Admin Know-IT-All Question #16 |
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By Mr. Know-IT-All
17 Dec 2002 | SearchWinIT.com |
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Were you correct?
"A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked."
- John Gall
Today's Know-IT-All answer is:
c. Get Windows Installer 2.0 as a separate download from Microsoft
Learn more:
Windows 2000 contains a system component, the Windows Installer, which is billed as an "application installation and management service." Many non-Microsoft products rely on it as well, and it is used to install and manage .MSI packages, a software-distribution format that can be used by sysadmins to distribute programs to many desktops at once.
There are two extant versions of the installer. Version 1.1 ships with Windows 2000 on the installation CD-ROM. Version 2.0, however, ships with Windows XP, .NET Server, and is also packaged with Windows 2000 Service Packs 1 and 2. When the Service Packs are applied, the Installer is upgraded to the 2.0 version. Since it's considered a fairly integral system component, like DirectX, this is not intended to be a reversible action. (The 1.1 revision of the Installer also had some issues that have required an update.)
Under certain combinations of circumstances, however, it is possible to damage the installer. If Service Packs 1 or 2 are installed, and then removed, programs that depend on the Windows Installer may no longer function correctly, or you may be prompted to reinstall them. This is because two things happen when you upgrade the Windows Installer to the 2.0 version...
>> Read Serdar Yegulalp's full article entitled "Repairing the Windows installer".
>> SearchWin2000's Best Web Links on Installation tools -- which ones should you pick? .
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