UPDATE: It appears signing the MSI with signtool.exe and the /d switch will change this behavior as explained in these answers
(thanks to Phil for finding this):
- The UAC prompt shows a temporary random Program Name for msi, can the correct name be displayed?
- Odd 'Program name' when installing signed msi installer
Slipstreaming in a relevant link: Installshield Custom Dialogue Installer
The name you are seeing is probably the random hex name assigned to a copy of the original installation database that is cached on the system in %SystemRoot%\Installer (normally C:\WINDOWS\Installer). This is a "super hidden" OS folder, and it should never be touched in any way at all.
A sample path to such a database could be: C:\WINDOWS\Installer\7da655.msi. I am pretty sure this is what you are seeing in your UAC prompt. Please verify or better yet add a picture of it to your question for other people's reference.
This cached database, with the weird name, is used during modify, repair and uninstall operations for the software in question. What WiX is showing you is in every way the correct information - it is what a system administrator might even need to see at some point. However, other setup creation tools do things differently, often showing the vendor and the product GUID instead of the full path to the cached database.
So that was the explanation - now we have to wait for one of the WiX guys to actually answer whether it is possible to change this display type. As such this is more of a comment than an answer, but it should be relevant to understand what is going on. I am also going to have a look now to see if I see any options to change this in WiX.
In my personal opinon the WiX display is superior to some of the other UAC dialogs shown for other MSI files, but I realize you find this information too detailed for your users. I suppose they could hide this path in the "more information" section.
