Random folders during MSI installation

Question

Is there a way to prevent or control the location and name of the "random" / GUID-based folders created in C:\User\\AppData\Local\Temp during installation of an MSI created with Installshield 2012?

Answer 1

ISSetupFile: I believe the folder you mention is used to hold the files added as support files to the installer - for example license agreement files, config files, bitmaps and similar. In other words files that are not to be installed, but are used during the installation process (in setup dialogs for example). This is a special Installshield feature which means you don't have to extract the files from the Binary table of the MSI yourself. Instead you add them as ISSetupFile entries and they end up in a custom table in the final, compiled MSI. During installation they are extracted by the custom action ISSetupFilesExtract. The extraction folder name will be the product GUID for the MSI being installed (unless there are changes to this recently - there could be, for security updates and such things). You can find this product code in the Property Table of the MSI, using Orca or an equivalent tool (towards bottom).

Hacks: I suppose you can try to remove or disable this table. Seeing as many files are used in the GUI, the setup might still run without this table in silent mode, but files can also be used in custom actions that run in silent mode. If this is the case the setup will crash without these files. You can try to zap the table or better yet use a transform to disable it.

Administrative Installation: I trust you are familiar with administrative installations? Essentially a file extract for any MSI. Maybe that helps the white listing process - but I guess you have that down already. This approach will not help against these GUID folders though - unless you also disable the ISSetupFile entries.

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Links:

• How to install an MSI silently
• Extract MSI from EXE