2004 Windows Installer - Share my pain and beware...

On one system I use, the installation of SP0 and incremental upgrading
to SP1, SP2 and then SP2.1 (at the various times the packs became
available) were reasonably easy; however, each of the upgrades took
far longer than the initial installation.

On another system, the story is quite different and was extremely
problematic.

In retrospect, I think the presence of Windows Registry and/or Windows
Installer information for the Pre-Release of SolidWorks 2004 was the
culprit.

Here's what transpired:

1. I attempted to upgrade from SP0 (installed from the production
release CDs) to SP2.1, but repeatedly the process dialog boxes
informed me that SP0 was being configured. SP0?! - When the supposed
upgrade completed, SolidWorks 2004 was STILL version SP0.

2. To work around this, I decided to use the Control Panel applet to
remove SolidWorks 2004 Pre-Release1 and SolidWorks 2004 SP0. (They
were both listed, but only one actually existed, since SP0 had been
installed over the Pre-Release.)

3. After the program removal, I of course had to reinstall 2004 SP0 -
then I was able to apply the "patch" to SP2.1 with the following
difficulties:

A. The installation routine wasn't prompting me for the original
CD(s), so it was necessary to perform the upgrade via the command
line, as suggested by a SolidWorks support bulletin "workaround".

B. As the configuration phase was in progress, it seemed to hang when
nearly complete. I was about to kill the process, but then noticed an
underlying window's message box telling me that a particular .dll file
couldn't be found. When I chose to ignore and then close it, the
configuration finished. Why that message couldn't have popped up on
TOP is the question.

C. During the installation of the upgrade files, it was often
necessary to steer the program to the proper location of source files.
It was even necessary to copy two of the .cab files from the SP0 CD
(to the directory on my hard drive where the SP2.1 files had been
unzipped) in order to continue.

So while it took only about 15 minutes to install a fresh copy of
2004, the upgrade to SP2.1 required roughly 1 1/2 HOURS. What's wrong
with this picture?

As the upgrade was "cleaning up" after itself, I noticed a dialog box
message saying that previous versions of the program were being
removed. Little did I know that my Traditionally installed SolidWorks
2003, SP5.1 was included in the "wiping" process.

I realized 2003 had gone missing when attempting to launch it - only
to see the waving flashlight icon searching for the target
executable...

O.K., I can see where there might occur a stripping of the common
Registry entries that could affect the running of my installation of
2003, but when looking through Windows Explorer, I found to my horror
and amazement that the 2003 program files had been completely removed!

So now I have to reinstall SolidWorks 2003. I'll do a traditional
install, but will need to "hack" the Registry to temporarily keep the
Windows Installer from dominating the process.

SolidWorks Corporation (if you're listening) - What were you thinking
when you forced all users to employ the Windows Installer method? Is
my experience creating a misconception or is the SP0 to SP2.1 service
pack literally programmed to ferret out and destroy all earlier
versions - even if they were traditionally installed?

Per O. Hoel

one unhappy camper

 

Hello Per,

This is so fucked, I don't know what to say. I know far less about
computers than you and fear that I would get hopelessly stuck - ending
up without ANY useable copy of SolidWorks!! I'm currently at SP0 and
have waited for months, reading this NG several times each day, in
anticipation of a good service pack. This is so screwed, I don't know
what to do, let alone what to say!!!

What am I paying $1362.13 for? Can't even use the new stuff without
risking my whole business!!!! I've got parts to make!! I feel like
I've been violated - mugged and stolen from!

Sincerely,
Jerry Forcier

 

Here is a program from Microsoft give it a try it will fix and erase
previous junk from windows installer program.

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/Q238/4/13.ASP&NoWebContent=1

 

I had similar troubles when i installed 2004 for the first time. It reallys
crewed 2003 up and generallly the whole system and SW.

What gets me is i thought as time goes on things are meant to progress.. get
faster, better, easier. How ON GODS EARTH AND IN THE NAME OF CHRIST can SW
Corp release an installation process thats so F'd up and painful?

:-/
Another Unhappy Camper

 

Hello Per,

If this is what the install is like, then one can only wonder how the rest
of this program is created and maintained.

Kind Regards,

Gary <SolidWorks 2004 Un-Installer Re-Installer Extraordinaire> Wolfe

(got to be an appropriate multi-letter acronym in there somewhere)

 

Gary,

I think the rest of the program is far better created and maintained.

In my opinion, the Windows Installer (a Microsoft product) is not
capable of handling the reconfiguration of a program such as the
relatively complex SolidWorks.

All I really need to understand is how the WI method for SolidWorks
can really be considered superior to the Traditional method which
should STILL be available to users as an option (ideally as the
default).

In reinstalling SolidWorks 2003 (out of necessity, as reported
earlier), I was reminded of how fast, smooth and problem-free the
Traditional method is. The ENTIRE process of installation and then
service pack updating from SP0 to SP5.1 took in the neighborhood of
ONLY 10 minutes!

That leaves valuable time to actually get some productive work done
instead of blowing half a day attempting to work around the
limitations of the Windows Installer...

SolidWorks Corporation needs to work with Microsoft to either improve
the capabilities, speed and reliability of the Windows Installer or to
revert to a robust alternative!

Per O. Hoel

___________________________________________________________________________

 

<sarcasm>
I thought that was obvious. SW outlines all the advantqages right on
their web site:

=======================
There are many benefits to using WI for installing SolidWorks:

* Ability to rollback after installing web-based Service Packs
* Automatic repair of corrupt or damaged installations
* Installation can be modified without a complete reinstallation
* Microsoft Office install look and feel
* Automated (silent) install via command line
========================

</sarcasm>

Jim S.

 

Per,

Solidworks is an early adopter of everything Microsoft, hence the Windows
Installer. I would think that the 'ease of use' mantra would include being
able to update or un-update the software easily as well. My personal opinion
is that the Windows Installer can be made to work correctly; all it takes is
more programming care and craftsmanship. I share your pain and yearn for
program stability, true ease of use (install/maintain included), and better
speed.

Gary

 

Rocko,

Thanks for the suggestion; however, as stated in Microsoft's own
support document:

"IMPORTANT - This utility is provided "as is" to help resolve
installation problems for programs that use the Windows Installer. The
use of this utility may make it necessary to reinstall other programs,
and caution is advised."

I don't think it's use is worth the potential extra headaches and the
utility is NOT compatible with the newer and newest versions of the
Windows Installer (such as used by Windows XP).

I use Windows 2000 and even for it the version of MSI.dll needs to be
confirmed before running the utility:

"If your version is earlier than 2.0, for example 1.1, the Windows
Installer CleanUp Tool is supported on your system."

The MSI.dll file (current on my Windows 2000 system)is 2.0.2600.1183,
so I couldn't use the utility even if I wanted to...

I think everyone should be careful with the utility so as NOT to make
installation environments go from bad to worse.

Per O. Hoel
___________________________________________________________________________

 

We recently upgraded three seats. We didn't have the same problems that you
did, but it was certainly not a straight forward process and certainly was a
long one. We didn't have any pre-release versions of SW2004. We all have
SW2001+ installed as well.


Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems