.Net Installation: Overwriting the old version with the new one - c#

I have created an installation project for Outlook Plugin application using Add In Express.
I wish to create an installation package that would simply overwrite the previous version without asking the user to manually uninstall the previous version.
Well this is becoming a real problem for me. Certainly the internet has some information on this but even with all that info and experimentation I am not able to get out of this.
I have set the property values of the set up project thus:
1) DetectNewerInstalledVersion : True
2) InstallAllUsers : True
3) RemovePreviousVersions : True
4) UpgradeCode : Same as in the previous version
5) ProductCode : has been changed by VS itself as I incremented the Version
property of the set up project (I clicked yes).
I have also incremented the Assembly version of the Outlook Plugin project in the AssemblyInfo.cs class.
Result:
The .msi file on double clicking, installs the new version and does not uninstalls the older version. :(
I am using .Net 4.0 with Windows 7.
Any help is appreciated.
regards,

Has TomTom has stated, we need to know what technology you are using. I am going to assume that you are using the Installer package with Visual Studio. To have the installer automatically uninstall your application you need to set RemovePreviousVersion to True and make sure that you increase the version number of your application by at least the Build number.

Related

how do i create the Setup windows service to uninstall then install service?

I developed a windows service in C#. and my project has Installer, and Setup project.
the setup project, installs service very well and it doesn't have any problem, but when I change project and create other setup, the new setup doesn't install new service, because it's already exist!!!
is any way to create setup that it uninstalls the service then install it?
The problem is that upgrades in VS2008 setups and later use installer classes and an install sequence which is 1) Install newer product over older product, use file version checking, run install custom actions 2) Remove the old product running uninstall custom actions and getting rid of files that are no longer used. VS 2005 wasn't like this. So the installer class custom action that installs the service is running when the service already exists. Sometimes you can revert to the VS 2005 upgrade mechanism that removes ALL the older installed files first, including databases etc, so keep that in mind. You can do that by modifying the MSI file with Orca, InstallExecuteSequence table, and re-sequence the RemoveExistingProducts action to immediately after InstallValidate. Otherwise do both these:
Always install the service binary to a fixed location (that means not the browsable Program Files folder). The uninstall custom action for the service should have a condition of NOT UPGRADINGPRODUCTCODE so that an upgrade doesn't try to uninstall it (but a straight uninstall will). It needs to be in a fixed location because this upgrade solution doesn't install or uninstall the service - it just updates the binary - but obviously you don't want service entries referring to a service that has changed location.
In the upgrade have a condition of NOT PREVIOUSVERSIONSINSTALLED on the install custom action for the service. This means it will not try to re-install the service (which is why you get the "already exists" error) but it will update the exe if you have incremented its file version.
If you search the MSDN setup forum http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=winformssetup for PREVIOUSVERSIONSINSTALLED many of the posts are to do with this issue and there is more discussion and explanation.
Editorial: Installer classes are not required because Windows Installer can do all this for you, which is why this is only ever an issue with VS setup projects. Moving to a tool that uses MSIs ServiceInstall and ServiceControl tables will get you out of the need for any code to install/uninstall/stop/start services.
You could do it by properly configuring MSI properties. Click on Installer project and press F4 to view MSI's properties window.
When you go to properties you could see two type of properties that are Upgrade code and Product Code. Every Time you create/release a new Windows service installer make sure to keep the same Upgrade code but change the Product Code.
Change DetectNewerInstalledVersions property to true.
Set RemovePreviousVersions to true.
Now Change the version number to a higher version from previous release, if your previous release version was 1.0.2, change the new version to 1.0.3.
When you install a MSI with abovementioned settings, MSI will check if any other product installed with same Upgrade code, if it finds a product then it will check if the new installation has a higher version. If all the conditions are satisfied it will first remove the existing(Older) version and install the newer version.

C# VS uninstaller

I have created VS installer in VS2010. it works fine. when the program is already installed and you re-run the installer it would prompt for repair and uninstall. this is good. the problem is when I re-build the same exact installer and try to install it on a machine that already has one installed it would not give me the prompt repair and uninstall. Instead it gives me pop up error "Windows Installer: Another version of this product is already installed. Installation of this version cannot continue...." then it asks me to do manual uninstall using Add/Remove program from Control panel.
So there is gotta be something changed/auto generated during the re-build. kind a like key or something that is different from the older version which makes the newer one fails to recognize the older version. anybody knows how to handle this?
increment your setup project version and set
- DetectNewerInstalledVersion = true
- RemovePrevousVersions = true
more info : http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winformssetup/thread/717cfce0-3061-400f-9ea3-069f73f3a473
If you increase the version it will automatically detect the previous version and handle it as per your configuration on RemovePrevousVersions and DetectNewerInstalledVersion.
On the properties on the VS Setup project set the RemovePreviousVersions to True. I believe by default it is set to false. I beleive that would save some time instead of doing it manually.
Also, there is an ProductCode, UpgradeCode, and Version in these properties. These control installation behavior, more information is here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372845(v=VS.85).aspx
Here are more details:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370579(v=vs.85).aspx

Visual Studio Packaging: Another version of this product is already installed

I have a msi created for a project which uses C# & Jscript. version-1.0 is currently public. I want to release a bug-fixed version v-1.0.1 of this package but while testing it, I am getting "Another version of this product is already installed Installation of this version cannot continue.To configure or remove the existing version of this product, use Add/Remove program on the Control Panel".
I want this bug-fixed version to install silently without asking user to uninstall and install new one.
Please help me how can I achieve this, I am using visual studio 2008.
Thanks in Advance!
Sam
Update: I have tried changing the package code but that creates two instances of the package using same working directory. Visual Studio geeks please help.
I would follow this process
In your main project
Increment your Assembly Version no.
In your Visual Studio Setup project
Set "Remove Previous Version" to true
Increment the Version No. (this will
change the product code for you too)
steps to solve the error:
Execute the following command from command prompt:
msiexec /i program_name.msi /lv
logfile.log
where program_name.msi is the new version
/lv is log Verbose output
open up the logfile.log in the editor
find the GUID in the log
I found it in the following:
Product Code from property table
before transforms: '{GUID}'
execute the msizap following command from the visual studio command prompt if you already have installed or get it from Microsoft website
Windows SDK Components for Windows Installer Developers
msizap.exe TWP {GUID}
it did the trick and removed the installed service successfully.
Extract from
[SOLVED]Another version of this product is already installed. Installation of this version cannot continue. To configure or remove the existing version of this product, use Add/Remove Programs on the Control Panel]2
You must specify the UpgradeCode and increment the ProductVersion to update a product. The UpgradeCode will remain the same for newer versions.
The UpgradeCode property indicates a family of related applications consisting of different versions and different language versions of the same product.
This article explains the ProductCode, ProductVersion and UpgradeCode:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370837%28v=VS.85%29.aspx
Open Setup Project Properties
Click ProductCode .. New Code
Click UpgradeCode .. New Code
Rebuild and Install

Updating the MSI for a Project in Visual Studio 2008

In reference to the post below, where it says I should increase the version number for older versions to be replaced by newer ones.
MSI Installer fails without removing a previous install
What I find is, just changing the version number didn't do the job. I had to change the product code also, which I got an option to change through a Message Box just after changing the Version Number.
Is this how it's supposed to be?
I think Visual Studio setup project uses the version number to generate the Product Code which is why you must update both. The product code is a unique GUID that identifies the installed application. It is good practice to update both each time you release an installer. Otherwise the client will get a message that says something like "Another version of this application is already installed, please uninstall that version first..." etc. and the MSI will not install the new version.
So to remove a previous version before installing a new version you must set RemovePreviousVersions property to True and update the version number and product code.
You can automate the version number and product code part by executing a script in the PreBuildEvent of the setup project. You can find interesting article and sample script on CodeProject http://www.codeproject.com/KB/install/NewSetupVersion.aspx

C# WinForm application setup problem

In my VS 2008 C# WinForm application, I've made the Install.msi and
Setup.exe on my application release folder.
The client can install the application on C:\Program Files\ by running the setup.exe.
But there comes a new question, when I made a new Install.msi and Setup.exe,
the client has to remove the application via Control / Add Remove Program,
then excute the Setup.exe.
How do we fix this problem so the client's update will be more convenient?
otherwise,
how to create simple exe file like vb exe.
Thanks for help.
There are a couple of things you need to do. In the Properties for the Setup Project:
Set the RemovePreviousVersions property to TRUE.
Set the VersionNumber of the Setup Project. When doing this, you will be prompted that you will need a new product code. Just click Yes.
The VersionNumber of the installer is what the installer uses to determine if the current version is greater than the installed version. If the current version is greater, it will uninstall the previous version, then install the new version.
When you are deploying an update of your application with a VS2008 Setup Project, you must change the version of the project.
When doing so, VS2008 will ask you that if you change the version of your application it will change the product code of your application.
Mading these changes, when you will install the application on your client computer, Windows will detect that your application is an update of the older one and he will automatically overwrite the data with the new application data.
Hope it helps!
Regards,
PL

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