C# service crashes on uninstall

Question

I've been working to update a C# service with a new Visual Studio 10 Installer. The old installer is a batch based installer that is a pain to use with Windows 7 and higher, but still works correctly (for both install and uninstall).

I created the new Visual Studio Installation project using this as my guide.

The solution includes a small application used to show the service status in the tray. It's output is added to the installation project and included in all of the custom actions alongside the service.

The service installs and runs correctly with my new installer, but uninstall causes a happy little blue screen of death. The dump shows the crash is coming from ntoskrnl.exe+22fa3 (Critical_Object_Termination).

What methods can be used to track down a crash that occurs during uninstall?

Answer 1

If the service can be stopped, then there is something really aweful in your custom action. Custom actions shouldn't be needed in the first place so try this tutorial instead.