Software Deployment

have checked and verified that the components have both per user and per machine registry entries in set up editor (Wise Package Studio)
That's your problem right there. Split that component in two, put all machine registry entries in one, user registry keys in the other, and set keypaths accordingly. Components shouldn't straddle the Per-User / Per-Machine fence. You may also want to break the per-user components into a separate root level feature. That will greatly improve self-repair speed when the application is launched by a new user on the machine because it will only install/repair what that user is missing in their profile (i.e. the per-user components). It won't reinstall the entire application (i.e. the per-machine components). That isn't absolutely necessary though. Everything will still work fine if you don't, but the first time a new user runs the app the self-repair will take much longer than is really necessary.

Thanks for the reply. I see your point but just wondering how you will go about splitting the component in two.

You need to create a new component (with a new unique identifier - GUID) move all of the per user data from the original component (the one that kicks up the error) into your new component, then set one of the files / reg keys that you have moved into the new component as it's keypath. If you use a registry key as the keypath for the new component you'll need to set the attribute on that component to 4 to avoid generating new validation errors.

Not the easiest thing to explain but once you've cracked it, it should be easier to understand. Use the MS help plenty of info there about all the different tables...

Regards,
Rob.

Thanks rob for the pointer. I get the gist now