Article ID: 314852 - Last Review: December 1, 2007 - Revision: 1.5

How to Enable Windows Installer Logging in Windows XP

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This article was previously published under Q314852

SUMMARY

This article describes the registry-activated logging service that Windows includes for diagnosis of issues that involve Windows Installer.

The registry entry in this article is valid for all Windows platforms.

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MORE INFORMATION

Windows Installer uses logging to help you troubleshoot issues that may arise when you install software packages. After you enable logging, you can try the unsuccessful installation again. Windows Installer tracks the progress and posts the data to the Temp folder.

The file name of the new log varies, but the file name begins with the letters "Msi" and ends with a .log extension.

To find the location of the new log in the Temp folder, type cd %temp% at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.

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Enable Windows Installer Logging by Adding Registry Entries

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe), and then create the following path and keys in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

Reg_SZ: Logging
Value: voicewarmup

The letters in the value field are the options that are available to use with Windows Installer logging. You can use the options in any order. Each option turns on a specific logging mode. For MSI version 1.1, the function of each option is as follows :

v - Verbose output
o - Out-of-disk-space messages
i - Status messages
c - Initial UI parameters
e - All error messages
w - Non-fatal warnings
a - Start up of actions
r - Action-specific records
m - Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
u - User requests
p - Terminal properties
+ - Append to existing file
! - Flush each line to the log

* - Wildcard, to log all information except for the v option. To include the v option, specify *v.

It is recommended that you use this service only for troubleshooting. Leaving the service turned on creates a new Msi*.log file every time you use the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel. This activity adversely affects system performance and disk space.

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Enable Windows Installer Logging by Modifying Group Policy

You can use Group Policy to enable logging by modifying the appropriate organizational unit (OU) or Active Directory Group Policy:

Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type gpedit.msc to start the Group Policy Editor.
Expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand Windows Components, and then click Windows Installer.
Double-click Logging, and then click Enabled.
In the Logging box, specify the options for what you want to log. The log file, Msi.log, appears in the Temp folder of the system volume.

For more information about MSI logging, refer to Windows Help. Search Help by using the phrase "msi logging," and then click the "Managing options for computers through Group Policy" topic.

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