When you need to troubleshoot a failing install, it is often useful to use the policy hive rather than the command line to catch things like repairs and multi-pacakge installs.
To use the code below
1) Start Notepad
2) copy and paste the snippit below into the notepad file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer]
"Logging"="voicewarmupx"
"Debug"=dword:00000007
3) File -> save
4) use file name WindowsInstallerTroubleshootingViaPolicy.reg
5) be sure to change the file type to All files so that notepad doesn't attend .txt
6) hit save
7) at the command prompt (make sure it's elevated if you are running Vista or greater)
- net stop msiserver
- run the file WindowsInstallerTroubleshootingViaPolicy.reg which will add the values below to your registry
- net start msiserver
8) rerun your scenario
9) look in the %temp% directory for files that start with the letters "MSI". Depending on the nuances of your scenario, these files could be in
- user temp
- administrator temp
- Windows temp
10) consult your favorite reference for reading logs such as
Robert Flaming
Windows Installer Program Manager
Team Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/windows_installer_team
Own Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/rflaming
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