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Luca Matteis
Asked: 2010-08-24 02:02:54 +0800 CST

PsExec hangs. Error launching installer

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On certain remote computers when I use PsExec to run installers (.exe files), PsExec just hangs there. When I try running the installer, that PsExec transferred, directly from the remote computer (located in system32) I get the following popup error message:

NSIS Error
Error Launching Installer

This only seems to happen on 64bit computers and only for some installers. However after googling a bit I didn't seem to find a solution.

This link tells me that it might have something to do with the fact that it's running under system32.

The weird thing is that if I copy the installer from system32 to somewhere else like my desktop and run it from there, it works!

What's going on here?

Thanks

windows pstools

1 Answers

  1. Paradoxically, on a 64-bit Windows machine:

    1. c:\windows\wow64\ contains 32-bit system files.
    2. c:\windows\system32\ contains 64-bit system files.

    When a 32-bit program tries to access c:\windows\system32\, it is redirected to c:\windows\wow64\. This is very similar to what happens when 32-bit programs are installed to the c:\program files (x86)\ directory by redirection.

    You may find the following discussion helpful: http://forums.shoutcast.com/showthread.php?t=237297

    Bottom line: You have discovered one of the many reasons why running installers from system32 is never a sound practice. If you do not need the installer after the installation is complete, consider copying the installer to a temporary location and deleting it when the installation is done. If you would prefer to keep the installer around on each machine, consider establishing a place where installers belong (e.g. c:\install\program-name).

    Example of how to use a temporary location:

    psexec \\target-pc -e -c -f -w c:\windows\temp installer.exe

    Details:

    • -e: don't load your profile (speeds things up and saves disk space on the remote PC)
    • -c: copy the file
    • -f: overwrite if a file with the same name is already there (use with caution)
    • -w c:\windows\temp: set the working directory to c:\windows\temp
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