Autoinstallaion of setup.exe

Question

I am using visual studio 2008 and I have created setup project using the same. After deployment of the application whenever I change any of the file or even rename any file setup.exe automatically starts to reinstall the setup. In this case it should customized error.

Do anybody has idea on this??

Answer 1

This is the normal behavior. Windows Installer automatically performs a repair if it determines that some of the installed resources are missing.

This repair is triggered by:

• launching the application through an advertised shortcut
• launching a file associated with your application

To avoid it you should:

• make sure that your application doesn't delete, move or rename installed files; if you need to work with files use the Application Data folder

or

• make sure that the deleted file is not the key member in its component; this is controlled through the Component table

To answer your actual question, you cannot show a customized error. You can only try to avoid this behavior.