System software requirements don't work?

[rcooper1]

Installshield 2012 spring express trial version.
Windows 7.

I am new to installshield and am having a lot of problems with it in general.
The LE version within vs2012 seems to crash too much for my taste so i switched to the stand alone express.
Starting with the installation of express; got to the part where it says that service pack 1 is available and would i like to download it? I say yes, but the download failed and then it froze.
After searching for SP1 for way too long, i download "Update.exe" and run it. But it says "The upgrade patch cannot be installed by the windows installer service because the program to be upgraded may be missing, or the upgrade patch may update a different version of the program...". I downloaded from a link that said "IS 2012 spring express SP1". Anyway i gave up on that.

I am trying to create a new launch condition under Define Setup Requirements and Actions>Requirements but no matter what, the condition is not met in testing.
In the system search wizard, i have tried "Folder path, by searching all drives" and "Registry entry". For both i had the green check in the check box. In both cases the condition isn't met regardless if the folder/registry key exists or not.
For the folder path i tried many different values for "Number of subfolder levels to search" (0, greater than the folder it is searching for, the exact number of subfolder levels +/- 1).
For the registry, i am copying registry keys right out of regedit (so i shouldn't have any typos i don't think).
For example:
Registry Root:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry Key:
Software\MathWorks\MATLAB7.5
The process of specifying these requirements seems straightforward, but i haven't been able to get the custom requirements to work at all. I do have a non custom requirement (.net framework 4.5) which does seem to work (if it isn't installed on the machine, it gets installed).

And my final question is how do i go about adding a custom redistributable (one that isn't in the redistributables list from flexera).
Specifically i want to include a fortran redistributable (w_fcompxe_redist_ia32_2013.1.119.msi) with the installer, and if this redistributable isn't installed on the target machine install it. Exactly how the .net framework 4.5 i have in the project is done.
I have read the majority of the documentation and many posts on here but haven't been able to translate anything into something useful.
If anyone can direct me to information with maybe a simple example on how to do this it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
rob

[CHANDINATHREDDY]

For adding an custom prerequisite copy the files and folder of prerequisite and click on publish wizard and go to properties and fill the needed you have your custom perquisite that appears after publishing

[rcooper1]

Are these the steps for creating a .prq file?
I'm not sure where to find this "publish wizard", i have searched the IS gui and the help and on here.
Is this a separate tool?
thanks

[rcooper1]

"InstallShield Premier Edition and InstallShield Professional Edition include the InstallShield Prerequisite Editor, a tool that enables you to define custom InstallShield prerequisites and to edit settings for any existing InstallShield prerequisites."

So is this saying that if i have a redistributable that isn't in the IS list, that i need either professional or premier to include it in the installer???
The number of installshield versions is making me lose my mind.