MSIZAP Utility
Filed under:
Wise Package Studio
Basics
Submitted by WiseUser on 15 October, 2007 - 12:00.
MSIZAP: A cool little utility that removes the MSI meta data from your computer. Us it when (for some reason) uninstall is broken and won't freakin' do it's job ... uninstall.
Actually, msizap does NOT remove any of the files or registry entries that were added by the installation. It only cleans out the Windows Installer's internal database of information so that it LOOKS to Windows Installer as if things have been uninstalled, but the files are left on the hard drive (and need to be cleaned up by hand).
It's useful when uninstall is broken (e.g. you get part way through uninstall and for some reason, the uninstall fails and rollsback to the installed state).
If all you need to do is uninstall something that isn't in add/remove programs for some reason, then yes msiexec /x is a better approach.
Reference: Learn more here.
(25 votes)
Good tip but...
This is a good tip, but i prefer to use SVS, if something goes wrong, i don't need to uninstall with all the risks.
De-activate the layer, and give it a second try.
Regards
Erik
www.svs4u.nl
MSIZAP and shared components
Just have in mind that MSIZAP will not remove any meta data for shared components (ex. component in merge module) as that would prevent the "other(s)" package from reparing those components.
MSIZAP : Not a optimal solution
I guess This tool also doesnt help much when the application contains merge modules and Shared components.
Harsh has given a techtip sometime back on "Restarting a failed installation". I would brief the same thing here...
When Windows Installer is invoked to process a Installer database file (.MSI), information is input into the following registry key:
This tells the Windows Installer service that an installation is processing so it can back out from a failed installation. Also, in the environment-defined TEMP directory, temporary files will exist from the installation. When you attempt to shutdown a Windows Installer installation by means other than the method provided through the Cancel button, the entries in the registry and the files in the TEMP directory can remain.
To get the installation started again, remove the entries in the registry key and clean out the TEMP directory of any extraneous files. Reboot the computer and initiate the installation again.
Hope this is useful for all of us.
Cheers'
Viju