http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=18709
--- Comment #2 from Hib Eris hib@hiberis.nl 2009-07-07 07:09:48 --- I had a similar problem running candle.exe from the Windows Installer Toolkit. Guided by Louis' stupid hack, I made a patch for it and send it to the mailing list.
http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-patches/2009-July/075516.html
It solves my problems with candle.exe. Louis, could you check if this patch solves your problem as well?