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Asked: 2026-05-10T16:49:16+00:00

I’m building an install using VS 2003. The install has an Excel workbook and

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I’m building an install using VS 2003. The install has an Excel workbook and two Access databases. I need to force the Access files to load regardless of the create/mod date of the existing databases on the user’s computer. I currently use ORCA to force in a Version number on the two files, but would like to find a simpler, more elegant solution (hand editing a .msi file is not something I see as ‘best practice’.

Is there a way to add a version number to the databases using Access that would then be used in the install?

Is there a better way for me to do this?

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1 Answer

  1. @LanceSc

    I don’t think MsiFileHash table will help here. See this excellent post by Aaron Stebner. Most likely last modified date of Access database on client computer will be different from its creation date. Windows Installer will correctly assume that the file has changed since installation and will not replace it.

    The right way to solve this (as question author pointed out) is to set Version field in File table.

    Unfortunately setup projects in Visual Studio are very limited. You can create simple VBS script that would modify records in File table (using SQL) but I suggest looking at alternative setup authoring tools instead, such as WiX, InstallShield or Wise. WiX in my opinion is the best.

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