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Fri, Sep 18 2009 21:51

Careful with that Hyperlink (on your MSI dialog)

One of the new features in version 5 of the Windows Installer runtime is support for hyperlink controls on setup dialogs. Remember that MSI 5 is only available on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, but there's no redistributable for down-level...
Posted by stefan | 3 comment(s)
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Sat, Sep 12 2009 2:30

Microsoft's recent Security Updates for Visual Studio break Windows Installer Updates

This problem was brought up in a question on the InstallSite Forum and is also mentioned in a blog post by Gauravb (who appears to be a Microsoft employee). The typical symptom is missing or not updated files after you install a Small or Minor Update...
Posted by stefan | with no comments
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Sat, Jul 25 2009 12:18

DON'T Clean up your PC with Windows Installer Clean Up Utility

Currently there are many Twitter posts suggesting the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility. This concerns me and I want to clarify some things about it. I think these tweets might have been triggered by a blog article that Karl L. Gechlik posted recently...
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Sat, Jul 26 2008 22:08

Windows Installer Version Matrix

This table shows released Windows Installer versions that are included or available as redistributables for the different versions of Windows. Pre-release or beta versions are not listed. The data have been collected from various sources. If you find...
Posted by stefan | 1 comment(s)
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Wed, Nov 21 2007 16:15

The good, the bad, and the ugly - custom action types

I'd like to add my thoughts to the recent discussion about how bad custom actions are, and which types are better or worse than others. First of all, I believe there's a general consent that custom actions shouldn't be used for tasks that...
Posted by stefan | 5 comment(s)
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Wed, Aug 29 2007 12:58

Prepare for MSI 4.5

The first public beta version of the Windows Installer (MSI) 4.5 runtime, SDK and documentation has just been posted by Microsoft. It's mainly targeted at tools vendors so they can update their authoring and packaging tools to support the new version...
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Sat, May 26 2007 11:33

Think ahead when creating operating system conditions

There's a pitfall that I see people falling into from time to time: operating system conditions. Such conditions can be useful as launch conditions to enforce system requirements or used with features, components or custom actions to install different...
Posted by stefan | 1 comment(s)
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Wed, Apr 18 2007 19:01

Beware of the UAC Prompt Timeout

Recently I encountered a strange problem when I tried to install an MSI based setup on Windows Vista. I ran through the dialog sequence and clicked the “Install Now” button. The progress bar dialog was displayed as usual, and I left the computer to get...
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Wed, Feb 7 2007 14:34

7 Reasons Why your Installations May Fail on Windows Vista (And How You Can Fix Them)

An article that I've written for the December 2006 issue of the Macrovision DevLetter. 7 Reasons Why your Installations May Fail on Windows Vista (And How You Can Fix Them) Windows Installer is not just a technology but also a set of rules and best...
Posted by stefan | 1 comment(s)
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Fri, Dec 22 2006 8:53

Launching a program when setup is completed may be a security issue

An article in the InnoSetup knowledge base points out that launching your application or displaying a readme file (using notepad for instance) at the end of your installation may cause a security issue on Windows Vista. The problem arises if the installation...
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