Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

ParentDirectory and INSTALLDIR Registry Entries being borked - Solved

I have also noticed that when applying hotfixes the installer clears the ParentDirectory and INSTALLDIR Registry Entries and then the MSDynamicsSL.exe fails to launch leaving behind a few windows event log messages about an app crash. I have only noticed this on Windows 8/8.1/10. I finally figured out how to avoid these registry entries from being cleared by creating a registry entry called EnableLinkConnections. This relates to a change in UAC in Windows 8/8.1/10. In previous versions of Windows if you disable UAC you can access mapped drives when running with elevated privileges, i.e. when run as administrator. In Windows 8/8.1/10, if you disable UAC, any drives mapped by the logged on user are not available when running a program with elevated privileges. You can verify by running command prompt and command prompt (admin) side by side. I have done some testing with HF for Bug 36193. When run on Windows 8/8.1/10 the installer runs with elevated privileges and when it is done SL will not launch. Checking the registry entries for ParentDirectory and INSTALLDIR shows they have been cleared. You can reset the ParentDirectory and INSTALLDIR Registry Entries and reinstall the hotfix to replicate the issue. Setting the EnableLinkedConnections to 1 and rebooting and then installing the same hotfix installs without clearing the ParentDirectory and INSTALLDIR Registry Entries.

To configure the EnableLinkedConnections registry value

Click Start, type regedit in the Start programs and files box, and then press ENTER.
Locate and then right-click the registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type EnableLinkedConnections, and then press ENTER.
Right-click EnableLinkedConnections, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.