.NET-based setup project fails at installation

Question

I have created a setup project using Visual Studio 2008. When installing on a different machine, I get the following error:

The installer was interrupted before MyApplication could be installed. You need to restart the installer to try again.

How do I fix this problem?

The log file shows the following.

MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:020]: Executing op: ComponentUnregister(ComponentId={533BAFA2-3A54-B4D7-B625-38EB0DB9BBB7},ProductKey={B10107EF-3C57-451E-9080-40FB1F4A8B95},BinaryType=0,)
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:020]: Executing op: ComponentUnregister(ComponentId={B55DBDAF-0BCB-061A-9EA2-5AC798377ABA},ProductKey={B10107EF-3C57-451E-9080-40FB1F4A8B95},BinaryType=0,)
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:020]: Executing op: End(Checksum=0,ProgressTotalHDWord=0,ProgressTotalLDWord=0)
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:020]: Error in rollback skipped.  Return: 5
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:030]: No System Restore sequence number for this installation.
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:030]: Unlocking Server
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:030]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Deleting UpdateStarted property. Its current value is '1'.
Action ended 14:06:01: INSTALL. Return value 3.
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:060]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603
MSI (s) (D8:40) [14:06:01:060]: Destroying RemoteAPI object.
MSI (s) (D8:B8) [14:06:01:060]: Custom Action Manager thread ending.
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:01:130]: Back from server. Return value: 1603
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:01:140]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied.  Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:01:140]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Deleting SECONDSEQUENCE property. Its current value is '1'.
Action ended 14:06:01: ExecuteAction. Return value 3.
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:01:150]: Doing action: FatalErrorForm
Action start 14:06:01: FatalErrorForm.
DEBUG: Error 2826:  Control Line1 on dialog FatalErrorForm extends beyond the boundaries of the dialog to the right by 3 pixels
The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2826. The arguments are: FatalErrorForm, Line1, to the right
DEBUG: Error 2826:  Control Line2 on dialog FatalErrorForm extends beyond the boundaries of the dialog to the right by 3 pixels
The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2826. The arguments are: FatalErrorForm, Line2, to the right
DEBUG: Error 2826:  Control BannerBmp on dialog FatalErrorForm extends beyond the boundaries of the dialog to the right by 3 pixels
The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2826. The arguments are: FatalErrorForm, BannerBmp, to the right
Action ended 14:06:04: FatalErrorForm. Return value 1.
Action ended 14:06:04: INSTALL. Return value 3.
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:475]: Destroying RemoteAPI object.
MSI (c) (10:F4) [14:06:04:485]: Custom Action Manager thread ending.
=== Logging stopped: 5/12/2009  14:06:04 ===
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:495]: Note: 1: 1708 
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:505]: Product: CMS -- Installation failed.

MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:515]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:525]: Cleaning up uninstalled install packages, if any exist
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:545]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603
=== Verbose logging stopped: 5/12/2009  14:06:04 ===

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Answer 1

We had a similar problem and found a useful tip at the MSDN forums:

The answer was to install the "IIS Management Compatibility" server role.

Answer 2

Trying installing via the command line to get a log file. That should contain the error information.

msiexec /i program_name /lv mylogfile.log

You can use Wilogutl to make analyzing the log file easier.