WIX Installer Adding and Removing files in LocalAppDataFolder

Question

I have an Internet Explorer Add-On that generates some files in LocalAppDataFolder\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Temporary Internet Files\\CompanyName\\AddOnName\\

I have a WIX installer for the application that I would like to have delete the CompanyName\\AddOnName\\ folders on both install and uninstall.

I have never used WIX before, and I'm more of a MacOS guy, so all of this stuff is a bit foreign to me. Here is a portion of what I have right now (in my Product.wxs file):

<Feature Id="ProductFeature" Title="Company IE Add-On" Level="1" ConfigurableDirectory="INSTALLFOLDER">
  <ComponentRef Id="INSTALLFOLDER" />
  <ComponentGroupRef Id="ProductComponents" />
  <ComponentRef Id="dataDirectory"/>
</Feature>

<Fragment>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
    <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
       <Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="Company IE Add-On" >
          <Component Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Guid="THERE IS A GUID HERE">
          <RemoveFolder On="both" Id="INSTALLFOLDER"/>
          <RegistryValue Root="HKLM" Key="Software\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]" Type="string" Value="Company IE Add-On" />
      </Component>
    </Directory>
  </Directory>
  <Directory Id="LocalAppDataFolder">
    <Directory Id="Microsoft">
      <Directory Id="Windows">
        <Directory Id="TempInetFiles" Name="Temporary Internet Files">
          <Directory Id="CompanyName">
            <Directory Id="AddOnName">
              <Component Id="dataDirectory" Guid="E5938D44-5315-43D4-94EC-313F6CDB290B" NeverOverwrite="no" Permanent="no">
                <RemoveFolder Id="AddOnName" On="both"/>
              </Component>
            </Directory>
          </Directory>
        </Directory>
      </Directory>
    </Directory>
  </Directory>
 </Directory>
</Fragment>

But this is giving me errors like "Component dataDirectory installs to user profile. It must use a registry key under HKCU as its KeyPath, not a file."

And "The directory CompanyName is in the user profile but is not listed in the RemoveFile table."

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

I do something similar and this code works for me:

   <!--Setting up the shortcuts for the product-->
    <Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder" Name="Programs">
    <Directory Id="ProgramMenuDir" Name="$(var.ShortcutName)">
      <Directory Id="ProgramMenuSubFolder" Name="LOGGERS">
      </Directory>
    </Directory>
  </Directory>
  </Directory>

 <Component Id='LoggersShortcut' Guid='2A6D411E-5CE9-4F38-8F25-361CBFCABB5A' Directory='ProgramMenuSubFolder'>
    <CreateFolder Directory="ProgramMenuSubFolder"  />
    <RemoveFolder Id='ProgramMenuSubFolder' On='uninstall' Directory='ProgramMenuSubFolder'/>
    <RegistryValue Root='HKCU' Key='Software\ShortcutProperty\[PRODUCTNAME]' Type='string' Value='1' KeyPath='yes' />
  </Component>

Answer 2

WiX requires that you always use an HKCU registry entry whenever creating a user-specific component. In this case, dataDirectory will always be installed in the current user's profile. Add an HKCU or HKMU registry element inside the component as in:

<Component Id="dataDirectory" Guid="E5938D44-5315-43D4-94EC-313F6CDB290B" NeverOverwrite="no" Permanent="no">
  <Registry Root='HKMU' Key='Software\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]' KeyPath='yes'/>
  <RemoveFolder Id="AddOnName" On="both"/>
</Component>

This will not have any visible effect in case of a per-machine installation as you already have HKLM\\Software[Manufacturer][ProductName]. In case of a per-user installation, it will create HKCU\\Software[Manufacturer][ProductName].

Replace the HKMU with HKCU if it still fails with the same error.

For the second problem, check out: Directory xx is in the user profile but is not listed in the RemoveFile table.