While this story turned out to be false, I do remember installing the multiplayer game launcher for Half Life 1 back in 1999/2000. After clicking “install”, a dialog popped up and said something, “If the installer says the program failed to install, do not worry. The program installed correctly.”
I took a screenshot. I had it for years. I may have lost it, or maybe it’s sitting on some old computer at my parents, but I swear it’s true.
Sure enough, the error message popped up, and the program was installed correctly.
I told the story once on Twitter, and someone responded that this was known problem. It had something to do with Windows 97’s registry updates if I remember correctly.
If you uninstalled half life 1's bundled Sierra Utilities it would remove 1 directory higher than where you installed it. Usually wiping out Program Files.
I posted that this happened on a different thread but failed to find reference to it on the Internet. Thanks for digging up an reference, I knew I wasn't dreaming it up!
There was a time-unlocked beta version of Windows Memphis (98) making circles that was shoddily rebranded as Windows 97. Of course it's likelier that the parent mistyped either 95 or 98.
I took a screenshot. I had it for years. I may have lost it, or maybe it’s sitting on some old computer at my parents, but I swear it’s true.
Sure enough, the error message popped up, and the program was installed correctly.
I told the story once on Twitter, and someone responded that this was known problem. It had something to do with Windows 97’s registry updates if I remember correctly.