BASIC MSI: Question about install time

[DLee65]

I have a question about an installation package that I am working on.

I have 'mirrored' the package from an older wise installer package that is currently being delivered to our customers. It includes about 7 COM assemblies. In the Wise installation package, the COM files are registered by means of a series of batch files that are executed at the end the install and the entire process takes roughly about 2 minutes using regasm to register the COM files and create the new /tbl files.

However with the InstallShield package, I want to do the right thing and create a better install. So I included the COM assemblies in the MSI package for registration instead of using the batch files.

What we are seeing in testing however, is that the process of writing to the registry increases dramatically. The wise installer product from the same build machine takes about 11 minutes to install with all of the prerequisites. My new InstallShield package is taking just over 40 minutes to complete the same configuration on the same test environment.

Looking at the log file just writing to the registry takes almost 18 minutes of a 21 minute install process. So if the log file is to believed, it took only 3 minutes to transfer files to the system and 18 minutes to write all the registry entries! It is difficult for me to justify to managers the advantages of MSI and COM registration with numbers like this.

So is this normal?

COM seems to have been installed properly. The application behaves properly without any errors and uninstall works correctly, all references to the assemblies are removed from the registry.

Unfortunately I am not an expert at COM so I am not sure what to expect here. Hopefully someone with more experience in this domain can shed some light on this.

Thank you so much.

Also, I am unable to explain why other prerequisites are taking longer to install. For instance. My suite package includes SAP Crystal Reports 13.1 and the Wise Installer includes it as well. It takes almost 7 minutes to install using InstallShield but only about 3 minutes using Wise Installer. I cannot explain the discrepancy because I am using the very same redistributable and I cannot see where the wrapping app would have an affect on the time it takes to deliver the package from the time it launches to the time it finishes.

[DLee65]

My MSI is bundled within a suite package. There is an option for the level of logging, from actions to 'actions and action data'. I had the later selected for debugging the installation process initially. What I did not know was that it would add so much time to the install process.

Changing it back to just 'Actions' changes the install time of over 20 minutes to just 8min 45sec.

[rguggisberg]

Hey Dan,
Where is that setting? The only one I see is Yes/No at the Package level of the Suite.
Thanks

[DLee65]

The option is 'Status Messages Reported'. Make sure it is only set to 'Action Text'.

If you do a compare of your XML changes after you will notice that the setting changed from FullVerbose to Full.

[rguggisberg]

Great!
Thanks Dan