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Title
Error Reading Setup Initialization File when Launching a Compressed Setup.exe

Summary

This article provides a hotfix to address this issue.

Symptoms

When launching the install from a compressed single image Setup.exe, the install fails with message:

"Error Reading Setup Initialization File"

When running the setup with debug logging turned on (i.e., setup.exe /debuglog"C:\MyLog.log") the install log shows the errors:

Extraction of '' failed

Extraction of 'Setup.bmp'

Cause

This is due to a bug that was introduced in InstallShield 2009. This fix is recommended for any install project that is using the unicode version of Setup.exe.

Resolution

To resolve this behavior, follow the steps below:

  1. Install InstallShield 2009 Service Pack 1. (For download link, see Additional Information below)

  2. Download the hotfix

  3. Locate folder: C:\program files\InstallShield\2009\redist\Language Independent\i386

  4. Make a backup copy of the following four files:

    • setup.exe

    • setupPreReq.exe

    • setupPreReqW.exe

    • setupW.exe

  5. Unzip the hotfix and copy the updated versions of the files to this folder, overwriting the original version.

  6. Rebuild the install project.

Additional Information

InstallShield 2009 Service Pack 1 contains fixes for related issues when creating Unicode setups. It is recommended that all users of InstallShield 2009 Premier and Professional install this Service Pack, and it is a prerequisite for installing this hotfix:

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Error Reading Setup Initialization File when Launching a Compressed Setup.exe