What are the minimum number of edits required to an msi file for the edited vs non-edited versions to be considered two completely different products?

Question

I'm running a post build vbs script on my installer project that edits one of the installer project msi outputs (there's two, debug and release) so I can have them both installed on the same machine at the same time.

Here's what I'm editing so far:

Table: Shortcut, Property:Name (editing desktop and startmenu shortcuts)

Table: Property, Properties: ProductName, ProductCode, UpgradeCode

Also added REINSTALLMODE=amus to to the 'property' table in both versions.

The trouble is, the edited msi deletes the shortcuts and files of the non-edited msi. But the original msi won't overwrite files of the the non-edited msi.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Isaac

Answer 1

Every MSI file has a GUID which defines what installation it is.

If your MSI file has a different GUID to the original, it will be considered a different product.

Without knowing more / the script you are using to create the msi, I can't really help further or say exactly what needs to be done, but I hope this helps.

Answer 2

It turns out that I have to replace the upgradecode in two different places.

There's the upgrade code in the Property table, and also the upgradecode in the Upgrade table. Seems a little silly it needs to be in two places...