How to identify which files cause a PC reboot after installing Reflection or InfoConnect Desktop

  • 7024720
  • 09-Jul-2020
  • 23-Jul-2020

Environment

Reflection Desktop (including Pro, for X, for IBM, or for UNIX and OpenVMS) 16.0 and higher
InfoConnect Desktop for Unisys 16.0 and higher

Situation

How to identify which files are causing the PC to need a reboot or restart after installing the Reflection Desktop or InfoConnect Desktop software.

Resolution

To identify which files are causing the PC to need a reboot after installing Reflection or InfoConnect Desktop, perform the following steps.

1. Capture a Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) log of the Reflection or InfoConnect Desktop installation.

2. Open the installer log in Notepad or Wordpad.

3. Start at the end of the Windows Installer Log and work backward towards the beginning of the file (for each step below).

4. Look for any messages which indicate "Windows Installer requires a system restart", like is shown below:

        MSI (s) (1C:28) [02:02:02:100]: Windows Installer requires a system restart.
        Product Name: Micro Focus Reflection Desktop. Product Version: 16.2.731.
        Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: Micro Focus. Type of System Restart: 1. Reason for Restart: 1.

        This message indicates a system restart is required because a file which needs to be replaced by the Reflection Desktop install program is already in use by another Windows process.

5. Look for any messages which indicate "ReplacedInUseFiles =", like is shown below:

        Property(S): ReplacedInUseFiles = 1

       This message indicates that the ReplacedInUseFiles property is set if the installer writes over a file that is being held in use. This property is used by custom actions to detect that a reboot is required to complete the installation.

6. Look for any messages which indicate "Overwrite;  Won't patch;      Existing file is a lower version", like is shown below:

        MSI (s) (1C:28) [01:58:15:100]: File: c:\windows\SysWOW64\mfcm140u.dll;   Overwrite;  Won't patch;      Existing file is a lower version

        This message indicates that the Reflection Desktop install program wanted to replace an existing file of an older or lower version with an updated file, but was prevented from doing so since the file was already in use.

7. Look for any messages which indicate "is being held in use.  Close that application and retry", like is shown below:

        Info 1603. The file c:\windows\SysWOW64\mfc140u.dll is being held in use.  Close that application and retry.

        This message indicates that the Reflection Desktop install program wanted to replace an existing file of a specific name with an updated file, but was prevented from doing so since the file was already in use.

8. To identify which application is holding the file in use, look for a message which indicates the file name from the step above "is being used by the following process", like is shown below:

        MSI (s) (1C:28) [01:58:14:100]: Product: Micro Focus InfoConnect Desktop for Unisys.
        The file c:\windows\SysWOW64\mfc140u.dll is being used by the following process: Name: lsass , Id 744.

        In this example the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) is a process in the Microsoft Windows operating system which is responsible for enforcing the security policy on the system.  It verifies users logging on to a Windows computer or server, handles password changes, and creates access tokens.  This service is holding the file named mfc140u.dll at the time of the Reflection Desktop installation, and thus since the file is required to be updated, the system will need to be restarted after the completion of the install of Reflection Desktop.

As a solution to may reboot situations, update the PC system to the latest Microsoft Visual C++ redistributables, before installing Reflection Desktop. 
See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads for details about Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable packages.