Hi, If you mean the newer version of the Windows Installer> with XP you should already have it, V 2.0 was included with XP, I use 2.0 for 98 with no problems, but it is a different 2.0...make sure you are getting the correct download for your operating system!!!!.
If you do have win9x> Here is an example of the benefits of using the newer Installer version:
"""Windows Installer features:
With Windows Installer and the .msi package file format, software installation and removal has become more reliable and resilient while providing a larger set of installation options. Windows Installer performs the following tasks:
Restores original computer state upon installation failure: Windows Installer keeps track of all changes made to the system during the application installation process. If the installation fails, Windows Installer can restore, or roll back, the system to its initial state.
Helps prevent certain forms of inter-application conflicts: Windows Installer enforces installation rules that help to prevent conflicts with shared resources between existing applications. Such conflicts can be caused when an install operation makes updates to a dynamic link library (.dll) shared by an existing application, or when an operation deletes a dynamic link library shared by another application.
Reliably removes existing programs: Windows Installer can reliably uninstall any program it previously installed. It removes all the associated registry entries and application files, except for those shared by other installed software. You can uninstall an application at any time after a successful installation. (Removal should not be confused with rollback, which restores a computer to its initial state when an installation failure has occurred.)
Diagnoses and repairs corrupted applications: An application can query Windows Installer to determine whether an installed application has missing or corrupted files. If any are detected, Windows Installer repairs the application by recopying only those files found to be missing or corrupted.
Supports on-demand installation of application features: Windows Installer can be instructed to initially install a minimal subset of an application. Later, additional components can be automatically installed the first time the user accesses features that require those components. This is known as advertising. For example, Windows Installer could install Microsoft Word with a minimal set of features. The first time the user tried to access a mail merge function (not included with the original installation), Windows Installer would automatically install the mail merge component. Similarly, Windows Installer can also purge components that go unused in an application. For example, Windows Installer could be configured to remove the mail merge component if it goes unused for 60 days.
Supports unattended application installation: Installation packages can be configured to require no installation process interaction from the user. During the installation process, Windows Installer can query the computer for desktop attributes, including determining whether any applications were previously installed by Windows Installer."""
I don't know if that holds true for 2000/XP but there is information when you click the link there for XP's version...
Here is a Beta 3.0 location or two and some info:
http://forum.installsite.net/index.php?showtopic=11271
http://board.iexbeta.com/lofiversion/index.php/t36894.html
http://myitforum.techtarget.com/links/default.asp?w=3&se=MSI&p=2
For win2000/NT: Installer v. 2.0:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...f9-2d36-4977-8fa1-6f8a0f5dca8f&displaylang=en
Here is a whole bunch at one site:
http://www.appdeploy.com/faq/detail.asp?id=33
Quoting from there> """Note: Windows XP/2003 already contain Windows Installer 2.0 and so you cannot "install" it again (it is part of the operating system protected files and cannot be uninstalled/installed.
* Microsoft Windows Installer 3.0 shipped as part of Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and is now available as a redistributable system component for Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3, Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows XP SP1, and Microsoft Windows Server 2003."""
Redistributable usually means you can download and install it by itself, you do not need to get SP2 to have it.