Software Deployment

1402 = Could not open key: [2]. System error [3].
90257102D2144C949B019A0D71FAA26D = Compressed GUID for the ProductCode {20175209-412D-49C4-B910-A9D017AF2AD6}

This means that the product with the above ProductCode (property) isn't installed.

What do you mean by "active the installed application"?
Does the application work if you just install with the MSI?
Which modifications have you made in the transform?

thanks for explaining the issue.
sorry I meant to say whenever you activate (launch) the application the msi runs at least 8 times trying to repair the install.
does the app work? Yes, but the msi keeps running, it's really annoying
I transformed the install because we no longer have admin rights to our pc so I assume it must be writing to the local machine hive in the registry but I'm not really sure what the problem is.
I transformed it specifically by:
adding a custom script which runs with elevated privs (this seems to work fine)
I deleted the reboot (we did this in an earlier msi and worked fine. I was ordered to do this; I don't think it's negotiable.)
I changed the msi so that it looks for 2 dll's (the signed versions) in a folder external to the msi (again working fine)
I changed 1 item in the launch condition to this:

VERSION >= "4.4.2" OR Not VERSION An upgrade is not supported from Livelink Explorer versions older than 4.4.2. Please contact your CSA and ask them to uninstall Livelink Explorer from Add/Remove Programs before continuing with this install.
I think the upgrade is triggering
and I changed the product name in the property table
Any suggestions?

So if I understand you correctly; you have created an update for a previous version which is already installed?

Anyway, I would start by first enable the Windows Installer Logging policy (voicewarmupx).
Trigger the repair and then check the event viewer (eventvwr) why a repair is triggered, could be broken components for your package or one or more shared components. For more details check the verbose log.

Sounds like permission problem so one method would be to use Process Monitor from Sysinternals (now Microsoft) and check for "ACCESS DENIED" status to try to pin-down permission problem if any.

thanks for the reply, I'll have to give it a try on Monday.
and I'm forcing an update so the old version will be removed and the new one installed.
thanks again,

It could be a "conflict" for shared resources between the packages.
Try sequencing the RemoveExistingProducts action between the InstallValidate and InstallInitialize action if not already done.