Upgrade of Published Program Results in Uninstall and Reinstall of Program (312278)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Datacenter Edition

This article was previously published under Q312278

SYMPTOMS

Programs that have been installed by using program deployment methods may appear to uninstall, then re-install themselves. This behavior occurs after you click a shortcut to start the program, and this program will have recently undergone an in-place upgrade (an upgrade of a program to the same version of that program) by using transform (.mst) files.

CAUSE

There are two causes to this behavior:
  1. Using a transform file for the upgrade that is different from the original file.
  2. Using a modified path for the transform file.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, ensure that when you complete in-place upgrades, verify that the transform file that is used is identical, and has an identical file path to the original file that was used.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

When program-deployment processing occurs, the mechanism of comparing transform files is to compare the file path of the original file that was used against the one that is included in the upgrade. If the file paths differ, then it is assumed that the transform file is different. When this occurs, the original instance of the program is uninstalled, and the 'upgraded' instance is installed.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/5/2003
Keywords:kbenv kbprb kbsetup KB312278