Google Chrome v80 update broken?

[rweigand]

Hi! Could it be, that the (x64) update detects Chrome Beta v80 and sets itself as installed?

[Justin Chalfant (Patch My PC)]

Were look into both a beta and stable installation to check the detection.

[rweigand]

I've looked into it on one of my affected clients. It's really so: if Chrome Beta was installed last, the reg key used for detection (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\chrome.exe) points to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome Beta\Application\chrome.exe".

To repair the detection on my affected clients I ran a PS script:

Code Select Expand

Import-Module 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Endpoint Manager\AdminConsole\bin\ConfigurationManager.psd1'
cd P11:
$(Get-CMDeviceCollection -Name "Google Chrome Beta 77.0.3865.42 en-US-install (device)").CollectionRules.rulename | ForEach-Object {
    $key = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\chrome.exe"
    $valuename1 = 'Path'
    $valuename2 = ''
    $ValueData1 = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application"
    $ValueData2 = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"
    $ValueType = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryValueKind]::String
    $reg = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey('LocalMachine', $_)
    $regkey = $reg.opensubkey($key, $true)
    write-output "$_ - $($regkey.getvalue($valuename1))"
    write-output "$_ - $($regkey.getvalue($valuename2))"
    #$regkey.SetValue($ValueName1,$ValueData1,$ValueType)
    #$regkey.SetValue($ValueName2,$ValueData2,$ValueType)
}

A bit crude, but it works...

Hope the detection gets fixed on the next update!

Cheers,
RW

[rweigand]

Were look into both a beta and stable installation to check the detection.

Any news?

[Justin Chalfant (Patch My PC)]

We have an engineer reviewing this today. We will keep you posted.

[Andrew Jimenez (Patch My PC)]

We're looking at this now. I think we found a good alternate path to look for that wont pull the beta.

[Andrew Jimenez (Patch My PC)]

Turning out to be trickier than expected... We'll keep investigating!

[rweigand]

Turning out to be trickier than expected... We'll keep investigating!

Thnx a bunch for your trouble!
Btw, why not switch to detection by file version? Chrome on a x64 system always gets installed to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application", and on a x86 system to "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application", right?

[Justin Chalfant (Patch My PC)]

Sorry, there is no way using detection logic we can differentiate between a google chrome beta vs. stable with the windows update agent logic. You could exclude Google Chrome beta based on the Display Name reported back using hardware inventory from the collection you deploy Google Chrome stable too.

[Andrew Jimenez (Patch My PC)]

Turning out to be trickier than expected... We'll keep investigating!

Thnx a bunch for your trouble!
Btw, why not switch to detection by file version? Chrome on a x64 system always gets installed to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application", and on a x86 system to "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application", right?

You would think so, but that isn't always the case. We do use file version, but rely on the path provided by that registry value to get the Google Chrome path. Literally the only difference between the Google Chrome and Beta installer is where they are installed, which is why we haven't been able to differentiate between the two.

An alternative for you for now could be to set a CI or Group Policy to set the reg key "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\chrome.exe\Path" to the path where Google Chrome <non-beta> is installed such as

Code Select Expand

C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application