Stop using removable drives as a temporary location for installation

[matt.baker]

Please can the installer be changed to stop using removable drives as a temporary location for installation files. I had a 2TB drive attached when I started the install and "safely removed" it part way through. The install then failed

I assume it uses the largest attached drive available. If possible could it check for the fastest drive instead. My main drive is an SSD with an HDD as the secondary drive which is larger. The SSD would have been the best choice in this instance.

[Rich_Y.]

Hi Matt--Can you attach an installation log for the case you mention?  From the command line, run "setup.exe /log "C:\customdir\mylog.txt"".  Thanks.

[matt.baker]

I ran the install again with the log option and it generated a 110 MB file, so I don't think it would be wise uploading that!

However, I think I now know why it is using the drive - yet again it's down to Microsoft .

Windows Installer Package/Database files (msi) use the largest available drive unless ROOTDRIVE has been specified when executing the installer:

http://serverfault.com/questions/372789/keep-windows-installer-from-using-largest-drive-for-temporar...

http://superuser.com/questions/71325/windows-installer-using-usb-drive-for-temp-purposes

Therefore, could the installer be tweaked to pass the ROOTDRIVE parameter when launching said msi files? Or manually extract before launching the contents?

I know it's not a massive issue, but it just seems like poor design (on Microsoft's part).

Log file extract:

Action 14:54:11: CostInitialize. Computing space requirements...
Action start 14:54:11: CostInitialize.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:130]: Machine policy value 'MaxPatchCacheSize' is 10
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:400]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding ROOTDRIVE property. Its value is 'E:\'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:400]: Note: 1: 1325 2: templates 
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:400]: Note: 1: 1324 2: _Legal Information 3: 1 
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:400]: Note: 1: 1325 2: U~Service 
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:400]: Note: 1: 1325 2: ExtComSu~ 
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:400]: Note: 1: 1324 2: Driver Deployment 3: 1 
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:400]: Note: 1: 1325 2: templates 
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:410]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding CostingComplete property. Its value is '0'.
MetaInstaller: ***Progress Info*** End: Calling action CostInitialize. Mon Aug 08 14:54:11 2016
MetaInstaller: ***Progress Info*** Start: CDistribution::NIComponentCostTable::LoadTable. Mon Aug 08 14:54:11 2016
MetaInstaller: ***Progress Info*** End: CDistribution::NIComponentCostTable::LoadTable. Mon Aug 08 14:54:11 2016
MetaInstaller: ***Progress Info*** Start: Calling action FileCost. Mon Aug 08 14:54:11 2016
Action ended 14:54:11: CostInitialize. Return value 1.

And another section:

Action start 14:54:11: CostFinalize.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:711]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding OutOfDiskSpace property. Its value is '0'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:711]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding OutOfNoRbDiskSpace property. Its value is '0'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:711]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding PrimaryVolumeSpaceAvailable property. Its value is '0'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:711]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding PrimaryVolumeSpaceRequired property. Its value is '0'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:711]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding PrimaryVolumeSpaceRemaining property. Its value is '0'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:711]: Note: 1: 2262 2: Patch 3: -2147287038 
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:721]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding TARGETDIR property. Its value is 'E:\'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:721]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding WWWROOT.LVCINT.10000 property. Its value is 'E:\'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:721]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding INSTALLDIR.DN462W property. Its value is 'E:\'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:721]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding WWWROOT.MSTINTRP071 property. Its value is 'E:\'.
MSI (c) (EC:F4) [14:54:11:721]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding GAC property. Its value is 'E:\'.

Where E:\ was a large removable drive in this instance.

[Rich_Y.]

Try the following optional command-line switch:

setup.exe [/prop <property name>=<property value>,<property name>=<property value>,...]

For example:

setup.exe /prop ROOTDRIVE=C:\

This switch can be combined with the log switch to see if you get the change desired.

If this switch doesn't work, then I recommend searching for an option within the OS itself.  Best wishes.

[Darren]

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