[issue42192] Python Windows .exe Installer ignores /TargetDir if there is an existing installation

[Steve Dower]

Steve Dower <steve.dower at python.org> added the comment:

So for a manually managed install, your best bet is to just copy the install directory somewhere else (and then maybe remove the original? Up to you). That will break the MSI tracking that lets us do reliable upgrades and repairs, but shouldn't break Python itself.

If you're planning to include it in another application, you may want to look at the embeddable distro, which is reduced in size/scope for this purpose (it generally also requires a regular install for build/pip installs).

Basic levels of fiddling can also be avoided by using virtual environments. Nothing much we can do will protect against really dedicated (or malicious) fiddling, but using the MSI installs we have means that a repair should quickly fix it up.

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<https://bugs.python.org/issue42192>
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