Windows installer removes node, breaks npm

[jhermsmeier]

The Windows installer uninstalls any previously installed version of node (which shouldn't happen in the first place), but it also breaks npm, because the npm.cmd from the io.js install still references node.exe.
It also breaks the node installer, which errors with "A later version of node.js is already installed".

[rvagg]

there was supposed to be a node.exe link in 1.0.0 but the release was slightly borked, a 1.0.1 is dropping in the next 15 minutes that will change this.

As for uninstalling node, it could be because we're using the same IDs as Node, @piscisaureus any idea how we might go about changing all that so we're a unique project from Windows' perspective?

[kfranqueiro]

I just stumbled across this in my own testing as well. I'd ideally like to be able to keep node installed as-is so that projects I am working on which explicitly require it can continue to use it (although I'm aware that io.js should theoretically be compatible). It seems like it ought to be possible for the two to coexist on one system rather than having iojs uproot an existing node.js installation or override its executable with a link to io.js's own. Any thoughts on if that'd be possible longer-term?

[domenic]

@kfranqueiro that should be pretty easy, just download the binary iojs.exe instead of using the installer.

[kfranqueiro]

That's a fair point and I had missed the win-... folders at the top of the dist folder. I can certainly work with that for now. Would be cool for the installer to be coexistence-friendly too eventually though.

[jhermsmeier]

@rvagg Thanks for the quick response & fix!

It'd really be nice if node & iojs could coexist, maybe make it an option in the installer?
That's a topic for a different issue though.