Unexpected "file close" dialog now appearing ...

[bcreane]

After changes to our application and minor changes to the associated msi,
users are now prompted to close the application before proceeding with a
minor upgrade or an uninstall. This happens under "Windows ® Installer. V
3.01.4001.5512", not just Vista. Note that closing the app's window, but
leaving the application running with only a systray icon doesn't provoke this
dialog. The behavior is new with minor changes to both the application and
installer. The msi log entry reports:

MSI (s) (0C:F8) [14:46:41:587]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding PrimaryVolumePath
property. Its value is 'C:'.
Info 1603. The file C:\Program Files\xxxxx is being held in use by the
following process: Name: xxxxxx, Id: 1624, Window Title: '(not determined
yet)'. Close that application and retry.

Can anyone hazard a guess as to what might be causing this behavior and how
to quiet the msi down? (We stop the application and associated services in a
deferred custom action later in the install process).

Thanks for your assistance.

[Adrian Accinelli]

"bcreane" <bcr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:903FF6F1-8A24-4C32...@microsoft.com...

Change your "process close" actions into non-TerminalProcess calls (i.e.
make a ClosedownEvent or private shutdown message call) and then use them as
an immediate action to close your process(es) prior to InstallValidate.

You can read up on the whys and hows in InstallValidate and RestartManager
MSDN links below. In short your exe is locking a keypath in your product
and it has a visible Main Window so it becomes a candidate for FilesInUse
dialog. If you unlock the file (app exit) then the message will go away.

InstallValidate description:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa369546(VS.85).aspx

Restart Manager description (Vista+):
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372466.aspx

Sincereley,
Adrian Accinelli