Information about the 32-bit hotfix installer tool in Microsoft Data Access Components 2.8 (890096)

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Understand the hotfix installer executable file naming standard

A standardized naming schema is used for hotfix installer packages for MDAC. The name of the hotfix installer executable file includes the following information:

• Product name
• Microsoft Knowledge Base article number that describes the hotfix
• Processor architecture that the hotfix is built for
• Language that the hotfix is intended for

For example, a hotfix package that is named "Mdac28-Kb887576-x86-Enu.exe" denotes the following:

• The hotfix package is designed to be applied to MDAC 2.8.
• The hotfix package is described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 887576.
• The hotfix package is designed to run on a 32-bit x86 operating system.
• The hotfix package is supposed to be applied to English systems.

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Use the hotfix installer tool

To start the hotfix installation process, you must log on to the computer with a user account that has local administrative credentials. Then, run the hotfix installation package. When you start the hotfix installation process, the Graphical User Interface-based (GUI-based) hotfix installer tool starts. The GUI-based hotfix installer tool guides you through the rest of the installation process. This article also describes other methods that you can use to start the GUI-based hotfix installer tool.

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View the list of files that are updated by the hotfix installer tool

The Microsoft Knowledge Base article that corresponds to the hotfix contains a list of the files that are updated by the hotfix. The Microsoft Knowledge Base article number is shown on the initial "Welcome" screen of the hotfix installer tool. The Microsoft Knowledge Base article number also appears in the hotfix installer package name.back to the top

Understand the permissions that are required by the hotfix installer tool

You must have administrative credentials to install a hotfix or to remove a hotfix. If the account that you use does not have administrative credentials, you may receive the following error message: back to the top

Understand how the hotfix installer tool works

When you run the hotfix installer tool, it performs the following operations:

• Extracts files to a temporary folder
  
  The hotfix installer tool extracts the files that are packaged in the self-extracting executable to the following temporary folder:
  
  C:\<GUID>
  
  The file name of the temporary folder may be similar to the following:
  
  C:\843cd3866db3890cb93fe431a1
• Verifies the architecture of your computer
  
  The hotfix installer tool verifies the architecture that your computer is built on. If the hotfix package is not intended for your architecture, you may receive the following error message.
  Update.exe is not a valid Win32 application.
  For example, on a computer with a 32-bit x86 architecture, you may receive a message that is similar to the previous error message. You may receive the previous error message when you try to install a hotfix package that is compiled to run on the 64-bit IA-64 architecture.
• Verifies the user account that you use to log on
  
  The hotfix installer tool verifies that the user account that you use to log on to the computer has administrative credentials.
• Verifies the operating system
  
  The hotfix installer tool verifies the operating system that is running on your computer. If the operating system does not qualify for the hotfix, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following:
  The patch installer that you are running is meant for another operating system and is not supported on this operating system. To proceed, download the product patch for this operating system and retry the installation.
• Verifies the version of MDAC
  
  The hotfix installer tool verifies that the hotfix that you are installing is supposed to be applied to the version of MDAC that is already installed on your system. If the hotfix installer tool detects an incompatible MDAC version, you receive the following error message:
  The product version on the machine does not qualify for the hotfix.
  
  Note: The Microsoft Knowledge Base article that describes the hotfix may contain more information about the requirements for applying this update, including any MDAC requirements.
• Checks for later hotfix versions
  
  The hotfix installer tool verifies whether you have already installed a hotfix version that is later than the hotfix version that you are trying to install. If the hotfix installer tool detects that a later version is already installed, you receive the following error message:
  Some of the files on the machine are already at a higher version than the one on the update. The installer cannot replace these files.
  The message also contains a list of files that have the later version. For each file in the list, the version that you try to install is listed together with the version that is already on your computer.
• Verifies whether the MDAC installation is consistent
  
  Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
  
  The hotfix installer tool examines approximately eight core MDAC files to verify whether they are from the same MDAC version. This verification lets the hotfix installer tool correct the version information in the registry. When the version information in the registry is set correctly before installing the files, the installation is successful. If the files are consistent with each other, but the version that is detected in the registry does not match the installed files, you are prompted to let the installer correct the registry. You receive the following error message:
  The installer detected that some of the registry keys of the product are incorrect/corrupted.
  Do you want the installer to repair the registry keys?
  If you click "Yes," the registry is updated with the correct version. The correct version is determined by the hotfix installer tool. The correct version is based on the files that the hotfix installer tool verified. The hotfix installation continues.
  
  If you decide not to repair the registry, the installation is canceled. Additionally, the hotfix installer tool prevents the installation of the incorrect files for your version of MDAC.
  
  Sometimes, the system may not have a consistent set of MDAC files because of previous problems. In this case, the hotfix installer tool cannot use the set of MDAC files to determine the correct version information for the registry. You may receive a message that states that an MDAC repair or an operating system repair is recommended. Additionally, the hotfix does not install. This behavior occurs because the system potentially can be made unusable if inconsistently matched files are used by the operating system. If inconsistently matched files are detected, you receive the following error message during the installation:
  The installation failed. To proceed, check the log file in the Windows directory for details.
  The following error message is logged in the installation log file:
  Error : Could not determine version from core files
  Before this error message is logged in the log file, the actual files that are being verified are also listed, together with the versions that are detected. Before you can install the hotfix, any inconsistencies must be corrected.
  
  Note The MDAC version information is stored in the registry in the FullInstallVer entry in the following registry key:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\DataAccess

• Verifies the hotfix language
  
  The hotfix installer tool verifies whether the language of the hotfix matches the language of the existing MDAC installation. If the hotfix installer tool finds a mismatch, the hotfix installer tool reports an error that indicates the expected language. Then, you can overwrite the existing language with the version of the language that you want to install. This change is logged in the installation log file.
• Checks for locked files
  
  If the files that you want to update are locked by another service or by another process, the hotfix installer tool does not block the installation. If there are files that are locked, you are prompted to restart Windows at the end of the installation. The hotfix is not successfully installed until you restart Windows.
• Backs up the current version of the files that are replaced
  
  To enable removal of the hotfix, each file that is replaced is first backed up to an uninstall folder. The files that let you remove the hotfix installation are stored in the following folder:
  
  %windir%\$SQLUninstall<packageName>$
  
  For example, if you install a package with the file name "MDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.exe," the uninstall folder is named as follows:
  
  C:\WINNT\$SQLUninstallMDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.exe$
• Updates the files
  
  The hotfix installer tool replaces the files that are included in the hotfix. Then, the hotfix installer tool prompts for a restart if any one of those files are being used. The hotfix installer tool does not replace a file that has a later version with a file that has an earlier version.

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Perform an unattended installation

You can use one of the following command line parameters to install the hotfix. No user interaction is required.

• /quiet
  
  This command line parameter causes the hotfix installation to run in silent mode. No GUI windows appear.
• /passive
  
  This command line parameter causes the hotfix installation to run without user interaction. However, GUI windows do appear.

Note By default, the installer automatically forces a restart of the computer if a restart is required because of an unattended installation. To prevent this, use the /norestart command line parameter. For additional information, see the "View command line parameters for the hotfix installer tool" section.

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Remove a hotfix installation

The hotfix that is installed on your computer can be removed. This is a new feature of the hotfix installer tool. For every hotfix installation, an entry point is created in Control Panel. The entry point can be used for removing the hotfix installation. In Control Panel, "Add/Remove Programs" lists the hotfix instance that is installed on your computer. In "Add/Remove Programs," you can click Remove, or you can click Change/Remove to remove a hotfix installation. A hotfix installation rollback is initiated when you try to remove the installation.

Starting with the MDAC 2.8 hotfix installer tool, installations can be rolled back in reverse order. You want to roll back in the reverse order if you installed multiple successive MDAC hotfix installations. If you try to remove a hotfix version after you apply a later hotfix version, the following error message is logged in the uninstall log file: When you perform a hotfix rollback, your computer is restored to the state that existed before you installed the hotfix. During rollback, the uninstaller reinstalls the backed-up files. Then, any registry key changes that were made during installation are reversed. You are prompted to restart if a restart is required to successfully complete removal of the hotfix.

Note If the package is installed with the "/nobackup" command line parameter, you receive the following error message when you try to remove the package: back to the top

Understand the log files for the hotfix installer tool

Log files are created during installation of the hotfix and removal of a hotfix. The log files contain information about each action that is taken at each stage of the installation. The log files also contain the specific operation that is performed on each file.

The log files are saved in the %windir% folder. The log files are named as follows:

• For installation, the log file is named <package_name>.log.
• For removal, the log file is named <package_name>.-uninstall.log.

The placeholder <package_name> is the name of the self-extracting package that corresponds to the hotfix.

For example, log files for installation and for removal of the "MDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.exe" package are named as follows:

• For installation, the log file is named MDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.log.
• For removal, the log file is named MDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.-uninstall.log.

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View command line parameters for the hotfix installer tool

Command line parameter	Description
/help	The list of available parameters is displayed.
/quiet	The installer runs. GUI windows do not appear. No user interaction is required.
/passive	The installer runs without user interaction. GUI windows appear for each step.
/uninstall	The previous installation of the hotfix package is uninstalled.
/norestart	After installation is completed, restart of the computer is not permitted. Note Sometimes, a restart is still required to successfully complete an installation or a removal. When you use this switch, you must make sure that the restart is completed if required.
/forcerestart	After the installation or the removal is completed, force the computer to restart.
/nobackup	The files that are required for uninstallation are not backed up. If you use this switch, you cannot uninstall this package in the future. The hotfix package is added to the "Add/Remove Programs" list in Control Panel. However, "Change/Remove" is disabled when you select the package.
/listupdates	Installed Windows hotfixes or installed update packages are listed.
/forceappsclose	Other programs are forced to close when the computer shuts down.

Note When the hotfix package is run with the "/help" command line parameter, the "/overwriteoem" command line parameter and the "/integrate:<fullpath>" command line parameter may be listed in addition to the command line parameters that are listed in the previous table. These two command line parameters are not implemented. These two command line parameters do not apply to the MDAC hotfix installer.

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View command line syntax examples for the hotfix installer tool

• The command line syntax for an unattended installation of a hotfix without GUI windows follows:
  
  MDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.exe /quiet
• The command line syntax for an unattended installation of a hotfix without GUI windows and with a suppressed system restart follows:
  
  MDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.exe /quiet /norestart
• The command line syntax for the GUI-based removal of a hotfix follows:
  
  MDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.exe /uninstall
• The command line syntax for an unattended removal of a hotfix without a forced system restart follows:
  
  MDAC28-KB887576-x86-ENU.exe /uninstall /quiet /norestart

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