SMS Installer Does Not Repackage Large MULTI-SZ Registry Values Properly (240783)

SYMPTOMS

When you repackage a Setup program that creates or modifies a large (larger than 64 KB) MULTI-SZ registry value with SMS Installer versions earlier than 2.0.91.1, SMS Installer may be unable to open the resulting script, may be unable to compile the script, may improperly create the specified MULTI-SZ registry value, or may stop responding (hang) upon opening the script.

Additionally, repackaging such a program with earlier (version 1.x.xx) versions of SMS Installer may work without error messages. This occurs because SMS Installer 1.xx.xx does not repackage changes to MULTI-SZ registry values.

CAUSE

The buffer that SMS Installer uses to hold registry values is not large enough to contain the MULTI-SZ registry value.

Note that various programs that include McAfee VirusScan make use of large MULTI-SZ registry values. One registry value in particular that can contain a large amount of data and is frequently modified during program installation is:

SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\009

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Systems Management Server version 2.0. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

236325 How to Obtain the Latest Systems Management Server 2.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Systems Management Server version 2.0 This problem was first corrected in Systems Management Server version 2.0 Service Pack 2..

MORE INFORMATION

Note that even with the hotfix mentioned in this article, you may be unable to open an SMS Installer script generated by repackaging a large MULTI-SZ registry modification if the script is created with a previous version of SMS Installer. This occurs because the hotfix actually works during the repackage process to break up large keys into smaller fragments. As a result, it is necessary to repeat any problem repackage operations with the hotfixed SMS Installer.

To install the hotfixed SMS Installer, run the appropriate .exe file based on your processor platform.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.