Thursday 23 October 2008

Installing the same .NET component twice, side by side


If you've ever needed to install the same product (wether its a web service or a DLL) on the same machine, twice! then here is a rought guide on how its performed...

If you notice, when you install an MSI or any DLL onto a system, and this component already exists, you will usually be asked wether to upgrade or remove the currently installed copmponent.

To get around this, we can edit the MSI installer and set the [RemovePreviousVersions] property to False... then set the grey box next to the [ProductCode] property, and generate a new code... this will give your component a new GUID (Global unique ID) and then the system will treat these as two seperate components.

This can also be performed in VS6.0 using a different method!

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