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Windows Installer: Benefits and Implementation for System administrators
Microsoft Corporation
Published: November 2001
Restoring the pre-installation state of a computer
Windows Installer keeps track of all the changes it makes to a computer. Therefore, if you attempt to add, modify, or remove an application and the action fails, Windows Installer restores the computer to its previous state. The restoration procedure is known as a rollback.
With earlier setup technologies, if an upgraded version of an application failed, neither version remained in a functional state. With Windows Installer, if an application upgrade fails, the system reverts the computer and its contents to its original state.
Windows Installer Packages
Each Windows Installer package (.msi) file contains a database that stores all the instructions for the Windows Installer service and data required to manage the state of a program, such as adding, changing, or removing it from a computer. For example, an .msi file of an application can contain instructions for installing the application when a prior version of the application is already installed. The .msi file could also contain instructions for installing the software on a computer where that application has never been present. To simplify creating and customizing .msi files, setup program authoring tool vendors have developed various authoring tools for Windows Installer.
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