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I have signed my MSI installer with a valid certificate. When I install this MSI the UAC prompts and display the Publisher name properly. However, when I uninstall the MSI UAC prompts saying "Unknown Publisher".

If checked in the C:\Windows\Installer folder for the cached installer and it doesn't have the certificate!

So why doesn't it keep the certificate for the cached installer?

Echilon
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netDeveloperUK
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1 Answers1

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If you're running on Windows Vista (or Windows Server 2008) this is a well-known behavior of Windows Installer archive.

Windows Installer strips-out embedded cabinets to save space. Unfortunately, altering the .msi in this way also invalidates the digital signature.

You can avoid this by building your .msi without embedded cabs; that is have all the files you install be outside the .msi itself. If you're seeing this on Windows 7 or later, however, that would be unexpected.

Ian Boyd
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Michael Urman
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  • [Here is a whole messy answer on MSI caching behavior](https://stackoverflow.com/a/1189524/129130) and how it has changed between OS versions. – Stein Åsmul Apr 03 '21 at 01:32