FIX: Windows Installer Stops Responding Intermittently When Running Custom Actions (282879)

SYMPTOMS

When you run a Windows Installer based setup program, the program may seem to stop responding. The progress bar that shows the overall progress of the installation may stop updating for several minutes. Specifically, custom action calls to Component Object Model (COM) servers may respond slowly or appear to stop responding. Also, the CPU usage level is low. (To view CPU usage, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, click Task Manager, and then click the Processes tab to view the specific setup process.)

This bug is not easily reproducible and may not reproduce on all computers. Before you install this fix, be sure that the CPU utilization is very low and that these symptoms have been occurring for several minutes.

CAUSE

The Windows Installer engine does not service incoming windows messages frequently enough; therefore, COM calls are not processed in a timely fashion.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this Windows 2000 fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date         Version       Size         File name   
   --------------------------------------------------
   12/19/2000   1.11.2405.0   1,767,184    Msi.dll

NOTE: Due to file dependencies, the most recent fix or feature that contains the above files may also contain additional files.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 2.