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I have a program which was intended for Windows Vista but installs and runs on Windows 7 without issues. Lately, there was a patch issued for the program in .msp format that only runs on Vista. The patch absolutely refuses to install with a message stating my operating system (Windows 7 x64) isn't supported. I've executed msiexec from the command prompt, resulting in a number of 1603 and 1620 error codes in the logs. Various combinations of switches were tried to no avail. Is there a way to force this patch to install, or at least fool it into believing it's on a Vista instance?

P. Jackson
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My idea:

  • Copy the 32-bit installer C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msiexec.exe to one of your folders (or C:\Windows\System64\msiexec.exe for 64-bit)
  • Right-click it in Explorer and select Properties
  • In the Compatibility tab, set "Run this program in compatibility mode for" to "Windows Vista" (with the appropriate Service Pack if required)
  • Use this new msiexec.exe to install the patch.

(I never tried it, so cannot promise success. Windows 10 is many years later than Vista.)

If the above fails, you may extract the files by:

  • If 7Zip is installed, right-click the patch and select in the context menu 7-Zip > Open archive

  • Download from this page the utility msix and extract the files with the command:

      msix patch.msp /out C:<target_dir>

With both methods, you will need to find out yourself where the files need to go and install them yourself, since this part is in a binary file of unknown structure.

If all fails, the solution might be to install Vista in a VM, install the product and the patch, then copy the installation folder to your computer.

harrymc
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  • Was it downvoted because it didn't work? Some explanation would be helpful. – harrymc Nov 27 '20 at 06:55
  • Wasn't my mine :) But unfortunately setting the compatibility doesn't work. I should have also mentioned the application and patch are both for x64, but that doesn't affect anything. I'm thinking if just extracting the .msp's contents with 7zip and manually replacing the files might work, or would I have to "register" the new files? – P. Jackson Nov 27 '20 at 13:44
  • For 64-bit you may try with `C:\Windows\System64\msiexec.exe`. I also added some unpacking methods to my answer. – harrymc Nov 27 '20 at 14:34
  • Had to use WinRAR (surprisingly 7zip didn't recognize this particular file)... Extracted, copied and it worked! I had to do a bit of searching to find out correct renaming and stumbled onto a site that showed your method in use—for the exact program I want to patch. It's a workaround that shouldn't be necessary, but it works with a minimal fuss. Thanks, harrymc. – P. Jackson Nov 27 '20 at 19:56
  • Glad that the problem is solved. You might consider not leaving my answer as an abysmal `-1`. – harrymc Nov 27 '20 at 19:58
  • Unfortunately my reputation isn't sufficient to change the score. Ironic, considering you provided a suggestion that not just worked, but in my case it's the accepted way. – P. Jackson Nov 27 '20 at 20:05
  • Right, you need 15 reputation for voting. I upvoted you to 13, but that's not enough. – harrymc Nov 27 '20 at 20:10
  • As soon as I get 15 I'll be back here. – P. Jackson Nov 27 '20 at 20:20
  • You really did it! Thanks. – harrymc Nov 27 '20 at 21:34