there is no limit to the number of files I have found, however when compressing the files into a single merge module, MSI or CAB file there is a total size limit of approximately 2GB. This is a limitation Microsoft has placed on the files. You might need to split it into a couple of merge modules and the installer that uses them will need to be either uncompressed or using CAB files that compress sections of the installers. ... View more

It is odd that the Copy local attribute is not working for one of the groups of DLLs. Even if that DLL is registered in the GAC on the current machine it should be copying them to the output directory. I suspect the people that developed that DLL did something to prevent this, but no clue what. Check the distribution methods approved by the company that made the dependency DLLs you are using to see if they have a runtime installer that should be deployed with your software. ... View more

if you need user input, use a property not a string value. There are examples in the help file for xml file changes on how to use a property for this. ... View more

if you just need a value, and not the creation of a directory by the installer, you should just use a Property instead of a Directory entry. if you need the property to reflect a relative path to another specified directory you can set the property value to include that directory value. (i.e.: [INSTALLDIR]\mypath). ... View more

my understanding is that it determines a directory to be unused when there are no components associated with it and will remove it from the project at build time. If you need an empty directory to exist, then associate a component with that directory. ... View more

if you are using the uninstall / reinstall type of major upgrade the dynamic file linking should not cause any issues. However, it is generally recommended that you not use dynamic file linking for applications you will be needing to upgrade as you cannot be sure of the component codes, and unless something has changed since I last looked there are no key files defined for the given components when dynamic file linking is used. The exception to this would be non-versioned files. Since the unversioned or non-PE files are generally grouped into a single component per destination it is generally acceptable to use dynamic file linking for those kinds of files. ... View more

is it just one component or all the components associated with that feature? if it is just one component, then in the Files and folders view, right click on one of the folders and make sure the "show components" is checked. then find the component and right click and select properties, verify that it is associated with the correct feature and only with that one feature. if it is multiple components, make sure you do not have the feature set to required. You may also want to create a log of the install and check the state of each feature and component to make sure it is installing what you think it is. ... View more

use the upgrade scenario, and specify the upgrade code of the application you are trying to remove instead of having it use the current installers upgrade code. That should allow you to remove the application if it is found and do nothing in the event that it is not present. ... View more

under the settings for the major upgrade you can specify how to handle the upgrade. One of the options is to install the setup then remove unneeded files, not sure if that will work for you given what you are doing. For future reference, if you are installing files that should never be removed you will probably want to set the "Permanent" flag on the files in question. You may also want to make sure you are handling the install/uninstall correctly for drivers. As far as I know if they are configured correctly there should be nothing preventing you from uninstalling them. ... View more

what kind of project is it? if it is an MSI type I think your only option will be to change the upgrade code of the new project, but create an Upgrade item that references the old upgrade code and then specifies the version number range that applies. I am not sure if this will give you the behavior you are wanting or not, but at the least should allow you to automate the uninstall of the old application during the installation of the new one, depending on your upgrade settings. ... View more

for the license terms on redistributing the .Net framework look at the following MSDN article. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xak0tsbd.aspx Also, when deploying to a machine with no internet connectivity, you should deploy the Full package .Net Framework installer. If you cannot include it as part of your installer, then have it as a seperate file that must be installed before your application. ... View more

it does not use the value of the UpgradeCode from the Property Table to compare. It uses the values from the Upgrade Table to compare, if you want it to use the value from the Property table you will need to not have the value hard coded in the Upgrade table as this will override anything else. ... View more

in the Upgrade table of the MSI, it defines all products that are related. If you have a value hard coded into the "Upgrade Code" column it will resolve as related. If the upgrade code entry is all zeros (in GUID format) then it will resolve to the current MSI upgrade code if I recall correctly. ... View more

If I understand what you are asking correctly I don't think it can be done. You are wanting to have one product be counted as related and another not count as related, but both the products have the same upgrade code? You might be able to do this if the two products in question have sufficiently different version numbers by adjusting the upgrade scenarios in the "Upgrades" view to only include certain versions. But even then I am not sure of the behavior you would get. The upgrade codes should only ever be set to the same thing if the two products are related, so having two products that are not related with the same upgrade code is bad design. Other than that the only choice I can think of is to change the upgrade table. ... View more

There is a huge section in the help file on how to set up a web application in an installshield project, and on how to configire and install it to IIS. Just use the help index and go to the section on IIS. Generally you will need to have a virtual directory specified on a website that will map to the physical directory that your web application resides in. You will also need to either create an application pool or add it to the default application pool for the website. Look at the help file on how to do these things as it goes into a good level of detail. ... View more