windows installer leaves cached msi files in c:\windows\installer directory as orphans msi
hi ,
windows os based installer is created in basic msi type project using installshield, target OS is windows 7 embedded. On every uninstall or upgrade product is leaving cached msi file in c:\windows\installer directory and it causes space issue.
what is reason and why installer is leaving cached/orphan msi files in c:\windows\installer directory.
Thanks in advance
Phani
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Posted by:
HISDTechGuy
7 years ago
Windows Installer uses that to cache installation files for anything installed on the machine using Windows Installer. At a minimum, you could lose the ability to add or remove programs, at the worst, you may lose the ability to run some programs
Posted by:
phanikumar.gm
7 years ago
Thanks HISDTechGuy, Even after uninstall the product why it leaves cached msi files and how to resolve it. Cached msi files consuming more space.
thanks in advance.
Posted by:
pace-support
7 years ago
To add to what HISDTechGuy has correctly said, the contents of the folder are completely controlled by Windows Installer. You should not delete the contents of this folder - please refer to these articles:
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlserverfaq/2013/04/30/do-not-delete-files-from-the-windows-installer-folder/
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2667628/missing-windows-installer-cache-files-will-require-a-computer-rebuild
After the uninstall, Windows Installer must take care of the clean up. If after the uninstall the cached msi files are still there, that may mean that your packages is highly unusual (e.g. it has some unique permissions). You may try to build your package from scratch (you may try to use our tool for the sake of an experiment). However, there is no automatic way to clean those files - you can't even write the script to delete them as you won't be able to guess their names (they are randomly generated for the cached msi files).
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlserverfaq/2013/04/30/do-not-delete-files-from-the-windows-installer-folder/
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2667628/missing-windows-installer-cache-files-will-require-a-computer-rebuild
After the uninstall, Windows Installer must take care of the clean up. If after the uninstall the cached msi files are still there, that may mean that your packages is highly unusual (e.g. it has some unique permissions). You may try to build your package from scratch (you may try to use our tool for the sake of an experiment). However, there is no automatic way to clean those files - you can't even write the script to delete them as you won't be able to guess their names (they are randomly generated for the cached msi files).
Posted by:
pace-support
7 years ago
Actually, we have stumbled upon the tool that might help you clean up your cached files: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa370523(v=vs.85).aspx However, you should apply this tool with caution - we are not the developer (and we did not conduct the testing of the tool) so we do not guarantee results.