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annetteqa
Level 4

Beginner Help

Does anyone know where I can find information to teach me the basics of the registry and how it pertains to InstallShield? Everything I find seems to assume I already know what entries I need to make to the registry - but I don't!
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RobertDickau
Flexera Alumni

In general, an installer should automatically create the installation-related registry information (chiefly Add or Remove Programs information). Likewise, if you identify files as COM servers, the installers should write the registration information to the registry; likewise Windows services and other special types of files.

Beyond that, registry information is usually application-specific. Was there something in particular you had in mind?
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annetteqa
Level 4

I'm just trying to understand it. I have inherited v12 scripts which I have upgraded to 2009 Professional. The person who previously did them is no longer an employee - so I have no one to go to for guidance. I don't know how to know when I should be marking a .exe as a key (or is it all .exe's should be keys) and what entries should be made in the registry for each one. It sounds like you are saying this should be done for me??? I've got a bunch of stuff listed in the registry window - but domn't understand what I'm looking at so I don't know what is correct or what needs to be edited/deleted.
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annetteqa
Level 4

As an example - under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Interface and CLSID - there is an entire list of "things". But I have no idea what they are!
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RobertDickau
Flexera Alumni

That's usually COM server (self-registering file) information, from DLLs and OCXs (and occasionally EXEs) that need to be registered. HKCR also contains file-association information. If this is an MSI project, using one of the COM-extraction options is recommended; the help topic Creating Installations > Organizing Files > Registering COM Servers has more information.

And yes, as a rule each EXE should be in its own component, and be marked as the key file.
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annetteqa
Level 4

I marked my .exe and .dll files as keys - but there were no entries made to the registry window. How/when does the installer create the entries based on the keys?
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RobertDickau
Flexera Alumni

Marking something as a key file flags it as the most important thing in the component, which Windows Installer uses to detect broken components, whether to update a component, and so forth. (The help library has more information.) However, it doesn't cause anything to appear in the project's registry settings.

If the file is a COM server, then right-clicking it and selecting Extract COM Data... will cause information to appear in the Registry and other tables/views. (The component setting COM Extract at Build, on the other hand, extracts the information at build time, so the information appears in the built MSI database but not the project.)
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