Introduction
Microsoft Windows Installer is a component of your Windows operating system that provides a standard foundation for installing and uninstalling software. Software manufacturers can create their product setup to use the Windows Installer to make software installation, maintenance, and uninstallation straightforward and easy.
How to get Windows Installer 3.1 v2
Before you can download this redistributable component, you must determine whether you are running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003 or of Windows XP.
Automatic version detection results
Note If the auto detection results are not displayed on your screen, please click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
827218 How to determine whether a computer is running a 32-bit version or 64-bit version of the Windows operation system
Download the installer for all versions of Windows except 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 or 64-bit versions of Windows XP
The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Update Catalog:
119591 How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file. Note Only the binary for the Msi.dll file is updated. The version number is 3.1.4000.2435. All other binaries of the Windows Installer 3.1 (v2) package remained unchanged and are version 3.1.4000.1823.
Download the installer for 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 or 64-bit versions of Windows XP
This redistributable component is only for 32-bit operating systems. You cannot install this component on a computer that is running the 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 or of Windows XP. You can install Windows Installer 3.0 redistributable on Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and on the release version of Windows Server 2003. Windows Installer 3.1 was included with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1). You cannot install this redistributable on the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 SP1. To update the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 SP1, or to update the 64-bit versions of Windows XP, download the hotfix that is described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 898715 instead of the 893803 (v2) package. Release history:
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Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1: KB893803 version 1.0 (April 11, 2005)
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Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1: KB893803 version 2.0 (May 12, 2005)
The version number is 3.1.4000.2435. All other binaries of the Windows Installer 3.1 (v2) package remained unchanged and are version 3.1.4000.1823.
More Information
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New minor UpdateTargetRTMProperty property: Patch files can now target both the original release baseline and the latest service-pack-level baseline that is on the system.
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New MsiSetExternalUIRecord API:Packages that use an external user interface can now receive messages as records instead of receiving the messages as strings.
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New x64 and Msix64 properties: Packages can now use the x64 and Msix64 properties to indicate x64 processor-based operating system support.
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New MsiNotifySidChange API: You can use this API to upgrade the Windows Installer configuration if the security identifier (SID) of a user changes.
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Flyweight patching is now an opt-in behavior: Windows Installer 3.0 introduced new "flyweight patching" functionality. By default, this functionality was enabled for all patches. Windows Installer 3.1 now disables this functionality unless you specifically enable the functionality by setting the OptimizedInstallMode property in the MsiPatchMetaData table.
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Windows Installer now logs null characters ("[~]") correctly when the characters are used in a registry value marker or in a service dependency.
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The MsiGetFileHash function now works correctly for very large unversioned files. These files may be about 2 GB.
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The MediaSrcProp property of a patch is now set to the original launched-from location when the patch is installed. The MediaSrcProp property is set to the cached patch location for subsequent transactions.
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Progress bar now works correctly even if the package installs more than 2GB of files.
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Patching of isolated components now works.
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Target information for a custom action is no longer logged when the custom action fails if the custom action is marked to hide the target.
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Error 1642 (ERROR_PATCH_TARGET_NOT_FOUND) is returned even if only one Windows Installer 2.0-style inapplicable patch is being applied.
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Applying a full-file Windows Installer 2.0-style patch that contains companion files no longer requires access to the source media.
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Windows Installer 3.1 now correctly handles the scenario where a minor update package is installed when an obsolete or superseded patch also exists.
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Windows Installer 3.1 now supports application of patches for packages that have large numbers of files. (Sequence column of File table includes values larger than 32767.)
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Windows Installer 3.1 now sends INSTALLSTART_ACTIONSTART messages for all actions.
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In Windows Installer 3.0 and earlier versions, if you applied several major upgrade patches, subsequent installations occasionally failed. This issue is now fixed.
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The patch sequencer no longer incorrectly rejects a valid patch during administrative image patching.
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Windows Installer 3.1 no longer skips script custom actions that are marked as asynchronous.
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Windows Installer no longer fails silently when the installer tries to update a file that is protected by the Windows File Protection feature.
Troubleshooting
For help in troubleshooting Windows installer issues, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
907749 Basic troubleshooting steps for Windows Installer
References
For more information, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site:
