Background
This Windows Installer error can occur during a TopView upgrade or uninstall on Windows 10 v2004 indicating that the installation cannot write/edit an installation folder used by the current TopView installation. This may occur if the TopView DataPath from the most recent TopView installation is located on a network share. The installation message shows this error for a folder located in the TopView DataPath even though the installation user has edit/write/read access to the DataPath files/folders.
Note: We first saw this error on Windows 10 machines running version 2004 (Spring/Summer of 2020) and were able to confirm with Microsoft that this error is caused by Windows 10 version 2004. A Microsoft update is planned for mid-July 2020 to fix this issue.
How to fix
It would appear that this error could be resolved by changing the permissions/security on the TopView DataPath (network share) although our efforts to do this were not successful. The installation is being blocked from updating/editing folders on the share even though it should have permission to do this.
Although we do not recommend this: users can revert to the previous version of Windows (Settings...Updates and Security...Recovery...Go back to the previous version of Windows 10) but this may also remove applications that were installed after the machine was updated to v2004.
Fix: Rename DataPath folders before upgrade or uninstall
To fix this issue you can rename some of the folders in the DataPath, then perform the uninstall or upgrade. Upgrade users will then restore some of the information in the renamed folders (from your previous TopView installation) to the folders recreated by the upgrade installation
Make a backup of the following folders in the DataPath:
• API_Configuration
• Config
• CustomDS
• EventHooks
• RemView
• Sounds
• Voice
Rename these DataPath folders:
o API_Configuration to API_Configuration_prev
o Config to Config_prev
o CustomDS to CustomDS_prev
o EventHooks to EventHooks_prev
o RemView to RemView_prev
o Sounds to Sounds_prev
o Voice to Voice_prev
Perform the TopView upgrade or uninstall. This should now be successful.
Upgrade users: Do not run any TopView applications yet.
The folders that you renamed above will be recreated by the installation. The contents of these folders will be the same as the contents during a new installation of TopView since the folders did not exist during the installation. You should see these recreated folders as well as your renamed folders. For example, you should see RemView and RemView_prev.
You will need to restore some DataPath files/folders from your previous TopView installation (folder_prev) to the new TopView installation (folder).
Note: most users will only need to restore information from Config_prev, RemView_prev, and Sounds_prev, and Voice_prev.
- API_Configuration
This folder contains the most recent TopView Configuration API. No action required. API_Configuration_prev can be removed. - Config
This folder should contain your TopView configuration files that currently exist in Config_prev. You can either - Delete Config and rename Config_prev to Config
OR - Replace the contents of Config with the contents of Config_prev.
Replace the files and folders
- CustomDS
This folder contains the most recent Custom DataSource assembly. No action required for most users unless you created a custom data source for TopView. CustomDS_prev can be removed. - EventHooks
This folder contains the TopView EventHook assembly. Most users will not require any action.
If you created an EventHook and placed an assembly into the previous EventHook folder you should copy this assembly from EventHook_prev to EventHook.
EventHook_prev can be removed. - RemView
This folder contains the Remote Viewer application and the default Remote Viewer configuration xml file if the Remote Viewer was used on the TopView machine.
If the file TVRemView.xml exists in RemView_prev, copy this file to RemView.
RemView_prev can be removed. - Sounds
This folder contains audio WAV files used by TopView Audible Alarms.
Copy all files from Sounds_prev to Sounds overwriting any existing files in Sounds.
Sounds_prev can be removed. - Voice
This folder contains audio WAV files used by TopView Voice Notification.
Copy all files from Voice_prev to Voice overwriting any existing files in Voice.
Voice_prev can be removed.
You can now proceed with TopView upgrade instructions available on the TopView download page for your TopView version.