How can I get around "this component does not fit the criteria for having an automatically generated guid"

Question

WiX is complaining (what are the odds, right?):

Error 95 The component 'blahblah' has a key file with path 'TARGETDIR\blah.dll'. Since this path is not rooted in one of the standard directories (like ProgramFilesFolder), this component does not fit the criteria for having an automatically generated guid. (This error may also occur if a path contains a likely standard directory such as nesting a directory with name "Common Files" under ProgramFilesFolder.)

But I WANT an automatically generated GUID, and I DON'T want to have to set the TARGETDIR to some other path comprised of ProgramFilesFolder since I am setting the TARGETDIR in the UI and I even allow the user to change it so that people can specify the path they want to install the application at...how does someone get this functionality? Is it possible? I mean, can I have the best of both worlds or not? Why is it such a big deal? WiX is way too restrictive sometimes...

Answer 1

All you need to do is set Directory/@ComponentGuidGenerationSeed and then you can use auto guids for non-standard folder.