Best practices for version conflict between burn/msi installer and custom updater

[evgen-pervenenko]

Question

Hello, community,

Faced case when using a simple non msi/burn auto-updater that directly replaces application files outside of the official MSI installation process. After auto-updating to a newer version, we noticed that the original installer (built with WiX Toolset and Burn) doesn’t detect that the app has already been updated. As a result, it can proceed with installing an older version over the newer one — which we’d like to avoid.

🎯 Goal:
Enable the installer to detect when a newer version of the app is already present (via auto-update), and prevent downgrade or overwrite.

🛠️ Environment:
Auto-updater: Custom non msi C++ app
Installer: MSI via WiX Toolset 5.0.2
Target Framework: .NET 4.6.2

Are there any ways to detect the actual installed version dynamically — such as through registry keys or file metadata — and want to hear how others have handled similar cases. Would appreciate advice on best practices or design patterns for integrating version checks between auto-updates and MSI workflows.

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