Wix setup project's exe "app can't run on your PC"

Question

In VS2012, I've created an Wix3.6 setup project for an application. The installer output type is set to Executable Package (.exe) on the Properties tab. The setup project compiles and produces an .exe as expected.

Double-clicking the .exe produces the message:

This app can't run on your PC.

Executing the .exe as Administrator and granting elevation, the machine says:

Windows cannot find 'C:\abc\xyz.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.

Googling reveals the error message is likely architecture related.

Facts:

• Machine is Windows 8, 64-bit.
• The setup project is set to an x86 platform.
• The same setup project produces a working x86 .msi

Any ideas about incorrect settings, references or configurations to look for?

Answer 1

A bit late but I came across this myself and this is my solution.

Basically, this scenario can be created by trying to change a WIX setup project from 'MSI' output to 'EXE' in the project settings. A WIX setup project can only generate an MSI from it's Product.wxs. A WIX-generated EXE is actually created with a bootstrapper project, containining a Bundle.wxs, which then in turn can bundle your MSI(s) internally into a bootstrapped EXE.

So to solve this change your setup project back to MSI output, then create an additional bootstrap project (with EXE output) and add your build MSI output from the setup project in the "Chained packages" section of the Bundle XML.