UltraEdit 17.00 - 17.20 upgrade / Win 7 "Feature Transfer Error"

[lmiller]

registered user of UE with unlimited upgrades. Trying to upgrade via the "Check For Updates" menu item. Upgrade downloads and starts installing OK, then I get a "Feature Transfer Error" with the message "Error -2: The system cannot find the file specified". Tried several times, reboot, etc.

Finally I tried downloading the installer from ultraedit.com and uninstalling my existing copy. Same error. Did the RTFG and nothing helpful (aside from a technical note from Microsoft to "clean your CD".). Anything out there to help resolve this? I use UltraEdit daily and now I don't have anything except Notepad++, which is pretty functional but not quite UE.

[Mofi]

I suppose you have deleted by mistake the MSI files of UE v17.00 and because UE v17.20 uses an updated installer with a new product id string, the upgrade fails.

Try following:

• Download from UltraEdit hotfix page the ZIP file with the installer for UE v17.10.0.1015.
• Unpack the ZIP file into a temporary folder and execute the EXE installer to upgrade to this version which hopefully works.
• Run the installer again to uninstall the program files of UE v17.10. Your configuration files are not removed.
• Run now installer of UE v17.20 which should work now without any problem.

If that does not work, please tell me your operating system. I have a detailed log on what is modified on hard disk and in registry when installing UltraEdit and therefore can guide you what to change on hard disk and registry to make a manual uninstall.

[grumbler57]

I tried (today, 17.9.11) to get the update for UEdit installed.
After download and start the installation is aborted with Error -1638, which means old version is available.
The same problem (and error code was reportet in April this year, as I tried to update to 17.00.0.1030.

On my Notebook with Windows 7 (64bit) I have two users created - one as Adminitrator and one with restricted access.
I used the "Admin account" to install UEdit for all users (v 16 in December last year). Due to the experinece
with UltraCompare a few weeks before, I tried to get UEdit update at least for the most often used account
(with restricted access). In April I tried installation as Administrator and as "Normal user" several times in several
orders. After I did not succedd, I kept edition 17.00.0.1025.

In a simlar thread (but with error code -2) it is said that after unsinstall the new Version could not be installed
and UEdit could not be used. Therefore I will not do an uninstall before I know that afterwards a running UEdit might
be available.
Any suggestions to solve the problem?

[Mofi]

The installers of the first builds of UE v17.00 had some problems. It is best to first uninstall UltraEdit v17.00 via Control Panel of Windows (user settings are not removed) and then install the new version. If uninstall fails and you don't have the installer executable of v17.00 anymore to install (although already installed) and then uninstall v17.00, I offer the same as for user lmiller, a guide how to uninstall UE manually with manually deleting files and registry keys.

In the meantime the ZIP files with installer for latest hotfix for UE v17.10 have been replaced by the EXE files for latest hotfix for UE v17.20 on the UltraEdit hotfix information page. But if you right click on the download button for your localized version of Ultraedit, click on Copy Link Address (or whatever is the context menu item name in your browser), select the address in the address bar of your browser, press Ctrl+V to replace it with the copied link address and replace now .exe by .zip, you can still download the ZIP file with the installer for UE v17.10.0.1015.

[ale71mosca]

I'm now in the same situation. I did not uninstall previous versions of the UE (v17.10) before installation attempting of the last UE version (v17.20).
Since then I am no longer able to uninstall UE because of an error that appears during the uninstall.

I even tried the Windows Installer, Clean Up but without any success. At this point I think I need the manual uninstall procedure.

Thanks in advance
Mosca

[Mofi]

Currently latest version of UltraEdit is v17.30.0.1002. You have not posted which version of Windows you have. I'm using a German Windows XP SP3 x86. On a Windows Vista or Windows 7 the paths on hard disk are different. The steps for a manual uninstall are not complete, but enough to be able to install UltraEdit again and uninstall it then with standard method via Control Panel of Windows if you want.

Please note that English UltraEdit v17.xx installed with the EXE installer has a different GUID string than localized versions of UltraEdit or UltraEdit v17.xx installed with MSI file. I try to explain how to uninstall independent of version of operating system and version of UltraEdit v17.xx.

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The directory referenced by value of Windows environment variable ProgramFiles (copy %ProgramFiles% into address bar of Windows Explorer and press RETURN to open this directory) contains the subdirectory named InstallShield Installation Information. For most (English) Windows versions this is

C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information

Windows x64 have a second program files directory for 32-bit applications which is

C:\Program Files (x86)\InstallShield Installation Information

Please note that a non English Windows 7 / Vista Explorer displays the program files with a localized name although on hard disk the name is always Program Files on x86 and x64 computers. Windows 7 / Vista x64 computers have additionally Program Files (x86) for 32-bit applications even when non English Windows Explorer displays this folder with a different name.

In this directory the EXE installer of UltraEdit creates a subdirectory using the GUID and unpacks the real setup.exe with 4 other files. On my computer this is the directory {635A6AF2-63AF-4C1C-AF57-BDC8AF6D397D}. The directory should contain a setup.ini which is a UTF-16 LE encoded Unicode text file containing the string Product=UltraEdit. Please verify that by opening setup.ini in UltraEdit and looking for the string.

Delete the directory containing setup.ini with Unicode string Product=UltraEdit.

Computers where UltraEdit was installed with the MSI installer version do not have this directory.

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Next copy into Windows Explorer address bar the string %HOMEPATH% and press key RETURN to open user's home directory.
This directory is C:\Documents and Settings\UserName or C:\Users\UserName or has a different name according to version of Windows, language of Windows, system drive and name of user account.

Search in this directory for file UltraEdit.msi. Make sure to search also in hidden and system directories by using the advanced search options. You should find such a file at least once, but perhaps also several times in several subdirectories. These are the cached installer packages of UltraEdit usually removed all during a normal uninstall. Delete all the directories containing an UltraEdit.msi file (and a language dependent INI file). And if the parent directory is then empty, delete the parent directory too.

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Then open in Windows Explorer the directory %SystemRoot%\Installer. Search in this directory for a *.msi file containing the text uedit32.exe. Delete the MSI file containing this string.

Further this directory contains a subdirectory with *.exe files. Those files create the shortcuts or build a shortcut cache. I have not yet tried to find out what they are really for. However, search for a file named uedit32*. Please write down on a paper or a new text file the name of this directory (hexadecimal GUID string in braces. Then delete the directory containing this file. Don't touch the other files or directories.

Okay, the deletions of the MSI installer files on hard disk are finished now. Let's continue with entries in Windows registry.

You could delete the program files directory containing uedit32.exe too, but this is not really necessary when your next step will be the installation of UltraEdit. Your configurations are stored in a different directory which will be never modified nor removed by the installer of UltraEdit whether on installation or during uninstall process.

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Start now Regedit.exe. Open the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products. One of the subkeys in this branch contains a string value named ProductName with the value UltraEdit. So please press Ctrl+F, enter UltraEdit execute the Find. On my computer the key containing the string value ProductName with the value UltraEdit is 2FA6A536FA36C1C4FA75DB8CFAD693D7.

Click on left side with right mouse button on the key and left click on Rename. Press Ctrl+C to copy the selected name of the key to Windows clipboard and press ESC. Then delete the still selected key on left side by pressing key DEL.

Go up in the tree to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Features which contains the same key as you just have deleted. Press Ctrl+F, press Ctrl+V and execute the Find command to find it. Delete the found key with DEL too.

Continue search for the key with pressing key F3. You will find it again, but now as a string value name on right side. Press TAB to set focus to key containing this string value on left side and press key DEL to delete this key from the tree. The key sequence F3, TAB, DEL must be executed now in a loop very often until you have deleted all keys created by the MSI installer of UltraEdit to register all files installed into program files directory of UltraEdit. Those are a lot of keys, but not so many as for UEStudio or for Microsoft Office.

Be careful because after lots of string values on right side with the ID as name you will find suddenly a key in the tree having this ID as name on left side. Then you have to press only key DEL without key TAB first.

Now open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. Press Ctrl+F and search for UltraEdit. You should find this string twice. Delete both keys on left side containing on right side a string with value UltraEdit. On my Windows XP these are the keys

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\InstallShield_{635A6AF2-63AF-4C1C-AF57-BDC8AF6D397D}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{635A6AF2-63AF-4C1C-AF57-BDC8AF6D397D}

The last registry string values which should be deleted before installing UltraEdit again although not really necessary are located in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Folders

Under this key all MSI installers register which directories are created during a custom installation (and no MSI installer deletes those keys ever). Search here again for strings containing UltraEdit in the name when you have installed UltraEdit to a directory named UltraEdit. And you should delete also the string value with the GUID string in braces you wrote before on a paper or a new text file before deleting the directory. On my computer this is the string C:\WINDOWS\Installer\{635A6AF2-63AF-4C1C-AF57-BDC8AF6D397D}\.

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Now all traces of the MSI installer on hard disk and in registry are removed and just the files and registry keys of UltraEdit itself remain. Now it should be no problem to install UltraEdit again.

BTW: This method can be used for any application installed with an MSI installer which fails to uninstall mainly because of a missing file or registry key. But as you can see, it is not simple to find out which files and directories on hard disk, and which keys and values in registry belong to the MSI installer of an application.

[ale71mosca]

As you pointed out I did't post my pc's OS. I'm using an Italian Windows XP SP3 x86.

Unfortunately, despite having followed the procedure recommended by you, I didn't solve the problem so below I report what it happens when I try to install UltaEdit 17.30.

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Clicking on ue_english.exe it appears the "UltraEdit - InstallShield Wizard" window in which it appears the sentence "Preparing to install..." and in the sequence the following sentence:

Extracting: UltraEdit.msi

Decompressing: UltraEdit.msi

Extracting: ISSetup.dll

Decompressing: ISSetup.dll

Preparing to install

After that it appears the "UltraEdit Installation" window saying "Thank you for choosing to install UltraEdit. We are ready to begin installation. Please press Next to continue".
Once I accepted the licence agreement, chosen to Install this application only for me and selected the complete setup type, the real installation begins. On the "UltraEdit Installation" window it appears "The InstallShield Wizard is installing UltraEdit", but in few seconds and with the progress bar showing a progress of 0% it appears a "Feature transfer error" message box in which is writen as follows:
"Error:-1603 Fatal Error during installation consult Windows Installer Help (Msi.chm) or MSDN for more information.

Having pressed the OK button on "UltraEdit Installation" window it appears "Installation Wizard Completed. The wizard was interrupted before UltraEdit could be completely installed."

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Despite that I can use UltraEdit but I can't neither uninstall nor update it.

Could the InstallShield update solve the problem?

Thanks in advance
Mosca

[Mofi]

It looks like you have successfully removed the MSI traces of an existing installation because you have seen the full installation dialogs and not the upgrade / update dialogs.

The EXE version of the UltraEdit installer does not require the installation of MSI installer v4.5 in comparison to the MSI version of the UltraEdit installer. MSIEXEC v4.5 is by default not installed on Windows XP, just on Windows 7 and Vista. Although it should not be necessary, you can download and update MSI to v4.5 (most likely from v3.1). Download free Microsoft Windows Installer 4.5 Redistributable (switch to Italian before download) and install it.

I found also following Microsoft article You receive an "error 1603: A fatal error occurred during installation" error message when you try to install a Windows Installer package. Check and follow the solutions Microsoft describes in this article.

If the UltraEdit program files directory is not encrypted, is not on a substituted drive (subst command used) and SYSTEM has full control on the directory, the error code 1603 is not enough to find out the reason. Please open start menu, click on item to execute something, enter eventvwr.msc and click on button OK. This opens the event viewer of Windows. Look into the event protocol for the applications. You should find there the MSI installer error. Double click on this error event, use the third button on right side to copy the full description of the event to Windows clipboard and paste it here. You can also click on the link to get help directly from Microsoft database and perhaps find out the reason for the error by yourself.