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Deploying Windows Installer itself


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jskelly

jskelly
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Posted 08 November 2004 - 23:23

I am evaluating different options for installation/packaging software. I've reviewed the Wise Installer and InstallSheild and also the basic Windows Installer.

The target operating systems for my project are Windows 98, NT, Me, XP and 2003. I know that this means that the 98 and NT clients may not have the Windows Installer.

I know that Wise and InstallSheild can perform client-side logic to determine if the Windows Installer needs to be installed so that the remaining installation steps can be performed.

My question is: what if I don't want to purchase Wise or Installsheild because it seems all of the other features I need are in the basic Windows Installer? Is there a way to have Windows Installer place itself on a computer as a first step so that the remaining installation steps can continue? I know that setup.exe can be used and I'm wondering if it can determine and install the "main" Windows Installer components.

The objective would be to avoid requiring the users download a separate file before they can download the product being installed.

Thanks for any help in advance.
Scott Kelly

Stefan Krueger

Stefan Krueger

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Posted 09 November 2004 - 08:53

You need to install the MSI redist instmsi.exe, which come in two versions, one for Windows 9X/Me and one for NT/2000. This cannot be done iside the MSI file, you must use an exe. You can package the MSI runtime and your msi file in a self extracting exe.

gpg

gpg
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Posted 09 November 2004 - 19:54

If you install the Windows Installer SKD (part of Platform SDK) from MS, there is an example bootstrap program (setup.exe) that does this. Source code is included as part of the SDK.