SMS Installer Does Not Repackage Large MULTI-SZ Registry Values Properly

ID: Q240783

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Systems Management Server Installer version 2.0

SYMPTOMS

When you repackage a Setup program that creates or modifies a large (larger than 64 KB) MULTI-SZ registry value with SMS Installer versions earlier than 2.0.91.1, SMS Installer may be unable to open the resulting script, may be unable to compile the script, may improperly create the specified MULTI-SZ registry value, or may stop responding (hang) upon opening the script.

Additionally, repackaging such a program with earlier (version 1.x.xx) versions of SMS Installer may work without error messages. This occurs because SMS Installer 1.xx.xx does not repackage changes to MULTI-SZ registry values.

CAUSE

The buffer that SMS Installer uses to hold registry values is not large enough to contain the MULTI-SZ registry value.

Note that various programs that include McAfee VirusScan make use of large MULTI-SZ registry values. One registry value in particular that can contain a large amount of data and is frequently modified during program installation is:

SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\009

RESOLUTION

A supported fix that corrects this problem is now available from Microsoft, but it has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. If you are not severely affected by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Systems Management Server service pack that contains this fix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

The English-language version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:


   Date      Time   Version   Size      File name     Platform
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   06/10/99  4:34pm 2.0.91.1  2,833,408 Smsinstl.exe  Intel
   06/14/99 11:12am 2.0.91.1  3,745,792 Smsinstl.exe  Alpha

NOTE: Due to file dependencies, the most recent hotfix or feature that contains the above files may also contain additional files.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem if MULTI-SZ registry values can be ignored, use an earlier version of SMS Installer.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Systems Management Server version 2.0.

MORE INFORMATION

Note that even with the hotfix mentioned in this article, you may be unable to open an SMS Installer script generated by repackaging a large MULTI-SZ registry modification if the script is created with a previous version of SMS Installer. This occurs because the hotfix actually works during the repackage process to break up large keys into smaller fragments. As a result, it is necessary to repeat any problem repackage operations with the hotfixed SMS Installer.

To install the hotfixed SMS Installer, run the appropriate .exe file based on your processor platform.

The third-party products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.

Additional query words: prodsms

Keywords : kbSMS120 kbSMS120bug
Version : WINDOWS:2.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb