Re: WinPcap setup issue in Nmap Windows installer

[jah <jah () zadkiel plus com>]

On 14/12/2007 06:58, levelzero () retry org wrote:
> I just tried to install Nmap 4.50 on my XP box that already has Wireshark
> installed. Wireshark installed WinPcap 4.01. I decided to let Nmap upgrade
> my WinPcap to 4.02. The WinPcap installer correctly detected the presence
> of 4.01, started the uninstall of it, but unfortunately, it seems that the
> 4.02 installer continues running while the 4.01 uninstaller is also
> running.
>
> This is the error message given by the 4.02 installer while the 4.01
> uninstaller was still busy:
>
> winpcap-nmap-4.02 Setup
> ---------------------------
> Error opening file for writing:
> C:\WINDOWS\system32\Packet.dll
> Click Abort to stop the installation,
> Retry to try again, or
> Ignore to skip this file.
>   
Hi there!

I'm attempting to reproduce the issue you've encountered, but at the 
moment I cannot.  Here's what I see:
After allowing nmap upgrade winpcap by clicking yes to the message 
dialog that pops-up similar to "WinPcap version 4.01 exists on this 
system. Replace with version 4.02?" I briefly see the nmap-winpcap 4.02 
installer appear, but then the focus is stolen by the winpcap 
uninstaller for 4.01 which pops-up and prompts for an uninstall.  Once 
that is complete and the window closed, installation of nmap-winpcap 
4.02 can be continued by pressing Next and proceeds without issue.  In 
your case, did the uninstaller window close before you proceeded with 
the nmap-winpcap install?
I agree that it's possible to perform these actions in a different order 
as there is nothing to prevent the install of nmap-winpcap 4.02 before 
uninstalling the previous version, but it seems that some manual 
intervention is needed to make this happen.
Is it possible that your windows setup disallows the stealing of focus 
and instead you get flashing taskbar buttons?  This might prevent the 
installers/uninstallers appearing on the desktop in the order that was 
intended.  What do you think?

> Similarly, the 4.01 uninstaller seems to require a reboot to be completely
> finished.
>   
This is not normally required for winpcap, but may be a result of the 
installers being executed in the wrong order and a file locking clash.
> After this, WinPcap 4.02 was visible in the "Add/Remove Programs" list, but
> wasn't uninstallable (gave an error that it might have been uninstalled
> already, could then only remove it from the list of installed programs).
>   
This is entirely consistent with the nmap-winpcap installer being run 
and installing the files which are then removed by the winpcap 
uninstaller.  The registry keys for Add/Remove programs are different 
for the two installations and so the nmap-winpcap are not removed by the 
winpcap uninstaller and remain there, but without any files installed.  
Please let us know whether you agree, or not, that this is what may have 
happened.
> Uninstalling Nmap, completing the required 4.01 uninstall reboot and then
> restarting the install of Nmap 4.50 + WinPcap 4.02 works :).
We perhaps need to look at the nmap-winpcap installer again and only do 
an upgrade if the previous version detected is an nmap-winpcap one thus 
not executing a separate uninstaller.
If a different (eg a wireshark winpcap) install is found, we should 
perhaps prompt the user to uninstall it themselves and rerun nmap 
installation again, aborting nmap-winpcap at that time.

Thanks for the report levelzero!

jah

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