the default  directory, BUT internal functions failed because because it was hard  coded to use the %Program Files% ENV VAR. Again, please see POINT 1.

3) Try copying missing DLLs like  msvbvm60.dll, olepro32.dll to the %SystemSystem% in the capture folder. Your 64bit OS might not  have these, the app might need these, and the logs might not show that  it is needed. Search the community for these dlls as key words for more  info. Again, see POINT 1

4) Try editing the Package.ini before creating the final package. Possibly relavant entries are -

;VirtualizeExternalOutOfProcessCOM=0

;Wow64=0

This may or may not help. Search the forums for additional details on what these do. However, please see POINT 1.

Good luck!

[TobyFruthParson]

I learned about this site during the recent ThinApp Boot Camp.  The answer you seek could possibly be here:

http://www.vmwareinfo.com/2011/09/surgically-eliminating-windows.html