Introduction to Windows Installer

The Windows Installer service introduces a faster, more reliable method of application installation. Standardized application installation, enhanced management, and easy customization of applications are some of the many benefits Windows Installer provides. Another important function of Windows Installer is its ability to diagnose and repair configuration problems when the application is opened.

An integral part of the Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows XP operating systems, Windows Installer provides a standard format for component management as well as an interface for managing applications and system tools. Windows Installer is available as a redistributable for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 operating systems.

Windows Installer delivers this enhanced performance through a combination of application advertisement, on-demand installation, and related technologies. Advertising applications enables software to be potentially available to many users. On-demand installation allows the seamless activation of an advertised feature or product without requiring the user to exit from the current program in order to run a separate setup program, a process which often necessitates restarting the computer. There are two methods of advertising applications on a system: assigning and publishing.

Windows Installer allows installations at the product level and at the feature level. When an end user calls an advertised product or feature, the operating system recognizes the installer path, which might be a shortcut, extension, or class ID (CLSID). The operating system requests the full path to the application or feature from the installer, which then queries the system to return its state, installs the application or feature, and returns the full path to the operating system to enable the application to be launched or the feature to be enabled.

InstallShield

To complement the new Windows Installer technology, InstallShield provides an intuitive GUI to simplify and automate the process of creating application installations.

InstallShield Wizards

Several wizards have been designed to simplify the installation creation process.

You can create an optimal installation for your application using the Component Wizard, which helps you take full advantage of the Windows Installer service. Enable the Best Practices option to have InstallShield ensure that your setup is created in compliance with Setup Best Practices. To make the most of Windows Installer features using Setup Best Practices, click Options on the Tools menu, and then select the Enforce Setup Best Practices option.

After opening an existing project or creating a new one, you can create new components according to best practices using the Component Wizard in the Components view.

After creating your components, you can create custom actions using the Custom Action Wizard.

With the Release Wizard, you can create a shippable .msi file from your project. The wizard prompts for information such as media type, setup languages, and setup launcher options.

Creating Windows Installer-Compatible Installations

In order to make your products compatible with the new Windows Installer, you must provide a product code, a unique identifier known as a GUID. InstallShield automatically generates a GUID for you when you add a new component to a feature in your project. You can accept this GUID, generate a new GUID, or enter your own GUID by selecting the Component Code field in the Components view of your project.

Best Practices Components Summary

After you have added all your files using the Component Wizard, a Best Practices summary is displayed, indicating the components created. (This summary is displayed only if you selected the Best Practices option in the first panel of the Component Wizard.) The wizard automatically groups all files having a common destination folder into components, to simplify installation onto an end user’s system.