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"The parameter is incorrect" when you click on a pinned item in Windows 7 after updating the application

I have the following situation:

  • Installed my application using regular .msi
  • Launch the application from the Start menu
  • Right-click on the icon on the taskbar and lock it.

Now I can use the pinned item / short cut to start the application, but after I updated my application using another .msi file, clicking on the attached item shows this error:

"Shortcut problem" - parameter is incorrect.

I checked the short shorthand, and as far as I can see, it points to the same directory / file as the previous version. (the new version has the same files / location). I suppose there is some version / program file magic happening that causes this problem but did not find any good information on the net.

Additional Information:

  • The application is written in C # .NET 3.5 SP1
  • msi is created using Project Setup in Visual Studio 2008 SP1
  • I use my own build tool to integrate msi builds and install ProductCode and PackageCode in a new GUID for each version.
  • The update seems to work fine. The old version is removed, the new one is installed correctly.

Anyone got it?

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2 answers

I assume that the default application ID is changing. If you intend to regularly update this application with msi as soon as it is "in the wild", then set your own application identifier. If this is a one-time thing, then just unpin it and repeat and continue as usual.

Setting the application ID is easy if you use the Windows API code package. You?

Kate

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See this article about ProductCode and PackageCode: http://www.simple-talk.com/dotnet/visual-studio/updates-to-setup-projects/

It explains how ProductCode and PackageCode interact during installation and how to configure the configuration project to properly use .msi as an update.

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