Predefined Folders usage (InstallShield 2011)

[asherm]

Hello.

We have an existing InstallScript MSI Project, first created under InstallShield Developer (IS Dev) 7, moved to IS Dev 11, and now to InstallShield 2011 in order to install properly under Windows
7 and Vista.

The project performs software tools installations (mostly for 32-bit WIndows) for all of our company's products. We recently added installations for 64-bit Windows. We generally install to "C:\Program Files", and under 64-bit Windows - it installs by default to "C:\Program Files (x86)". For a non-administrator, the UAC setting limits what you can install to this folder.

To bypass this problem, we found that if we install to some folder in the root of C:, e.g., C:\TEMP, the UAC does not complain. To implement this, I tried to do the following:

Under Application Data > Files and Folders > Destination Computer, a right click menu displays an option "Show Predefined Folders". I tried to select one of the selections, and install some files to this target folder. I tried "PrimaryVolumePath", "TempFolder", as well as just creating a new folder under "Destination Computer".

1. Is there some list of explanations for the exact name of the target folder on "Destination Computer" for each of the folders under "Show Predefined Folder" ? That is, where can I expect files to be installed when I select one of these predefined folders ?

2. My primary volume is C:. Using "PrimaryVolumePath" installed the files on a different driver letter (E:). Any ideas why ? How can I force it to C:\ ? Or to C:\MyFolderName ?

3. A new folder under "Destination Computer" also installed the files on a different driver letter (E:). Any ideas why ? How can I force it to C:\ ? Or to C:\MyFolderName ?

4. "TempFolder" - I do not know IF and WHERE the files were installed.

NOTE: It is critical for me to know the exact name of the folder to where the software was installed, so that my InstallScript can then LaunchAppAndWait on setup.exe from this folder.

Any advice would be most welcome. Thank you.

Asher Meth
Excalibur Systems
asher_meth@excalibur.co.il

[rrinblue22]

Check this

[asherm]

Hello rrinblue22 (& the rest of the community).

Thank you for your reply to my questions in my post. This is just the kind of an explanation list that I was looking for. The pointer to the page from the help library is appreciated.

However, as I wrote at the beginning of my post, our project is an "InstallScript MSI Project" currently in InstallShield 2011, and the help page for "System Defined Properties (Destination Folders)" for InstallShield 2010 states that "This information does not apply to InstallScript project".

Thank you for any additional suggestions.

Asher Meth
Excalibur Systems
asher_meth@excalibur.co.il

[asherm]

Hello.

I forgot to attach a screen shot displaying what options I have for predefined folders. If anyone who can point me to an explanation listing for all of these folders, it would be most appreciated.

Does anyone have any experience using these predefined folders ? Do they create the "correct" or "expected" folder on the target machine ?

Thank you,
Asher Meth
Excalibur Systems
asher_meth@excalibur.co.il

[asherm]

Hello.

1. With some help from Tech Support, I have resolved this problem. Using predefined folder [WindowsVolume], I can now copy files to the 64bit Windows 7 target machine, to folder [WindowsVolume]\Some Folder Structure. The files are copied to C:\Some Folder Structure.

2. The next problem was to launch/run the InstallShield-created file setup.exe after copying it to the target machine. I tried using LaunchAppAndWait, but this did nothing. The solution to this problem was to replace this function call with the newer function LaunchApplication, which has additional parameters to allow running an application with elevated privileges.

Use option LAAW_OPTION_USE_SHELLEXECUTE, and set LAAW_SHELLEXECUTEVERB to runas before using LaunchApplication in your script.

Asher Meth
Excalibur Systems
asher_meth@excalibur.co.il

[rrinblue22]

Yeah!......... elevating your process is very important in UAC machines .........runas or deferred