Simon, there is no connection between the need for MSI and the request for
CAB files. The design of the Windows Installer is that binary patching
requires that it verify against the installation source. The file hash can
limit the need for the source, but unversioned files are still a problem.
That's why the Local Install Source feature was created (which is controlled
completely via SETUP.EXE - the Windows Installer knows nothing of LIS) so
that the installation source files will always be available. There are some
conditions in which all of the CABs will not be in the \MSOCache folder, and
that is when users are seeing the 'cannot find xxxxxx.CAB' error. Simply
inserting the CD will cause all of the missing CABs to be copied to the
\MSOCache folder so that the CD should never be required again for patching.

Sloan Crayton
Microsoft

"Simon Cooke" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 2 Aug 2004 20:47:36 -0700, Chris_Pratley (MS) wrote:

setup.exe sometimes has a little logic and other bits of code that are
necessary for a setup to work correctly - not every setup.exe is just a
plain MSI wrapper. But in this case, you just need to point the Sp1 patch
setup at the MSI to get the setup to complete. BTW, With XP SP2 this
requirement of Windows Installer is finally removed.

Actually, Chris, not in this case... You do need to run the LISTool to
remove the cached install files. I tried pointing the SP1 patch at the MSI
file - it just kept asking for the CAB.