2908 installer error

Hi,

We have been having a problem with some users getting a 2908 installer error
when they install our product.  This started happening after we added
Crystal Reports merge modules to the installer and it starting taking an
extremely long time for the installer to come up. We have since removed CR
into its own installer, but we are still seeing some users who get this
error.  I am wondering what could be causing this error. We know of two
scenarios:  1. The user clicks on the installer multiple times and as a
consequence has multiple installs going unintentionally  (due to the burden
of having 70 mega of Crystal Reports Merge Modules in the installer causing
it to launch slowly).  2. The user had the program being installed up and
running and ran the installer.  Can anyone tell me what else produce this
error, and what can be done to repair after the error occurs? We have been
reinstalling windows on computers affected with this error. Any advice on
cause and friendlier recovery would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave

Hi Dave,Could you please tell me which merge modules for Crystal Report you

Hi Dave,

Could you please tell me which merge modules for Crystal Report you have
added into the setup project?
In my opinion, we should only add the following merge modules:

Crystal_Database_Access2003.msm
Crystal_Managed2003.msm
Crystal_regwiz2003.msm

I have created a setup project for my test program and add the above merge
modules into the project. I build the setup project and found that the size
of the MSI package is only 6.62M. The startup time of the installer is not
slow either.

I also performed a test for the second scenario you have mentioned. I run
the test program which has been installed already and then run the
installer again. If I choose 'Repair' option during the intallation, no
error occurs and all works fine; if I choose 'Remove' option, a warning
pops up saying 'The following application are using files which the
installer must remove. You can either close the application and click "Try
Again", or click "Continue" so that the installer continues the
installation, and replaces these files when your system restarts.', without
any error.

As for 2908  installer error, I have searched the Internet and found that
the message of this error is 'Could not register component'. I also found a
blog article discussing 2908 installer error when intalling .NET
Framework1.1. It points out that the problem usually is caused by a broken
previous install. I think this may be the cause of your problem too. You
may have a try uninstalling the previously installed product from the
cllient machine completely and then install it again. If it still doesn't
work, have a try to remove the registry keys for the product and try the
setup again.

FYI, you may visit the following link for the blog article for detailed
information.
'Microsoft.Net Framework 1.1 setup has ended prematurely'
http://blogs.msdn.com/junfeng/archive/2004/01/31/65457.aspx

Hope this helps.



Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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Thank you for your response.

Thank you for your response.

We install the following Crystal Reports XI Developer Edition  SP1 (not
.Net) merge modules which
we downloaded from their website :

CrystalReports11_RDC_License.msm
CrystalReports11_RDC_Runtime.msm
CrystalReports11_RDC_ReportEngine.msm

They total about 56 Meg and really slow down the installation process! There
was apparently a printing bug that was hot fixed in these merge modules so
that is why we use them.  When we added these to our installer we had
problems with a conflict of different versions of the same file between
Crystal msms and other merge modules in the install. We had to tweak our
installer to handle that. Could it be that these merge modules are not the
ones we should be using?

This is very intermittant and has only happened on less than 6 machines, 4
of them inhouse. When we get the error, the product "appears" to be
installed and shows up in add/remove programs, but Remove program or
uninstall doesn't work. At that point, office becomes unuseable and has to
be reinstalled.

I took at look at the blog, but it is talking about .Net Framework. I'm not
sure that it is applicable to us.  My most important questions are what in
the installer can cause this error and how to recover from it.

We use Visual Studio Installer version 1.1.  Our installer installs a couple
VB programs, a VB outlook addin, and a few DLLs.  The crystal merge modules
are included in the installer.


Thanks,


size
without
a
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rights.

Hi Dave,Sorry for my delayed response.Firstly, since you're not using .

Hi Dave,

Sorry for my delayed response.

Firstly, since you're not using .NET merge modules for Crystal Report, I
suggest that you ask Business Objects company that produces the Crystal
Report for assistance. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your
understanding!

In my opinion, if the merge modules are too big, you'd better not pack them
into your main installer. You may make a separate installer for the merge
modules.

If you couldn't remove or uninstall a program from the Add/Remove programs,
a possible reason is that the registry entry for this program is damaged.
You may have a try deleting the corresponding registry entry in the
register. Ensure to backup the register before you change it, so that you
could restore the register in case if fatal errors occur.

Hope this helps.



Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

I think I left something out of my original post.

I think I left something out of my original post.  When this 2908 error
occurs the windows installer itself no longer works.  Not only can we not
install our own product we can't install anything other products.

If we could install the Msi cleaner we might be able to fix the
installation.

Is there anyway to restore the windows installer to a working state.

We do have a support incident open with Business Objects, thus far they have
not been helpful.  They have suggested that we rename the mscoree.dll and
reinstall then rename the dll back.



them
programs,

Hi Dave,Thank you for your prompt response.

Hi Dave,

Thank you for your prompt response.

I have searched Microsoft KB and found an article discussing how to restore
Windows Installer. You may visit the following link for the KB article.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315346

Hope this helps.


Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support