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 Post subject: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:49 pm 
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This version (16.9.805 for NextStart, 16.9.1162 for Workshel) refuses to install because "this version can only be installed on top of an existing version of Winstep Xtreme" ...

Needless to say, I do have an up-to-date and paid version installed and running, so what's the problem here ?

EDIT : Apparently, this happened before for other versions and other people. The solution was to reinstall the full version. Will this mess up any setting ?


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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:55 pm 
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Ok, reinstalling Winstep Xtreme over the existing installation seemed to do the trick, without messing anything up.

A little annoying though, fixing this would be nice ;)


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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 8:34 pm 
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Glad you figured it out before I even had a chance to reply.

I've been trying to understand exactly why this sometimes happens so I can come up with a fix, but so far without success.

As it happened with you, by the time I reply to the user affected by this problem with a list of questions they either ignore them or have already fixed it themselves by installing the full version on top (and by then it's too late).

This is not a problem of the application per se, but related to the 3rd party InnoSetup installer:

Updates only have changed files, so they should not be installed by mistake on their own (bad things can happen otherwise).

To prevent this, the installer script on the update setup file first checks the Windows Registry for an existing InnoSetup signature for that Winstep application. If it can't find it, it refuses to install.

Unfortunately so far I haven't been able to figure out if this signature is missing in cases like yours, has been renamed, or has been stored in a different location.

Figuring this out is crucial for me to understand and fix the problem. The only other alternative is to skip the check entirely on the script, but, as I said, this *might* lead to bad things happening later (such as you being unable to uninstall the application, for instance).

Without first fully understanding what is going on, I'm not sure I want to take that risk.

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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 3:00 pm 
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winstep wrote:
I've been trying to understand exactly why this sometimes happens so I can come up with a fix, but so far without success.


Thanks to another user who was patient enough to stick with me and the many different things I asked him to try and check, I think I finally understand what is *probably* going on:

When Setup installs a Winstep application on your system, it creates an entry in the Windows Registry with all the information required to properly uninstall the software later.

This Registry entry is located at

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Winstep Xtreme_is1

Notice the 'Winstep Xtreme_is1' signature, it's the same for the free version of Nexus, Nexus Ultimate and Winstep Xtreme. This is by design and very important, since these three applications can be considered branches of the same tree (they share all user data, etc), and also so that when you install Nexus Ultimate over the free version of Nexus you don't get two different uninstall entries in the Programs and Features Control Panel applet, but a single one.

Setup also adds an 'uninstall000.exe' program to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Winstep\ folder - it is this uninstall000.exe program that is run when you chose to uninstall the sofftware from the Programs and Features dialog in the Windows Control Panel.

So, to properly uninstall the software, you need two things: the existence of the uninstall000.exe program in the Winstep folder, and that 'Winstep Xtreme_is1' section in the Windows Registry. The latter section tells the uninstaller where everything is, what it needs to delete, and what it needs to leave behind.

When a new version is released, provided you are not too far behind in terms of versions, the Winstep Update Manager downloads a much smaller 'update' pack which contains only the files that have changed in-between versions.

When installing this upgrade pack, Setup adds information to the uninstall 'Winstep Xtreme_is1' section in the Windows Registry. This way, if new files are included in the upgrade they will be later deleted too if you decided to uninstall the software.

Obviously, for this to happen the 'Winstep Xtreme_is1' section must be already present in the Windows Registry. If the setup application for the upgrade pack can't find it, it thinks you are trying to install an upgrade pack as if it was a standalone (full) install by mistake, which you can't do because critical files will be missing in that case. It thus throws the 'Can only be installed over a full version...' message and quits.

In the case of the user getting this error, even though Nexus Ultimate was installed and running on his system, two things stood out:

1. There was no 'Winstep Xtreme_is1' entry to be found *anywhere* on his Windows Registry. There was NOTHING related to a Winstep application on the Uninstall part of the Windows Registry either.

2. Programs and Features in the Windows Control panel did NOT list Nexus Ultimate either (which also meant the user could not uninstall it normally even if he wanted to).

So, this was not, as I was at the time suspecting, a case of 'Winstep Xtreme_is1' getting renamed to something else or being misplaced. No, there was simply no Winstep uninstall information whatsoever in the whole Windows Registry. It had mysteriously vanished.

So I then asked the user the obvious question: did you use or do you normally use any type of Registry Cleaner software?

And his answer was, of course, yes.

So there you have it, ladies and gentleman. The true culprit and proof of why Registry Cleaners normally do more harm than good! For whatever reason, the user's Registry Cleaner software had at some point decided to wipe the Winstep uninstall section from Registry.

So my advice to everyone is: STOP USING REGISTRY CLEANER SOFTWARE! It can potentially damage or render your system unstable, and it will do this in such subtle ways that when you do experience problems you will not be able to add two and two together to figure out who the true culprit is!

Knowing this now, I'm glad I did not remove from the installer the check for a previous installation (that would have been the 'easy' solution) as this would have created other problems down the line.

Now, as I previously stated, the remedy for this situation always is to install the FULL setup file of the latest version *on top* of your current installation (and its as simple as that).

This will install all files and re-create the Winstep uninstall section in the Windows Registry, which in turn allows you to properly uninstall the software later from the Windows Control Panel. Doing this is perfectly fine because it does NOT override or destroy your current settings, which are stored somewhere else in the Registry and therefore will be preserved.

So, now that I know what is really going on, I'm going to have the Update Manager itself preemptively check for the existence of the 'Winstep Xtreme_is1' key in the Registry. If it doesn't find it, it will automatically download the FULL install pack instead of the smaller update pack (which, as we now know, solves the problem), thus putting a permanent end to all these 'update is not installing' stories.

TL;DR: STOP USING REGISTRY CLEANERS!!!

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Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 11:15 am 
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Thanks for the follow-up, and sorry for the late reply, I had actually forgotten I had made this thread.

As far as I remember, I did not use registry cleaners. I used some cleaner programs, mainly to check things here and there, but don't let them clean up automatically.

Another thing, maybe : I switched to Windows 10 between this update and the previous I think. Maybe it's the windows install process which messed some things up ?


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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 3:52 pm 
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Skyfire76 wrote:
As far as I remember, I did not use registry cleaners. I used some cleaner programs, mainly to check things here and there, but don't let them clean up automatically.

Another thing, maybe : I switched to Windows 10 between this update and the previous I think. Maybe it's the windows install process which messed some things up ?


Could be. Main point is: this happens because *something* is deleting the Winstep application's Uninstall information from the Windows Registry.

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Jorge Coelho
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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:31 am 
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Sorry to bump this, but same problem for the new update.

As I made a full update last time, and did not use any cleanup software since then, I wonder how this can be possible.

There were windows updates, of course, maybe they're the cause ?

Do you want me to check something before I make a full install, again ?

EDIT : I checked this key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Winstep Xtreme_is1

and indeed, it's not there, go figure :/


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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2016 10:21 am 
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Skyfire76 wrote:
Sorry to bump this, but same problem for the new update.


Probably because it needs to install an update to the Update Manager itself first. This way it can't download the full version of Winstep Xtreme to solve the problem.

Easy to 'fix', once again though: download the full version from the Winstep web site and install that on top.

Skyfire76 wrote:
EDIT : I checked this key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Winstep Xtreme_is1

and indeed, it's not there, go figure :/


Right. Once you've installed the new version of Xtreme, go look for that key again, then please let me know. My bet is that you will find it this time.

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http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 9:40 am 
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Yes, the key is there after a full reinstall.

What I don't understand is why it was not there, since I already did a full reinstall in september. Strange.


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 Post subject: Re: September 30th update not installing
PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 9:46 am 
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Skyfire76 wrote:
Yes, the key is there after a full reinstall.


There you go.

Skyfire76 wrote:
What I don't understand is why it was not there, since I already did a full reinstall in september. Strange.


Yep, that's the million dollar question. My guess would be Registry Cleanner software, but you claim not to use any... so I don't know either.

Try to remember to check that key once per week... if it goes missing again you might then have a clue as to what could be causing this.

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http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


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