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Visual Studio 2016 Winforms Application Not Reading exe.config file (mostly)

I developed a simple WinForms application, which gets its startup parameters from app.config file. That file is configured with values suitable for development and testing.
I created a setup project, and after much tweaking it installs the application. I can run from the installed exe, and it uses the myExe.exe.config file to get its parameters. I edited the file to changed the parameters, but the old parameters are still being used. I made sure the application directory, the executable and the config file all have full control for everyone. Not ideal I know, but to get it working...
Still, the program runs with the old parameters. UNLESS... I right-click on the executable and select Run As Administrator. Then, it uses the properly configured parameters.
Any ideas what is causing this behavior and how to fix? Thanks...

Windows service cannot read parameters from the App.config

I created a Windows service used to execute automated procedures (.Net code) for multiple periodic operations, like backups, sanity checks, reports generation, etc. After building the project, I installed the service with installutil. Everything worked great.
I decided to move various "static" parameters for these automated procedures in the App.config file. I uninstalled the previous version of the service with installutil /u and built the new version of the project. In my build output folder, there's a AppName.exe file and a AppName.exe.config file, as I would expect. I installed the new version of the service, again with installutil from the VS 2012 Developer Command Prompt as an administrator.
The problem is that the service doesn't seem to be able to read the configuration file from the ConfigurationManager. The call for ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("paramname") doesn't fail, but the resulting parameter value is an empty string. As far as I know, the problem occurs for all parameters and not only for specific ones. The parameters are located in the <appSettings> section, under <configuration>, like I've done multiple times before in various projects.
I don't know if it can help, but my service runs on the LocalSystem account and starts automatically after installation and with Windows.
What did I do wrong?
Edit: I already tried uninstalling/re-installing the service (multiple times), like some stackoverflow answers suggests. Also, I'm not looking to update/refresh the file at runtime.

I solved this by setting the location of the config file in runtime. This enables me to place and name the config file where ever I want. I fetch the executing assembly path and then checks if the config file is there. Check the answer on this thread how to dynamically set the config file
This is how I fetch the executing assembly:
var path = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
var configFilePath = Path.Combine(path, "service.config");
Hope this helps!

Turns out I was getting the configuration value in a variable declared with the same name as the property I was using to store the value. For an unknown reason, I had no warning from the compiler. Since a Windows service cannot be debugged, the solution was to review the code/rewrite this part from scratch, and that's when I saw the error.

Windows service app.config location

I have installed a C# Windows Service on Windows Server 2008. I installed it with InstallUtil. The service reads some data from the app.config file and it is doing it fine. Can you tell me where this file is located after installing the service?
I have been looking for hours but can't find it.

You can verify the exact location of the installed Windows Service by following the steps below:
Bring up the list of Windows Services by clicking the "Services" icon under the "Administrative Tools" icon. You can also get this list by typing "View local services" in the Search Menu under the Start Menu.
Select your Windows service in the list of installed services, right-click and then select Properties. You can also double click on row representing the service.
Locate the "Path to executable" value on the Properties dialog box. The value will include any command line parameters.
Open the folder in which the service executable resides.
If the Windows service has been built with .NET Framework, its configuration will be stored in the corresponding .config file, i.e., the name of the executable suffixed by ".config", e.g., if the name of the executable is "XyzService.exe", then the name of the .config file will be "XyzService.exe.config".
A couple of things to note:
If you installed the service after building it on the same machine using say, Visual Studio, then Visual Studio would have transformed the App.config file from the project and placed it in the build output folder automatically (and renamed it appropriately using the above naming convention).
If your machine is set to hide file extensions in Windows Explorer, you will see 2 files "XyzService" and "XyzService.exe". In this case, the "XyzService.exe" is your config file. If you then switch off the option to hide file extenions in Windows Explorer, you will then begin to see "XyzService.exe" and "XyzService.exe.config".
If you cannot find a corresponding .exe.config file, then it is possible that the code within the service is falling back to default values. In this case, you can place a properly named and formatted config file alongside the service executable and then restart the service and everything should be fine.

According to Microsoft
For client executables, the application configuration file resides in
the same directory as the application's executable and has the same
base name as the executable with a .config extension.
Note, if your exe is called appname.exe, and you have Windows explorer set to hide extensions, then your application will display as appname and your config file then it will be displayed as appname.exe (even though the true name is appname.exe.config)
As others have pointed out, InstallUtil doesn't do anything with the config file and it should have copied to the server in the same manner as the exe itself.

It is the same location from where you have registered service using installutil tool.

The App.config is likely called {ProjectName}.exe.config given the fact that it is a Windows Service. Check to see if that file exists and is what you are looking for.

The same place where your application (Windows Service) is.
Check it out, if it's not there place it in the same directory as of service.

If you have a live environment (and from your question it seems like you do), you can check what's actually happening using the superior Process Monitor utility. But usually the .config fileis located right next to the .exe, and named the same.

Windows service installer not reading App.Config file

I have added App.Config in my project.
I have a installer class(ProjectInstaller.cs) which needs to read values from App.config.
I am providing the keys .
Below is the sample Code :
ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["CONFIG_FILE"]
I am getting null values as per above code ,when invoked in Installer class.
But in App.Config file the value for the above key exists.

Try:
public string GetServiceNameAppConfig(string serviceName)
{
var config = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(MyServiceInstaller)).Location);
return config.AppSettings.Settings[serviceName].Value;
}

Google helps: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/ar/winformssetup/thread/896e110e-692d-4934-b120-ecc99b01c562
the point is that your installer is NOT running as exe alone and an app.config called whatever you imagine will not be loaded by default as the exe running your installer is InstallUtil.exe and it would eventually search appSettings from the file InstallUtil.exe.config which is not yours and is not what you want, read the following and check the links...
If you invoke it through InstallUtil then the configuration file is
defined as InstallUtil.exe.config which is not what you want. You
could manually load the config file using Configuration but it will
probably be a little messy
The trick is in the execution context of the installer classes. If you
install your app using InstallUtil all code will be executed in the
same process as InstallUtil.exe. If you need to pass some data to the
Installer class during deployment you should use install parameters.
They are passed to the installer during execution of Install, Commit,
Rollback and Uninstall methods by the execution enviroment
(installutil, windows instller...). You can access there parameters
using InstallContex property ot the installer class.
There is a excellent artiicle on CodeProject regarding Setup projects
and parameters:
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/SetupAndDeployment.asp
Check out
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.configuration.install.installcontext.aspx

Davide Piras explained very well, why you can't use your app.config and suggests to pass your values as parameters.
I found a nice and helpful article on how to pass parameters to the installutil.exe and use them in the serviceInstaller or projectInstaller:
Part 1: Using Parameters with InstallUtil
Part 2: Configuring Windows Services with Parameters from InstallUtil
It explains very shortly how to pass arguments and how to read them.

For me the easiest solution was to create InstallUtil.exe.config file, and fill it up with content from application config file. Service installer successfully read from this config file.
I created my service by following steps described in: Host a WCF Service in a Managed Windows Service

How to copy a file that's in the same directory as the installer

I want to copy a file that's in the same directory as the installer file to the application directory. I can't include the file in the installer.
the scenario:
I create an installer for my client.
the client will distribute the installer to an unknown number of third parties,
these third parties will need to change an aspect of the configuration for the application.
they will subsequently distribute the installer with their edited config to an unknown number of end users.
The end users need to be able to just double click the installer, no knowledge on their part can be assumed.
I can't/don't want to create a separate installer for every third party that will distribute the application.
The solution I've come up with is letting these third parties add a config file to be distributed together with the installer. This file will be copied to the application dir on installation. I created a custom installer class for this purpose.
The part where I am stuck is how to find the file. All the provided methods to find the active assembly etc inside the installer class seem to point to a directory inside Window\system32, instead of the original directory where the installer was launched from.
Any help greatly appreciated.

Is this what you are after? You pass custom data to the custom action, using one of the built-in, but hard to find parameters available when you design setup projects in Visual Studio.
http://adamhouldsworth.blogspot.com/2010/01/get-msi-location-during-setup.html