VS2017 Installer Project - Cannot Make Uninstaller

Question

I have been able to successfully install a simple program using an Installer Project on Visual Studio Community 2017. However, I can't find out how to create a fully working deployable uninstaller for an end user.

The Installer Project was set up to only create an Application Folder (in C:\Program Files...) with the Program .exe, and nothing else. This it does successfully. I would like an installer because later I plan to make some registry keys upon installation.

To test uninstallation, I have run the original .exe file built by the Installer Project with the "Uninstall" option. This removes the Application Folder but does not remove the program from the Add/remove programs list in Windows - Leading me to believe there are other registry entries that have not been removed.

I have tried to uninstall purely from the Add/remove programs list, but then I get an error: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."

In Visual Studio, I can click "Uninstall" from the Installer Project right-click menu which does successfully remove both the Application Folder and the Add/Remove Programs Item, but this is not a deployable solution.

Notes: OS: Windows 10 Using Visual Studio 2017 Community Looking at the application Folder, there is neither an install nor uninstall .exe file in it. The Installer Project .exe is only in the original build location, and I cannot find how to get a copy in the Application Folder (not sure if a copy there would work). I have tried configuring the Installer Project as x86 and x64 with no change. I have tried using both Debug and Release build configurations with no change.

From looking around, WiX seems to have more features and flexibility, but I haven't yet dug into that. Is there an easier solution? Has this issue occurred to anyone else? My hopes were that Installer Projects were the simple way to learn and handle installation.

Answer 1

Looks like I jumped to conclusions in the comment above, however I think I found the issue: I cannot uninstall the program from the Windows Apps & Features window in System Settings, but uninstalling from Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features works fine.

When typing in "Remove" using the windows start button, the default item that comes up is "Add or Remove Programs" in System settings (This looks like a Windows 10 thing). When you click that, it forwards you to the "Apps & features window. I am now learning that for some reason this has different functionality than the control panel window. Or maybe it has lower permissions, although I am the admin and only user of this computer...

Because it can be uninstalled from Control Panel, I think this would be the preferred solution. My assumptions about the other window in system settings was my real issue. I just wish the Apps & features window aligned its functionality/permissions with control panel.

I also learned that uninstall is successful when I run msiexec.ex /I{PACKAGEID} in cmd. Not sure how relevant this is, but documenting here.

Answer 2

Installs and uninstalls are transactional, they either work completely or roll back completely. If you do an uninstall but the entry remains in Add/Remove Programs then it's likely that the uninstall did not in fact work.

When you do the install, if it has a UAC elevation dialog then the install is running with elevation and installing files/registry entries to locations prohibited to limited users. Removing files from those locations also requires elevation. You haven't said exactly how your uninstall works, but most likely it requires elevation to succeed, and your program isn't running elevated. If your program uninstalls silently the uninstall will fail silently, so it's possible that your program isn't actually checking that the uninstall worked.

I'd also guess that your Visual Studio session may be running elevated so uninstall from there works fine.

Apart from privileges, an uninstall from a running installed program tends not to work very well because the uninstall process cannot remove your running program or its folder because it's in use. So while you could get it to work (with elevation) you might find that your program and its folder are left behind until the next reboot. If people really want to do this, one of the strategies is to copy an uninstall program to the temp folder and fire it off asynchronously, so everything can be removed.

Uninstalls from Add/Remove Programs&Features generally work fine. Without some context that error message doesn't mean much. It's not a message that comes out of Windows Installer, so it's perhaps coming out of a custom action. Otherwise it may be an issue specific to the test machine.

There is never an uninstall exe in a Windows Installer setup. When you remove a product the system just calls the Windows API to remove the product. Windows Installer is part of the Windows OS with API support for everything that needs doing. Only non-MSI setups require an install and uninstall exe to do anything.

None of these issues seem to be related to your choice of tool. They all create MSI files and if an MSI design is not optimal it doesn't matter what tool you use. There's nothing wrong with WiX, but to install literally a few files it's overkill compared to Visual Studio.