Summary

InstallShield VC++ 2019 prerequisite restart the machine after the VC++ 2019 prerequisite installation, especially when installs on a machine installed with VC++ 2017 redistributable. However, VC++ 2019 redistributable from the Microsoft is not initiating the restart.

Synopsis

This information applies to InstallShield 2020 R3 version. As the hotfix installer from the below download link, only installs on InstallShield 2020 R3.

Hotfix installer applies to InstallShield 2020R3 project types configured with InstallShield VC++ 2019 prerequisite:

• Basic MSI
• InstallScript MSI
• Installscript

Cause

InstallShield uses several methods to determine if a target machine should be restarted after running the prerequisite. One of them is by counting the entries in the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\PendingFileRenameOperations" registry key.The registry keys are counted before and after the InstallShield prerequisite is run. If these numbers are not the same, it is assumed that the file is trying to restart the system and exit the installation.

Microsoft VC++ 2019 redistributable is updating the " PendingFileRenameOperations" registry key during the installation, especially when Microsoft VC++ 2017 redistributable is installed on the target machine. Hence, InstallShield prerequisite is initiating the system restart because of the mismatch in the number of entries for registry key, before and after the VC++ 2019 redistributable installation. However, Microsoft VC++ 2019 redistributable is ignoring the PendingFileRenameOperations" registry key changes, as all the new entries are for the temporary files created in the TEMP folder during the installation.

Solution

Modified the InstallShield VC++ 2019 prerequisite and InstallShield 2020 R3 prerequisite engine to ignore the PendingFileRenameOperations" registry key changes for the temporary files created in the TEMP folder during the VC++ 2019 prerequisite installation.

InstallShield 2020 R3 hotfix installer is available for download from <<here>>.

InstallShield 2020 R3 hotfix installs on InstallShield 2020 R3 ( Premier, Professional and Express Editions) and InstallShield 2020 R3 StandAlone Build.