Is there an alternative to GUID when using msiexec to uninstall an application?

Question

We\'re currently using a GUID to identify the application when running our uninstall script which contains msiexec. The problem I\'m having is the GUID changes every time I

Answer 1

What do you know that doesn't change, or that does change but you can easily track?

• Say the product code changes, but the upgrade code doesn't. You could follow PhilDW's suggestions to retrieve a product code from that upgrade code using MsiEnumRelatedProducts or Installer.Related or equivalent.

• Say the name doesn't stays the same. You could follow Stein's suggestions to find the product code by product name, starting with MsiEnumProductsEx or Installer.ProductsEx or equivalent.

• Say you cache a local copy of the installing .msi's in an unchanging location, or one easily found by your script. You could follow 4c74356b41's suggestion to use that path in a command line to msiexec. (Note that msiexec /x accepts either a package path or a product code.)

• Say you don't like any of those options. Perhaps you can add a registry value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\YourCompany\YourProduct, setting a string value ProductCode to [ProductCode]. Then you can use reg query HKLM\Software\YourCompany\YourProduct /v ProductCode, or equivalent (sorry, I'm a dunce with PowerShell), to fetch the current product code. (At least if you account for 32-bit vs 64-bit paths, of course.)