Dear Editor: Sorry my article was late (Error Code 2869)

Usually, when I write one of my "Get More" columns, I spend weeks using the applications I'm writing about. I try to only cover programs that I think are the must-have products in their category, and I strive to give each application a thorough test before I sit down to write about it. I also try to write my articles quickly deliver them on-time. This month, however, my article was late. I'm not making excuses, but there was a reason. Two of the applications were downloaded as .MSI files (a common Windows installer file format). Unfortunately, I was using Vista and Windows Mobile Device Center. The result (when I double-clicked the .MSI file and began the install) was...

This is the error message I received when trying to install two applications using Windows Mobile Device Center and Vista.

Apparently this error occurs often and is well-documented. When I ran a search for this problem, I instantly found several pages with the solution (see my "Source" links at the end of the document). However, all of these pages only had one line of text to solve the problem. In case our readers run into this problem, I'm going to provide a step-by-step solution.

1. Copy the .MSI file to the root directory of your main hard drive (i.e. C:\).
2. Open Windows Notepad.
3. Copy this text into windows notepad:
   msiexec /i "C:\program_name.msi"
4. Replace the text "program_name" in the code that you copied with the actual name of the .MSI file (for example, aura.msi).
5. Click File -> Save As...
6. Instead of saving it as a .txt file, change the file name to installer.bat.
7. Save the file to your desktop
8. On your desktop, right click on the file (see screenshot below) and select Run as Administrator.

By creating a .BAT file and launching it with the "Run as administrator" function in Windows Vista, the .MSI file should install correctly.

This solution should launch the .MSI file and allow the installation procedure to successfully finish. You should repeat this process for each .MSI file that has an error code 2869 during the installation.

Sources:

• Dave Glover - Tip: Deploying Windows Mobile Applications from Vista with MSI Installers
• Windows Installer MSI packages error code 2869 on Windows Vista