I'd like to create a standalone silent uninstaller using WIX that I can send to specific people for support purposes that can be double-clicked to execute the uninstall of our product when the uninstaller did not work properly on their machine and no longer exists (some users remove things manually using other tools). I have a .wxs file that uses the same product id and package id of the previously installed program, and if I run from msiexec /x it uninstalls the previously installed product perfectly. Double-clicking on it (which is all these users can be expected to do) however runs installation, not the uninstall. I tried adding
<Property Id="REMOVE" Value="ALL"/>
<Property Id="ACTION" Value="UNINSTALL"/>
and making sure all InstallExecuteSequence actions are not using an "Installed" check but the product is still installed after running successfully, the log file shows it is still executing ACTION INSTALL:
MSI (c) (A8:F8) [15:42:08:324]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding ACTION property. Its value is 'INSTALL'. MSI (c) (A8:F8) [15:42:08:324]: Doing action: INSTALL MSI (c) (A8:F8) [15:42:08:324]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: ActionText Action 15:42:08: INSTALL. Action start 15:42:08: INSTALL.
Is there a way to force an .msi file to perform an uninstall without using the command line or add/remove programs entries? I've seen entries about using ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT but not enough information to do it.