PRB: _MSSETUP.EXE Disappears

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK), version 3.1

SYMPTOMS

_MSSETUP.EXE disappears from the default directory; in fact, it deletes itself.

CAUSE

This is by design. _MSSETUP.EXE is invoked when the MSSetup script file calls ExitExecRestart(). This function exits Windows and calls _MSSETUP.EXE to read any commands that have been placed in _MSSETUP.BAT. (Commands are placed in _MSSETUP.BAT when a file in the copy list is specified as a system file that is in use during the Windows portion of the MSSetup program.) As part of the cleanup before returning to Windows, _MSSETUP.EXE deletes itself.

RESOLUTION

If you run _MSSETUP.EXE from the MS-DOS command line or from the File Manager, it looks for _MSSETUP.BAT, does not find it, and then deletes itself. One way to workaround this is to compress _MSSETUP.EXE so that it cannot be executed on its own.

MORE INFORMATION

NOTE: The Setup Toolkit places commands in the _MSSETUP.BAT file to copy files that are in use during the execution of the Windows portion of the Setup program. These files are specified in MSSetup's file copy list. For example, if a copy list includes an update to the SHELL.DLL file, Setup cannot update the SHELL file while Windows is running.