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Advantage of creating .msi file using Installshied


3 replies to this topic

reddy611

reddy611
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Posted 13 December 2006 - 17:08

Hi All,

I am using Installshield 10.5 professional - AdminStudio Edition. I want to know all the benefits of windows installer .msi over .exe. could you please can anyone tell me the advantages.



Thanks in advance,
Prathap

russellperry

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Posted 13 December 2006 - 18:08

Searching for "setup.exe" in the InstallShield documentation returns:

QUOTE

Installing Windows Installer through Setup.exe

If you plan to run your setup on platforms other than Windows 2000 or later (Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, or Windows 98), you might need to install Windows Installer. InstallShield allows you to include a copy of Windows Installer in a self-extracting executable file called Setup.exe.

Windows Installer Distribution

InstallShield can distribute a copy of Windows Installer in one of two ways:

If you choose to compress all of your application files into one package, Setup.exe contains your installation package along with a copy of Windows Installer.
Otherwise, your release folders contain Setup.exe, your application and installation files, the Windows Installer files, and a file called Setup.ini.
Including Setup.exe with Your Setup Package
By default, InstallShield creates Setup.exe along with your installation package.

In the Setup Launcher panel of the Release Wizard, you can control whether you want to create Setup.exe and which platforms you want to distribute the Windows Installer service to. Changing this setting in the Release Wizard applies to only the current release.


reddy611

reddy611
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Posted 13 December 2006 - 18:52

Thank you Russellperry.

Sorry previously i did not explain my probelm indetail.

my problem is instead of creating installer.exe now i have to create installer.msi file. whatever the installer.exe will do, the same functinaliteis it should also do.
For example: i have setup file called "Installer.exe" , if i install this in to my machine it will install 2 components.
Now i have one more setup called "installer.msi file", if i install in to my system it also install the 2 components.

so i want to know is there any advantage creating installer.msi over installer.exe, once again i am saying both of the setup's will do the same functinalities(i mean if you double click on any of the setup, both of them will install the same components.

Friends i am eagarly wating for your reply.

thanks in advance.
Prathap




russellperry

russellperry
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Posted 13 December 2006 - 20:33

I think if you had read the docs I quoted carefully, your question would be answered, but I'll elaborate:

The exe is simply a bootstrapper that installs the appropriate version of the Windows Installer Service and THEN runs the msi. An msi file is ALWAYS created, even if you also create a setup.exe.

It is advisable to always use the setup.exe to make sure your users can install your application. If you select a Media Format of "CD-ROM" in the Release Wizard, InstallShield will create a setup.exe and an msi as separate files, and the setup.exe will call the msi file externally after the bootstrap.

If you select "Network Image" as the Media Format, InstallShield will compress the msi and all the install files into the setup.exe. This is good for use as a web install.

In general, if you're planning on distributing your install to the public, you need to create a setup.exe bootstrapper to go with it. If you also need to be able to distribute an msi file separately, for instance to give to IT admins who want to repackage the install or use it as a policy, you can do that as well, using the Media Format property I referred to above.