Windows Installer Team Blog

I recently came across several resources that are available from Microsoft to help developers get their applications ready and shining on Windows 7! Since these resources are scattered in several places, I thought it would be beneficial to have a post...

Starting with Windows 7, Windows Installer enables native support for setting properties on shortcuts created during installation or re-installation. The MsiShortcutProperty table can be used to set any property defined by the IPropertyStore interface...

Prior to the introduction of UAC in Windows Vista, setup authors were able to create a single package that could install for the current user (“Just for me”) or for all users on the computer (“Everyone”). With the introduction of UAC, setup authors were...

The RTM release of the Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is now available for customers to install from the download center in both ISO and Web Setup format. See t he SDK announcement on the Windows SDK blog . Please note that the...

As you may already know that Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista (SP2) is available for download from Microsoft download center [ link ]. MSI version 4.5 is natively included as part of SP2. The version of Windows Installer is 4.5...

As some of you may have already heard, Windows 7 has now been released to manufacturing! Read the latest blog post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog . This also means that now you have all the more reason to try the new functionality in Windows Installer...

It's been a few months now since the Windows Installer 4.5 redistributable was released [ link ]. Over the past couple months I have received several questions (quite often similar in nature) that warrants this blog post <grin>. In this post, I...

Setting appropriate permissions for an object is one of the core operations in creating an application installer. One of the most frequent pieces of feedback has been to provide enhanced capabilities around securing resources installed on the system....

In Windows 7, Windows Installer provides enhanced native support for setup authors to configure services as part of an application install. Starting with Windows Vista, Windows provides a powerful set of configuration options to configure services...

Windows Installer version 5.0 is included in Windows 7 Beta. The MSDN documentation section " What's new in Windows Installer 5.0 " has been updated accordingly and available for online viewing. In addition, all functionality provided with the MSI 4.5...

Hello everyone, We wanted to let you know that a non-security QFE was released recently for MSI 4.5 redistributable, available via Microsoft download center (Search for KB958655). The KB article contains information on the symptoms and cause of the...

Hey all, The Windows engineering teams are putting together plans for how application installation and servicing will work in future versions of the operating system. We would like to take this opportunity to hear from you to better understand your...

Hey everyone -- In case you missed my presentation at PDC 2008 in Los Angeles last weekend, the streaming version is now available online! This talk covers recent changes in Windows Installer and ClickOnce, plus information about upcoming changes in...

As you all may already know the final release of the Windows Installer 4.5 Redistributable and SDK are now available. The current version of Windows Installer is in the form; major . minor . build . update. We have received a few questions regarding...

Hi all, It was recently pointed out to me that I had not yet updated my introduction post. So I wanted to take a moment to let you all know of a change in my job description and role. Since October 2008, I have been the Program Manager (commonly known...

I am pleased to announce that the final release of the Windows Installer 4.5 Redistributable and SDK are now available. There is also a KB Article published about the release. New and improved features in Windows Installer 4.5 The following new...

Members of the Windows Installer team will be at both the TechEd Developers (June 3-6) and TechEd IT Professionals (June 10-13) conferences in sunny Orlando, Florida. For information about our Breakout and Interactive Theatre Sessions, please see my previous...

Apart from the feature work that we did in Windows Installer 4.5, we made a few changes to Windows Installer to address some user feedback or pain points. Here's some of the important issues that were addressed: Added SeBackupPrivilige back to the...

Stefan Krueger met with us a few weeks ago for the Microsoft MVP Global Summit . Among the many topics we discussed was a suggestion from Stefan that we use the team’s blog to communicate relevant bug fixes that we make in our releases. This posting is...

The Windows Installer (MSI) team is part of the rapidly-growing Windows Application Platform (WAP) team here at Microsoft. We currently have several openings for talented Program Managers with real-world knowledge of the Application Deployment, Platform...

Hello Everyone -- The schedules for Microsoft TechEd 2008 in sunny Orlando, Florida have recently been posted and I am pleased to announce that we will have FOUR Windows Installer-related sessions: two during the Developers Conference June 3-6 and...

Issue Description Performing any of the following operations using patchwiz.dll v4.0 could result in data loss in the root directory: 1. UiCreatePatchPackage is called with the hwndStatus parameter set to NULL OR 2. UiCreatePatchPackageEx is...

What does this blog cover? With Windows Installer 4.5 support for multi package transaction, the Windows Installer transaction boundary can span more than a single package. Additionally, UAC credential prompts are tied to a package trust boundary....

Why Multi Package Transaction? Application vendors who compose their applications from multiple MSI packages should find this blog interesting. Currently Windows Installer does not provide a mechanism for installing multiple packages in a single transaction...

Windows Installer 4.5 chat is due in another two days. The MSDN Technical Chat is scheduled on April 3, 2008 at 10:00 AM (Pacific). Click here to add the chat to your calendar so you don't miss it! [Author: Hemchander Sannidhanam ] This posting is...