Removing installer limitations
I am running Windows 2003 on my desktop and unfortunately many installers refuse to even start on this platform - even though most XP and 2000 binaries will run without any issue. It is possible to circumvent these checks using a tool called Orca (a free download that you can get from Microsoft). Open the .msi file in Orca and look for the “LaunchCondition” property. You will typically find something there that looks like:
((VersionNT=500 AND ServicePackLevel>3) OR (VersionNT=501 AND ServicePackLevel>1) OR VersionNT=600) AND (NOT VersionNT64)
You will need to modify the above condition to include your current OS (in my case Windows 2003). Use the below table to find out what is the versionNT for your OS.
| System | VersionNT |
WindowsBuild |
ServicePackLevel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 2000 | 500 | 2195 | |
| Windows 2000 + Service Pack 1 | 500 | 2195 | 1 |
| Windows 2000 + Service Pack 2 | 500 | 2195 | 2 |
| Windows 2000 + Service Pack 3 | 500 | 2195 | 3 |
| Windows 2000 + Service Pack 4 | 500 | 2195 | 4 |
| Windows XP | 501 | 2600 | |
| Windows XP SP1 | 501 | 2600 | 1 |
| Windows XP SP2 | 501 | 2600 | 2 |
| Windows Server 2003 family | 502 | 3790 | |
| Windows Server 2003 SP1 | 502 | 3790 | 1 |
| Windows Server 2003 SP2 | 502 | 3790 | 2 |
| Windows Vista | 600 | 6000 | |
| Windows Vista SP1 | 600 | 6001 | 1 |
| Windows Server 2008 | 600 | 6001 |
If that doesn’t do the trick, search for other occurences of the versionNT property using Orca’s Edit/Find.
It goes without saying that bypassing the installer OS checks doesn’t mean that the software you are installing will eventually work. As a matter of fact you could even potentially mess up your system. So use with caution and at your own risks…