'Program Updates' in control panel

[CChong]

Hi,

Is it possible to remove the 'Program Updates' applet in the control via a new setup.exe? For some reason, someone included it in one of our older setups, but we don't want it installed on the users' systems because it automatically checks for updates and pops up at random times.

I am using developer 8 sp2 to create installers.

thanks in advance

[NGaida]

Agreed. It just popped up checking updates for me. I definately do not want my customers having this experience.

[CChong]

I talked to IS about this and this is what they said -

This is actually a known issue with our product. Unfortunately there is currently no way to uninstall the Update Manager (it is what gets invoked by the "Program Updates" shortcut). However there is currently a feature request open with our development department requesting that a means of uninstalling this be documented and made available. You can track the status of this request using work order #1-Q068L.

[NGaida]

I don't want a way to uninstall it (though for myself that would be nice). I want a way to not install it in the first place.

[CChong]

Hi, we use version 3.1 of the Update service with Installshield DevStudio 9 and have a few problems with it similar to yours.

I am having the same problem with the update manager being installed, is there a way of not installing the update manager.

Was the installation of this documented? Where can I find the documentation on it. Surely the installation of it should be optional.

In addition, our application now displays a 'Please wait whilst windows configures [XXXX]' when a new user logs in and requires the original setup files. Is this to alleviate a permissions issue?

In any case this just confuses users' who have, in the mean time, clicked on the icon to start the application about 5 times leading to a cycle of messages that the user tends to cancel repeatedly whilst panicing.

We are holding off some critical updates because of these issues.


:eek:

[Chris_Woerner]

For those of you using the Update Service who prefer not to ship the Update Manager, we are developing an SDK that has all the Update Service runtime files - except the Update Manager.

Out of curiosity, I am interested to learn more about why you don't like the Update Manager. We thought it would a nice value added tool for your end-users.

It the automated checking that part you don't like? If the Update Manager was only run on demand by the customer would that solve your issues? Again, we will give you an SDK w/o the Update Manager. I am just curious.

[NGaida]

Chris, Thanks!

I believe it was more of the nature how it appeared without warning.

Also, we want our customers to access updates via our own update manager. The Update manager provided in the merge module completely side-steps our planned update deployment route.

Potentially as an install option it would be acceptable.

Thanks,
Nathan

[NewKid]

I have two issues with Update Manager:

1. It starts up every morning when I boot up my machine, and it always encounters an error. Then sometime later in the day, it would pop up and informing me that it found an update. I do not want our user to think that there is something wrong with our application when the error pops up everytime.

2. We can not upgrade our customers to Update Service 3 unless we can opt out Update Manager anyway. This is because that our customers client machines operate on a touch screen only UI. And the user has no access to Windows desktop by design. Also they do not have hardware key board. All the application UI is handled by software. When a 3rd party software, i.e. IS Update Manager, starts, our application has to create a tab for it in the application's Window for user to access it and toggle through all the running apps. We do not want to have any app end up in the background and user would not have any way to get to it. And this could happen if we have Update Manager not being initiated by our application and managed by our application.:p

[ProductManager]

Until Installshield provides sdk with it removed, you can remove the shortcut from installing on start menu and also have the update manager not schedule it self and not notify the user of anything, allowing your manager to do it.

Remove Shortcut:

1. Go to C:\Program Files\InstallShield\Developer\Objects
2. Open ISUS.msm with ORCA
3. Go Shortcut table
4. Delete the row in that table
5. Save

Remove Schedule

1. Go to the ModuleInstallExecuteSequence table.
2. Delete the row where the "Action" column is "DWUS_Bootstrap.C3A146F5_4B48_11D5_A819_00B0D0428C0C".
3. Save.

[russellperry]

Thanks for those instructions. Will that prevent the icon from appearing in the tray if there is no scheduled updates? I'm getting feedback that our users might be concerned about additional products they didn't expect showing up in their tray.

We definitely want the option to install the update manager or not. I only need the agent and update service in my product.

Please, IS -- don't smuggle new features in, no matter how neat you think they are. I want complete control over the installs I develop. That's why I buy your product. I've already gotten greif over the "surprise" icon in the tray.

[ProductManager]

Yes, 2nd step will stop it from popping up in the tray.

[Xcygnus1]

Originally posted by Chris Woerner
For those of you using the Update Service who prefer not to ship the Update Manager, we are developing an SDK that has all the Update Service runtime files - except the Update Manager.

Out of curiosity, I am interested to learn more about why you don't like the Update Manager. We thought it would a nice value added tool for your end-users.

It the automated checking that part you don't like? If the Update Manager was only run on demand by the customer would that solve your issues? Again, we will give you an SDK w/o the Update Manager. I am just curious.

The new update manager has enabled end users who have not paid for updates to download them through the update manager. This is a huge problem for us because we are losing revenue we would otherwise have without the loophole that the update manager has created.
Our product enables or disables the download and install of updates based upon the customer's current subscription for our product. This worked out well until the update service manager came along and gave users an easy means to by pass controls we otherwise have in place :mad:
I'm working with ISX..please give us options through the program to disable the update manager so we can use just the service portion as we were previously.
In the meantime, I will make the changes suggested by ProductManger in our setup.
Question is...for users that have already loaded the update service manager, how can I disable it for them as part of a program update...or will the changes suggested by ProductManager take care of that as well in an update to an existing installation?

[CChong]

Where can I see the status of the work order mentioned earlier on in this thread? We've recently released an installer with the new agent and we're already getting negative feedback from users.

I'd like to know where InstallShield stands on providing our current and former users with a way to get this off of their machines.

Thanks,
Scott

[akarnik]

ya..i would like to know the status too.
is there a way to "upgrade" from 3.1 to 2.2?

- amol

[ProductManager]

If you want to go back to 2.2

1. Uninstall the 2.2 SDK from Add/Remove Programs.
2. Browse to the Developer Objects folder.
3. Move ISUS.msm to some other location.
4. Re-run the 2.2 SDK.

I think they might have removed the 2.2 from their site, or hide the url, so here is the file.

[ProductManager]

for some reason it wont let me attach the install, even as a zip file, wierd.

[CChong]

The option to downgrade to 2.2 works for the merge modules, but if you have already done new work on applications that reference the 3.1 Agent automation interface -even if you don't use any of the new class members- then you are stuck because the uninstall doesn't appear to unregister the 3.1 COM interface.

See also this post:
http://community.installshield.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137673

[CChong]

I am joining the discussion midstream, and hopefully I haven’t missed anything. My issue with Update Manager is that it installed itself as part of an evaluation package of InstallShield and now I am stuck with it. Admittedly, not a big deal, but it is annoying to have it come up periodically in the system tray and the practice of giving users “neat features” they have no control over and cannot uninstall is bad.

When will InstallShield provide the ability to uninstall Update Manager?

Thanks.

[CChong]

I wouldn't hold your breath. There has been little or no activity on this thread by InstallShield representatives.

My company has pulled the Update Agent from our install due to the backlash from our users. A number of them have tagged the Update Agent as SpyWare since there is no way to uninstall it. We've had to abandon our investment in this part of their product, releasing a new version without the Update Server functionality.

We're now facing the issue of informing the users that have already installed it that our install provider has offered no way to remove it. This has resulted in users writing to people that have reviewed our app, informing them that we contain spyware.

I appreciate what InstallShield was trying to accomplish and understand the issue of delivering an agent that *might* be used by multiple applications. However, I think they've made a strategic mistake and hope that they become more responsive to the ground swell of discontent. It would be great if they had to answer the support emails that we are facing....

Hoping for some type of response from InstallShield,
Scott

[CChong]

Sounds like this “neat feature” caused your company and others actual losses in rework, additional support load, and customer dissatisfaction! I think that excepting InstallShiled to be sensitive to that is not asking too much.

Joe

[rsknowles]

I also wanted to chime in and express my disapproval of the Update Manager "feature". It is preventing me from delivering the user experience that was intended. I don't want anything other than my application controlling the delivery of its updates. This is very disappointing since we were preparing to release our first product that supports the update service... now I have to hack the MSM as PM described.

I would be very interested in hearing an expected delivery date for the fix. In my opinion this is an urgent fix and should not wait to be released with the MSI 3.0 support.