Windows includes a registry-activated logging service to help diagnose Windows Installer issues. Windows Installer can use logging to help assist in troubleshooting issues with installing software packages. This logging is enabled by adding keys and values to the registry. After the entries have been added and enabled, you can retry the problem installation and Windows Installer will track the progress and post it to the Temp folder. The new log’s file name is random, but begins with the letters “Msi” and end with a .log extension. To locate the Temp folder location, type the following line at a command prompt:
C:\> cd %temp%
To enable Windows Installer logging yourself, open the registry with Regedit.exe and create the following path and keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer Reg_SZ: Logging Value: voicewarmupx
The letters in the value field can be in any order. Each letter turns on a different logging mode. Each letter’s actual function is as follows for MSI version 1.1:
• 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
• x: Extra debugging information. The “x” flag is available only on Windows Server 2003 and later operating systems, and on the MSI redistributable version 3.0, and on later versions of the MSI redistributable.
• *” : Wildcard, log all information except for the v and the x option. To include the v and the x option, specify “/l*vx”.
Additional note:
This should be used only for troubleshooting purposes and should not be left on because it will have adverse effects on system performance and disk space. Each time you use the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel, a new Msi*.log file is created.
