Can you reninstall programs with .msi files in C:\WINDOWS\Installer?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by allizomeniz, Aug 13, 2014.

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  1. allizomeniz

    allizomeniz Registered Member

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    Are they just regular application installers or do they serve some other purpose?

    I'm thinking about uninstalling Roxio Creator Starter that came preinstalled. It's a commercial product and I don't have an installation disk. If I wanted to get it back later the only option would be to do a full system recovery or restore a disk image, unless the .msi installer would work. Before I go and do something I'll regret, I thought I should do some homework.
     
  2. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    What brand of computer do you use?
     
  3. allizomeniz

    allizomeniz Registered Member

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    It's a Dell Inspiron 570 desktop with Windows 7.
     
  4. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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  5. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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  6. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

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    The installation files inside the windows\installer folder are full installation files, you can reinstall products from them. You can test this by copying an .msi from that folder to a different computer and installing that particular software to the new computer.

    The only problem is in identifying the correct installation .msi. For example, if it is a software suite, it will have multiple .msi copies for each of its modules in this folder and sometimes you can not install one module without a master .exe file.
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2014
  7. allizomeniz

    allizomeniz Registered Member

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    I think I'd better leave well-enough alone. After spending two hours on the phone with Dell "support," I finally found out I can't redownload it from them. If I want it I'd have to upgrade to the latest version for a fee, unless I have an extended warranty that covers software, which I don't. I can get Roxio Burn which is a nice little burner but doesn't have all the features of Creator.

    I don't think the .msi installer I have is a full installer, I think it's a repair utility for an already installed program. It's only 52mb and the downloads I found online for the program are around 500mb. The installed size is 1.6gb.

    I guess I'll just leave it be for now. I can probably find a free program that does everything Creator does at a fraction of the bloat. :D
     
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