Conflicts Conflicts between software packages are a time-consuming and costly issue in the Windows workstation environment. Software packages that run independently without incident often fail when installed together due to file and other conflicts. Conflicts can occur for many reasons, but they most commonly occur when 2 installed packages use a .DLL with the same name. Example: Suppose Package 1 installs version 1.0.0.4 of a file named report.dll. Package 2 installs a newer version of the same file, version 2.0.0.1. When the 2 packages are installed on the same computer, Package 1 might conflict with the newer version of report.dll that is installed by Package 2. This conflict could cause a General Protection Fault, a hung application, or some other problem. When multiple packages install the same system resource, such as registry keys, Autoexec.bat, Config.sys, ODBC, NT services, devices, .INI files, shortcuts, and the PATH variable. During conflict detection, ConflictManager searches the following information for each package and marks items that conflict: File name Version Binary version Size Date/time Path Company Product 16 bit (Yes or No) Registry key value ConflictManager searches following information for Windows Installer installations only: Component GUID KeyPath Resource count Shared .DLL Warning : Conflicts that are not critical but might require some attention. A warning occurs when multiple packages install a non-16-bit file with the same file name but different file information (file version number or date/time) to different directories. Error : More serious conflicts that deserve careful inspection. Errors can occur in the following situations: ! When multiple packages install files of the same name to the same directory, but the component GUIDs do not match. ! When multiple packages install a non-16-bit file of the same name with different file information to the same directory. Because 16-bit .DLLs are shared by all packages, any 16-bit .DLLs installed to different directories with the same file name but different file information are marked as errors. ! When Windows Installer components have matching key files, but one or both contain additional non-advertising resources. Also, when Windows Installer components have additional resources that conflict with a file in a WiseScript package. ! When multiple packages set the same registry key to different values. Information : When multiple packages install a non-16-bit file with identical file information to the same directory or to different directories. ! When multiple packages set the same registry key to the same value.