Microsoft's Channel 9 posted a video interview with Robert Flaming, program manager on the Windows Installer team. Robert talks about topics like User Account Control (UAC), chainers, restart manager, nested install custom actions, digitally signing setups and patches. Watch the video or download...
Aaron Stebner reports an issue (some commenters call it a "nightmare") in the .NET Framework 3.5 installer that can cause a premature reboot request on Windows Vista. If the user accepts the reboot request while the framework installer or your own setup isn't completed yet, the system can...
In a previous post I wrote about a free tool from ScriptLogic called "MSI Readiness Analyzer for Windows Vista". ScriptLogic responded to my complaint that common Vista problems slipped through the validation. Version 2 of the tool performs additional tests and is available as a free download...
If you need to run command with full administrator permissions in Windows Vista, you could use the elevated command prompt (by right-clicking the command prompt icon in the start menu and selection "run as administrator). However if you need to do this from a batch or script file you have to use...
An article has been posted at The Code Project that examines how UAC on Windows Vista operates behind the scenes, including a debug session of an elevation via the UAC prompt. It also shows how to work with UAC using manifests or the CreateProcess API, including source code. In-depth analysis of Vista...
ScriptLogic offers a free tool called "MSI Readiness Analyzer for Windows Vista". MSI Readiness Analyzer for Windows Vista is a free standalone utility for IT professionals which analyzes MSI application installers and highlights methods to prepare them for Windows Vista. MSI Readiness Analyzer...
Richard Macdonald of the Windows Installer team at Microsoft has posted another great blog article in which he describes how to make your application restart manager aware and how to add the MsiRMFilesInUse dialog to your setup using a .msi table editor like Orca. (Re-)Start Me Up ... As I mentioned...
There is an article at the Code Project that explains some of the Vista logo requirements and test cases and offers tools and tips to pass them. Among others it shows how to modify a MSI setup created with Visual Studio Setup & Deployment project to make it Vista logo compliant. The article also...
An article in the Windows Vista Team Blog shows the various types of UAC prompts and in which case (singed or unsigned executable etc.) which type is displayed. The screenshots are a bit tiny but you get the idea. By default, other applications cannot send messages to the UAC dialog because it's displayed...
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 practices. While these rules have been specified...