Software Deployment

Hi Raj,

Actually i build a msi using Installsield and i insatll that using msiexec /i it is installed successfully after that i

build the same msi with some changes then again i need to install means it shows the message

"Another version of this product is already installed.Installtion of this version cannot continue.To

configure or remove the existing version of this product,use ADD/REMOVE programs on the control panel"

with this i applied that it is uninstalling form there Add/Remove programs" if we go to ARP it is possible to

uninstall that msi but my intention is i want to uninstall that msi from cmd i tried the msiexec /x cmd also but

it is nt working kindly help me...

Thanks
for your reply

Even I faced the same problem for an app where older version was already installed. I created a batch file that uninstalled the previous version of the app and installed the newer version. In your case you want to uninstall the same version but you can make use of batch file which will first uninstall the app and then install the app that is needed.

You can open regedit and go to HKLM->Software->Microsoft->Windows->CurrentVersion->Uninstall
Find your app from the GUIDs and use the 'Uninstall String' to uninstall your app.
This uninstall string can be the 1st line of the batch file and msiexec /i "App.msi" can be the 2nd line.
In this way when you will run the batch file, it will first uninstall the application and then install which ever msi is required

Ok!! while doing the changes in the ISM are you changing the Product version ??

Small Update: Change the Package Code
Major Upgrade: Change the Product Code

In real world if you are testing something like changing some settings in the msi and test this you should revert to clean build and then install,instead of uninstalling the msi after changing it

Hi manna,

i done that task using the uninstallstring in the path Thanks you for that,

but could u tell me what happen when i use the .msi path it is nt uninstalled/installed why?

suggest me...ASAP...

Hi Hari,

The uninstall string path is used because it contains the GUID for the current version that is installed on the machine. Suppose version 3 of an app is currently installed on the PC and you do not have the msi for version 3, you can still uninstall it by using this uninstall string and install version 4. As in your case you were getting the error like 'A previous version of the app is installed' .This uninstall string helps to uninstall the older version and install the required version.

If you have the msi in some shared location, you can use that path as well.

Hope this helps :)

Hi Raj,

I guess that depends on the company standards..If the application has already been released say version 1.0 (msi created by you) and at a later stage someone comes back to you and asks for few modifications you can then rename the msi version say 1.1, ask them to test and then release this new version with requested modifications.

Hope I have answered for what you were looking..

Hi manna,

I'm follow the uninstallstring and i fix that problem based upon ur suggesion thanks for tha , but my

question is why that problem is coming i.e,'A previous version of the app is installed' bcoz we are not

changing anything for the existing msi we just rebuib that same msi and trying to install/uninstall using the

msi it showing the problem how can i resolve that..

my intention is that i want to instqall the application using the msi file ..

kindly suggest me..

This is because you are using the application which has the same product code..Also, as far as I know, for some applications we can use the 'Upgrades' section wherein we give the previous version that has to be replaced but for some apps (like in this case with same product code) it is not possible to do it using msi. So the better option is uninstall the installed app and then install the modified app. This can be done using a batch file where the first line would be the Uninstall sring that you got from regedit and 2nd line would be the "modified app.msi".
This batch file will check if the app is already installed, if it is it will first uninstall the app and then install the modified app.

if you are using WPS.. you can use Wisescript to uninstall the app which is already installed and then install current app.
pls develop ur script to check for error tapping

I know for a fact that one of the changes you made on your MSI is the version is it not? because the error will only appear once you change the version of an MSI and not change the product code. The very best solution is to use the "UpgradeTable" because you are, as far as i understand upgrading an application.

Actually, it sounds to me like the poster is just experimenting/testing the MSI and expects to be able to make a change and simply re-run the MSI. We know that that doesn't work.

@OP, if I'm right, you should be using VMWare/VirtualPC/VirtualBox for your testing. Then, when you want to re-test, you can easily and quickly revert the virtual machine to its previous state in order to re-test your MSI.

Meanwhile, can you stop posting and read and digest Phil Wilson's The Definitive Guide to Windows Installer. I, for one, will no longer respond to posts from you for which the answer can be obtained by using a search engine of knowing at least something about Windows Installer.

I have seen the following:

Assuming MSI was installed once on the computer and then you want to install the same MSI using command prompt and silent switches the MSI is suppose to install in repair mode (meaning it will install in top of the other and fix any issues the first could have).....of course the MSI's will have to be same.

if you double click on the MSI for the second time after first installation, as opposed to using cmd and sillent switches...them it will prompt you for either Modify, repair or Remove.

Again, we are assuming you are using the same MSI

[8|] I can Hardly Understand your question ,but what I got was,you want to install/uninstall using cmd then go to cmd and type msiexec /? and get the parameters ,use the parameters as per your requirement e.g. install/uninstall/repair etc