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InstallShield 2014 Express Edition

Release Notes

originally released May 2014; updated to include SP1, released December 2014

Introduction

InstallShield is the industry standard for authoring high-quality Windows Installer–based installations. InstallShield 2014 Express Edition offers new features and enhancements that make it easy to use the latest technologies.

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Changes in SP1 (December 2014)

You can obtain the installation for InstallShield 2014 SP1 through the Flexera Software Product and License Center. For instructions, see the download and licensing instructions for InstallShield.

New Predefined System Searches for Internet Explorer 10 and 11

InstallShield has new predefined system searches that check target systems for Internet Explorer 10 or Internet Explorer 11. If your installation or product requires either of those versions, you can use the Requirements view or the Installation Requirements page in the Project Assistant to add one of these system searches to your project. When end users launch your installation, Windows Installer checks the target system to see if the requirements are met; if they are not met, the installation displays the error message that is defined for the system search.

Updates to Portuguese Run-Time Strings

The default run-time strings for Portuguese (Brazil) and Portuguese (Portugal) have been updated to reflect the Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 that finishes going into effect at the end of 2014, per a 6-year transition period starting in 2009.

This change resolves issue IOJ-1719546.

IOA-000079064, IOA-000079310

InstallShield now enables you to select several different versions of Windows on the Installation Requirements page of the Project Assistant or in the Requirements view. Previously, if you attempted to select a third check box, InstallShield displayed an error ("Field 'Condition' of table 'LaunchCondition': The string is too long for the length specified by the column definition") and would not enable a third check box to be selected.

IOJ-1662589, IOJ-1664180, IOJ-1664871, IOJ-1667078

InstallShield no longer crashes and .NET dependency scanning no longer fails at build time when certain files are included in the project or in a merge module that is part of the project.

IOJ-1719380

The InstallShield prerequisites that install Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express RTM (x86) and Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express RTM (x86 & x64Wow) now download the correct files (SQLEXPR_x86_ENU.exe and SQLEXPR32_x86_ENU.exe, respectively). In addition, the conditions for these prerequisites have been revised so that the prerequisite files are launched on the appropriate platforms.

IOJ-1720244

The Setup.exe launcher no longer crashes in certain circumstances. Previously in some rare scenarios, when Setup.exe was performing cleanup tasks after, for example, a successful installation or an end user canceled, it crashed.

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New Features in InstallShield 2014 Original Release Version (May 2014)

New InstallShield Prerequisites for the .NET Framework 4.5.1

InstallShield includes two new .NET Framework–related InstallShield prerequisites that you can add to projects:

These prerequisites install the .NET Framework 4.5.1 on supported target systems.

The Web prerequisite requires an Internet connection. This prerequisite downloads the required redistributable files if appropriate. The full prerequisite is a stand-alone installation that does not require an Internet connection.

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Prerequisites

InstallShield includes several new SQL Server 2014–related InstallShield prerequisites that you can add to projects:

These InstallShield prerequisites install the technology on supported target systems.

New InstallShield Prerequisites for Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Update 4

InstallShield includes new InstallShield prerequisites that you can add to projects:

These prerequisites install the various technologies on supported target systems.

Ability to Include Support Files in Subfolders

InstallShield now lets you specify custom folder structures for support files. To add a subfolder under one of the nodes in the Setup Files view, right-click the node and then click New Folder. InstallShield adds a subfolder and enables you to rename it as needed. You can also add a nested folder structure. To add files to a subfolder, select it and right-click in the right pane, and then click Insert Files. At run-time, the installation copies the support folders and files to SUPPORTDIR, a temporary directory on target systems, to make them available during your product's installation process. The support folders and files are deleted when the installation is complete.

This feature resolves the following issues: IOA-000031237, IOC-000057723.

Support for Removing Files and Folders

InstallShield now has built-in support that makes it easy to specify files and folders that you want to be removed from target systems at run time. This file and folder removal capability is useful for scenarios such as removing application-created files that your installation does not otherwise track.

You can schedule the removal of a file or folder for one of the following events:

Note that if the item to be removed is a folder, that folder is removed only if it is empty.

To configure a file or folder removal in a project, use the Files view. In this view, select the destination folder that contains the file or folder that you want to be removed. Then right-click in the Destination computer's files pane and click Add File Removal. InstallShield displays a Properties dialog box that lets you configure the available removal settings.

This feature resolves the following issue: IOA-000055322.

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Enhancements in InstallShield 2014 Original Release Version (May 2014)

Support for Offering Printer Selection for the License Agreement Dialog at Run Time

The behavior of the Print button on License Agreement dialogs has been enhanced. Instead of printing directly to the default printer when an end user clicks the Print button, the printer selection dialog box now opens.

This enhancement resolves issue IOC-000047168.

64-Bit Support for Registry-Related System Searches

The System Search Wizard enables you to define searches that you want Windows Installer to perform; Windows Installer can search for a particular file, folder, registry key or .ini value on target systems. The registry-related panel in the System Search Wizard includes a new check box that lets you specify whether you want to check the 64-bit area of the registry on 64-bit target systems.

This enhancement resolves issue IOA-000083104.

New FlexNet Connect 13.06 Redistributables Available

InstallShield includes support for FlexNet Connect 13.06 in your projects. Use the Update Notifications view in InstallShield to include one of the two FlexNet Connect 13.06 merge modules—one has the Common Software Manager, and the other does not.

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Important Information

Evaluating InstallShield

If you have not purchased a license for InstallShield, you can install it and use it for a limited number of days without activating it. When you use InstallShield before activating it, it operates in evaluation mode, and some of its functionality is not available. For details, see KB article Q200900. Note that when you activate InstallShield, the evaluation limitations are removed.

Obtaining the Installations for InstallShield, InstallShield Add-Ons, and the Redistributable Files

You can obtain the installation of InstallShield through either of the following methods:

Additional installations—such as the redistributable files for the InstallShield prerequisites that are included in InstallShield and the .NET language pack prerequisite files (.prq)—are also included on the DVD and available for download from the same location as InstallShield.

Installing More than One Edition of InstallShield

Only one edition of InstallShield 2014—Premier, Professional, or Express—can be installed on a system at a time. In addition, the InstallShield 2014 DIM Editor cannot be installed on the same machine with any edition of InstallShield 2014.

Microsoft Visual Studio can be integrated with only one version of InstallShield at a time. The last version of InstallShield that is installed or repaired on a system is the one that is used for Visual Studio integration.

Installing More than One Version of InstallShield

InstallShield 2014 can coexist on the same machine with other versions of InstallShield.

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Project Upgrade Alerts

The following information describes possible upgrade issues that may occur when you upgrade projects that were created with InstallShield 2013 Express Edition and earlier to InstallShield 2014 Express Edition. It also alerts you to possible changes in behavior that you may notice between new InstallShield 2014 Express Edition projects and projects that are upgraded from InstallShield 2013 Express Edition or earlier to InstallShield 2014 Express Edition.

General Information about Upgrading Projects that Were Created in Earlier Versions of InstallShield

If you use InstallShield 2014 Express Edition to open a project that was created with an earlier version, InstallShield 2014 Express Edition displays a message box that asks you if you want to convert the project to the new version. If you reply that you do want to convert it, InstallShield creates a backup copy of the project with a file extension such as .774 before converting it. Delete the .774 part from the original project's file name if you want to reopen the project in the earlier version of InstallShield. Note that you cannot open InstallShield 2014 Express Edition projects in earlier versions of InstallShield.

You can upgrade projects that were created with the following versions of InstallShield Express Edition to InstallShield 2014 Express Edition: InstallShield 2013 Express Edition and earlier, InstallShield 12 Express Edition and earlier, and InstallShield Express 5 and earlier. Note that projects that were created with InstallShield MultiPlatform or InstallShield Universal cannot be upgraded to InstallShield 2014 Express Edition.

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Resolved Issues in InstallShield 2014 Original Release Version (May 2014)

IOA-000080617

If you select a grid item in some views and then change the focus, the selected item now uses a darker color that makes it easier to identify it as the selected item.

IOA-000081185

The existing InstallShield prerequisite for Microsoft SQL CE 3.5 SP2 was revised to install SQL CE 3.5 SP2 on 64-bit target systems; previously, the prerequisite's conditions were configured to install SQL CE 3.5 SP2 only on 32-bit systems. In addition, a new InstallShield prerequisite for Microsoft SQL CE 3.5 SP2 (x64) is available; this prerequisite installs SQL CE 3.5 SP2 on 64-bit target systems.

IOA-000082406

InstallShield no longer crashes when certain files such as msvcrt.dll are added to a project.

IOA-000084391

The conditions for the InstallShield prerequisites for the Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Update 1 Redistributable Packages have been updated to include support for Windows XP. Previously, these prerequisites were not installed on Windows XP–based systems.

IOA-000084630

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 are available in the Condition Builder dialog box that InstallShield displays when you click the ellipsis button in the Condition setting in the Features view.

IOA-000124532

If you specify .spc and .pvk files to digitally sign your release at build time, and a different application gains focus at build time, the password is passed correctly to Signcode.exe (the tool that digitally signs files as needed at build time). Previously, the password was written to the other application, and the Signcode.exe prompt for the certificate password remained open.

IOB-000063651

Exporting a registry entry that has an expandable string value to a .reg file and then importing it back into your project no longer results in unexpected registry entries.

IOC-000089095

InstallShield no longer erroneously reports build error -1007 ("Cannot copy source 'NameOfFile' to target 'FileLocation'") for an InstallShield prerequisite whose source is in a read-only location. Previously, this build error occurred in certain cases; for example, when Compressed was selected for the Compression setting in the Releases view and the target location was not Extract From Setup.exe.

IOC-000090875

If error 1152 occurs at run time when Setup.exe encounters an error when extracting a file to a temporary location (for example, if the target system does not have enough space), the error message now lists the name of the file that could not be extracted.

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System Requirements

This section contains the minimum requirements for systems that run InstallShield (the authoring environment), as well as for target systems that run the installations created with InstallShield (the run-time environment).

For Systems Running InstallShield

Processor

Pentium III-class PC (500 MHz or higher recommended)

RAM

256 MB of RAM (512 MB preferred)

Hard Disk

500 MB free space

Display

Designed for XGA resolution at 1024 × 768 or higher

Operating System

Windows Vista
Windows Server 2008
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 8
Windows Server 2012
Windows 8.1
Windows Server 2012 R2

Privileges

Administrative privileges on the system

Mouse

Microsoft IntelliMouse or other compatible pointing device

Optional Integration with Visual Studio

The following versions of Microsoft Visual Studio can be integrated with InstallShield Express Edition:

Visual Studio 2008
Visual Studio 2010
Visual Studio 2012
Visual Studio 2013

The following editions of these versions of Visual Studio can be integrated with InstallShield Express Edition:

Professional
Premium
Ultimate

For Target Systems

Target systems must meet the following minimum operating system requirement:
Windows XP
Windows Server 2003
Windows Vista
Windows Server 2008
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 8
Windows Server 2012
Windows 8.1
Windows Server 2012 R2

Target systems must also support the SSE2 instruction set.

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Known Issues

For a list of known issues, see Knowledge Base article 000017082.

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Legal Information

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2014 Flexera Software LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This publication contains proprietary and confidential information and creative works owned by Flexera Software LLC and its licensors, if any. Any use, copying, publication, distribution, display, modification, or transmission of such publication in whole or in part in any form or by any means without the prior express written permission of Flexera Software LLC is strictly prohibited. Except where expressly provided by Flexera Software LLC in writing, possession of this publication shall not be construed to confer any license or rights under any Flexera Software LLC intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication, or otherwise.

All copies of the technology and related information, if allowed by Flexera Software LLC, must display this notice of copyright and ownership in full.

Intellectual Property

For a list of trademarks and patents that are owned by Flexera Software, see http://www.flexerasoftware.com/intellectual-property. All other brand and product names mentioned in Flexera Software products, product documentation, and marketing materials are the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Restricted Rights Legend

The Software is commercial computer software. If the user or licensee of the Software is an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government, the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure, or transfer of the Software, or any related documentation of any kind, including technical data and manuals, is restricted by a license agreement or by the terms of this Agreement in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 12.212 for civilian purposes and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 227.7202 for military purposes. The Software was developed fully at private expense. All other use is prohibited.

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