Classic Shell: Forum

I installed Beta 3.9.0 over 3.6.8 and manually closed several tasks to proceed. Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer and 2013 Outlook. The Beta 3.9.0 installer tried to initiate a "close" for DVRMSTOOLBOX (framework add-on service for Windows Media Center) resulting in an endless/fruitless loop where user options to "Cancel" or "OK" just repeated... Ctrl-Alt-Del allowed shutdown option of Restart. After Restart, Beta 3.9.0 install seemed to complete its mission (although slowly in perception). It seems to run ok with a menu and taskbar on two screens.

What programs should be closed is decided entirely by Windows Installer's Restart Manager component. If it doesn't succeed in closing a particular program, the user is supposed to close it from Task Manager. Or you can choose not to close it and restart Windows.

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

While install 3.9.0 as update of 3.6.8 I got problem of popup error message tells me something of missing BMP.msi, expected to be found in an Users\***\Appdata\Local\Temp\{35017BE7-F8EE-4161-AC04-4B81661CDB66}\ Folder. Checked this out while let run install (again) there is never such folder and search of complete PC tells me: no such file on all my HDD.
Changed to install 3.9.0 as Admin nothing changes. Uninstall 3.6.8 + install of 3.9.0 (download done some minutes ago = latest build is used) nothing changes. Still popup this window. Reboot PC after uninstall of 3.6.8 and then do install of 3.9.0 nothing changes. Reboot PC on / after install of 3.9.0 there is popup of that Missing bmp.msi error Message again.

Checked Google + Yahoo to find Solution or chance to download that bmp.msi was waste of time..
So whats wrong with that is reason why i registered to become able to ask for...

Laptop, Win 7 prof 64bit german language, almost all possible updates, Intel i5, 8 gig Ram, 128 gig SSD

Can you attach a screenshot of the error message?
Are you able to successfully uninstall the current version of Classic Shell?

I have and had no Problem, no error message while uninstall it / this Version / any former Versions too.
I used Classic Shell since months and did update installs most time, there where rare fresh installs. I use it on my desktop PC too.
By the way: hit that abbrechen Button i am told, if i would like to use an bmp.msi, i should take care about use a valid..legitim ... COPY (??) of that bmp.msi..
How can i do so, searching my complete PC for that file shows zero results ?

OK, so let me get this straight:
You uninstalled the old version 3.6.8 successfully.
You are trying to install the latest 3.9.0.
You run the installer, and you get this message.

Is that correct?

Classic Shell does not have a component called BMP.msi. I have no idea where this is coming from.

No..i did some more tryouts.
1: update of installed and used 3.6.7 some time ago to 3.6.8
2: visited your HP yesterday --> found news of that beta --> downloaded that 3.9.0 yesterday ( done again today but did not changed anything, just to tell you)
2a: installed as update on 3.6.8 --> at the end of install the shown error message was shown.
3: uninstalled 3.9.0, reinstalled 3.6.8 (normal way, not choosin install as admin) --> everything is fine and working again
4. changed to install 3.9.0 again but this time: install as admin --> same error message. Found out there is startup of 3.9.0 but there is popup of error message two times again, do some changes of config / settings of Clasic Shell. Seems to me the Skin (changin) section is responsible but i am not sure. The far i remember Import settings.xml of 3.6.8. to 3.9.0 did not changed back to former skin (smoked glass), had to do that by my own..
4a: did uninstall of 3.6.8, no error message, reboot PC --> it was gone, install Folder gone. Did instal of 3.9.0 --> same error message again. --> uninstall, reinstall of 3.6.8 and i went to Bed..
4b: as written i downloaded setup.exe again today, because of postings inside forum saying there is new Ver 3.9.0 out. But there was no change of size ( byte size compared to download done yesterday ) found.
5: used that fresh download, did install again, hoping it will change the error problem..but..

On one hand you are talking about the error showing up at the end of installing 3.9.0 (2a)
On the other hand you are talking about importing the settings.xml in 3.9.0 (4)

So did 3.9.0 finish installing?
Also, do you have a tool like Process Explorer that can find which process is showing the error message, and the command line used to start it?

well ..i had to check out again and slooowly to become able to answer your questions
1: it is true, there is Finished installation Window shown...but..
2: Hit its Finish Button, makes popup notice, there is reboot of Comp to be done; 2 Buttons: now or later ?
3: in Case i hit later there is a kind of short (second ?) auto-install running. Saying something like windows is configuring..BMP...too fast to read it all Seems to be able to do its "install" half way, then stop itself and displayin above missing file message.
Same if i use the now Button, restart PC, the very same Moment Desktop is shown, same kind of auto-install starts up. Thought this is part of Classic Shell install, needed to get it work.
4: Because of been unable to find such bmp.msi i hit that >abbrechen< Button to make that error / search Window to disappear.
5. After that i can see Classic Shell running by hit the Start-Button. If i open its Config a can see: Version Numb. I am told it is 3.9.0.
But: the reason why i was talking about that setting of 3.6.8 backup.xml File is: 3.9.0. is running, okay ..fine.. but at least former 3.6.8 setting of wanted / former used skin is gone. The far i remember: If i go to skin chosin option, inside that running 3.9.0, if i try to change skin away to wanted / former one, that "auto-install bmp.msi not found error message" popups again. And again if i try second time change it. There is no need to close first of those msi-error messages too, do second try to change Classic Shell skin results in an second msi-error message.
6: No, i don't have any other startmenu, desktop adding / changing / coloring / tuning / pump it up software running, this is reason too, i thought that bmp.msi error belongs to Classic Shell Installation.
7: so if i am wrong, if this is an failure done by my windows, i am very sorry i wasted your time
8: no bmp.msi at win 7 setup DVD found
9. no Change if NOD 32 Antivir is temp. stopped.

Looks like some system component that Classic Shell needs is missing or corrupted. When that component is requested, it tries to repair itself by running its installer again. I don't know what the component is. My hunch is something to do with loading images (like PNG files or icons).
It may not be an original Windows component. It may be a third-party image filter or something. Without direct access to your system it is hard to tell anything more definite.

A Google search for 'BMP.msi' reveals the name of the package as Broadcom Management Programs. @Tiggaa, do you have some Broadcom driver or suite installed? Try to reinstall/repair that and the Windows Installer related error may go away.

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Yes, there is Broadcom Hardware inside my Lap.
So i did:
Reinstall / Repair of Broadcom Bluetooth Driver
same with W-Lan Driver
+ checked for new Driver via newest Driver Genius 12 Version \ Database

No Reaction or Disappear of that error message, no new driver found
So i went back to 3.6.8 for now
Thanks for tryin to help me !

Ah, so this error is happening on your system because something related to Windows Installer MSI of that driver component/suite is messed up.

Did you try installing Classic Shell 3.9.0 after repairing the driver? And if it asks again for BMP.msi, locate BMP.msi in the folder where the driver files are, or in the temporary directory (%tmp%) and point it to that file. Unless you point that dialog which asks for the MSI to the missing BMP.msi, it will keep showing that error. Once you point it to the correct MSI file, then you should be able to install Classic Shell's newer version.

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Links to some general topics:

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:53 pm --> " ... there is never such folder and search of complete PC tells me: no such file on all my HDD."
As written i searched my complete PC (Desktop PC + Laptop) to find any bmp.msi in any location. There are no more settings like : hide some system files / folders or something like that. So all possible folders were checked. I adviced check too, to check inside packed files / archieves too. I even checked all software installed or no more / not yet installed Software on my HDD too.
I did that in front of register to this Forum. In Fact, because of there was not even one found bmp.msi file i decided to register.

To answer your Question: yes, i did install again this time / point of try & error. Did not help..

News
After finishing backup of my Desktop PC i decided to install 3.9.0, do not care about known problems on my Laptop.
I can't explain why, but everything went fine. Its working, no error message. Hit Finish Button on Install Finished Window and it was done. Restarted Comp to be sure: still okay. But no bmp.msi on Desktop PC to be found.
Found Differences: Install on Desktop PC changes skin away from wanted smoked glass, but i am able to reconfigure it without problems.
On Laptop at first i wasn't able to do same. 3.9.0 keeps default system colors. Then i noticed: some posssible Options of Smoked Glas Skin were gone, hit Reset Skin Button gave it back. Done this i suddenly got able to switch to / use this skin.
No changing on that error popup window.

When you install 3.9.0 for the first time it does a one-time transfer of your old settings to the new ones. If you went back to 3.6.8 and changes some settings, then installed 3.9.0 again, the changes will not be transferred.
The transfer is not perfect. In some cases settings can be lost (for example if you some third-party skins).

I have the exact same problem with 3.9.0 as Tiggaa here about the installer popup, except for me it is for Steaminstall.msi (and I have english Win7 Home premium 64-bit). I have had Steam installed a long time and it still works OK. The installer popup appears right after dismissing the Classic shell (3.9.0) "install complete" (or whatever it says) window, and then also every time right after restarting windows. Everything (including Classic shell 3.9.0) seems to otherwise work fine in windows except for these two things:
1) Outlook 2010 complains about not being the default mail program anymore, and cannot load images in mails; this happens every time when starting Outlook and it starts working properly only after doing a repair install of Outlook.
2) When trying to type something in the classic start menu search box, the installer popup also appears immediately (how odd!).
I have tried alternating between 3.6.8 and 3.9.0 a few times, always uninstalling the other first, restarting computer and then installing the other. Always the result is the same: 3.6.8 works without problems, and 3.9.0 causes the same problems.

OK, this looks serious. I don't have any ideas how to troubleshot it though.

The first step is to have a reliable repro case. From what you are saying, every time you do a search, an installer pops up. Is this the steam installer or the Outlook installer?

Can you see in the event viewer if there are any errors related to steam or outlook?

Sorry for not being clear enough, it is not either installer, but rather (as I understand it) from the msi installer process itself, as seen in the attached picture (which is similar to Tiggaa's picture, only this time in english ).

When this has happened, there are two warning events (source: MsiInstaller) in the application event log with details:

1) Detection of product '{048298C9-A4D3-490B-9FF9-AB023A9238F3}', feature 'Steam_Base', component '{17D4903C-068A-47A0-9753-EDF4909D42FF}' failed. The resource 'D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Support.url' does not exist.
2) Detection of product '{048298C9-A4D3-490B-9FF9-AB023A9238F3}', feature 'Steam_Base' failed during request for component '{17D4903C-068A-47A0-9753-EDF4909D42FF}'

and one error event (source: MsiInstaller) with details:

3) Product: Steam -- Error 1706. No valid source could be found for product Steam. Windows Installer cannot continue.

And as I said Steam itself is working OK, no problems in running Steam or games from it.

EDIT: The number and paranthesis in front of the event details above are just my additions for possible referencing in further discussion .

Ah, I see. Now it is starting to make sense.

Some features that are new for version 3.9.0 need to know the target EXE for each shortcut. Some shortcuts (so-called "advertised" shortcuts) don't actually store their target but rely on the MSI system to resolve them. So if such shortcut is considered corrupted, MSI will try to repair it. I think that's what you are seeing.
It is hard to know which particular shortcut is triggering this behavior. Try launching all of Steam's shortcuts and see if one of them complains. You can do that in version 3.6.8. You can do that even from Explorer, just so we exclude Classic Shell from the process.

The reason you are seeing this error after installation is that when the start menu is launched it scans all shortcuts and grabs their targets. Search may be doing something similar.

Wow, yes, that's it! There is a "Steam Support Center" shortcut in my start menu Steam folder that causes the same install popup to appear!

Could this somehow be improved in the new Classic Shell, some sort of alternate behaviour or at least a notification to the user of the real problem? Or is this MSI mechanism such that it cannot be meddled with?

I'll double-check if I'm doing it right, but I think I also request that no UI is to be shown. If that's the case, then MSI goes against my wishes.
Please don't repair the problem for another day or two. I want to try few things first.

Okay. I already deleted the offending shortcut, but was able to restore it from the recycle bin. So the problem shoud be reproducible when you want . In the meanwhile I'll stick with Classic Chell 3.6.8, and thank you for this wonderful product! I don't remember if I have already donated, but certainly will soon!

Let's try this test. Download the attached file and unpack it somewhere.
Open a command prompt and type:
Note if the MSI popup shows up. Also copy the output from the command prompt.
Then type:
Again, note if the MSI popup shows up and copy the output.

Report the results here.

The results from command window below. The popup appeared with 1 but not 2.

M:\Tempi>Test.exe 1 "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Steam\Steam Support Center.lnk"
path: C:\Windows\Installer\{048298C9-A4D3-490B-9FF9-AB023A9238F3}\Icon048298C92.url
M:\Tempi>Test.exe 2 "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Steam\Steam Support Center.lnk"
flags: 0x000050DD
product: {048298C9-A4D3-490B-9FF9-AB023A9238F3}
feature: Steam_Base
component: {17D4903C-068A-47A0-9753-EDF4909D42FF}
state: 2
path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Support.url
M:\Tempi>

Great. So looks like the test is able to retrieve the shortcut properties without triggering the self-repair.

BTW, looks like you are missing Support.url. "state 2" means INSTALLSTATE_ABSENT. Maybe you deleted it or it got corrupted. Does the Steam installer fail to self-repair?

Yes I saw what is missing from the output of your test program and also from the event log. Don't know how or when it could have been lost. Doesn't matter really because Steam works OK, I can get to their support by other ways. Haven't tried a repair install, maybe will at some point.

The latest version 3.9.1 should fix this problem. It no longer needs to use the MSI system.