when setup isn't just xcopy

Rob Mensching on Software Installation and Open Source at Microsoft.

Goodbye, MSDN. I'm moving to https://RobMensching.com/blog.

I started blogging three years ago when the MSDN blog site was still hosted on gotdotnet. Back then...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 12/05/2006

Orca is to hex editor as WiX is to ...?

Jonathan Perret made the following interesting comment on a previous blog entry: ...I find it...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/23/2006

WiX v3 syntax for detecting the CLR.

Duane Johnson asked how to use WiX v3 to detect the CLR. Extensions in WiX v3 are far more powerful...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/17/2006

Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 7 (directories are properties)

In my last blog entry, I wrapped up saying that we'd talk about how to make your install directory...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/17/2006

Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 6 (standard directories)

Before picking up this series of blog entries on the Directory table again, I went back and re-read...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/12/2006

Conflicts of Interest?

Nicholas Carr has a great blog entry about conflicts of interest in blogging. It got me thinking...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/10/2006

Nothing.

Thus far, today I have done absolutely nothing. Sure, I cleaned off the kitchen table, put away some...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/08/2006

Thursday Night "Deployment Dinner Discussion" with Charlie Poole.

Tonight I traveled to Anthony's Beach Cafe in Edmonds, WA to have dinner with Charlie Poole. Charlie...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/06/2006

The Windows Live Writer team rocks.

I installed Windows Live Writer 1.0 Beta a while ago to test a project I was working on. I didn't...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/05/2006

SharpDevelop 2.1 - the latest WiX UI Editor

I was cleaning out some old mail messages and came across this tidbit of information that several...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 10/03/2006

It isn't whether you win or lose, as long as you're growing.

Robert sent me a couple quotes from Ichiro in this morning’s Seattle Times. I thought they were...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 09/30/2006

Thursday Night "Deployment Dinner Discussions" with Carolyn Napier.

Tonight Jenny and I hosted our second Thursday Night "Deployment Dinner Discussion". Our...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 09/21/2006

WiX in Visual Studio

In my previous blog entry, I mentioned that Visual Studio was adopting the WiX toolset. Despite the...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 09/18/2006

Bittersweet change, Derek Cicerone leaves WiX.

As I noted in my previous blog entry, there is a lot of change in my life right now. Today Derek...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 09/16/2006

When it changes it pours.

The weather is starting to turn here in Redmond. Fall is right around the corner. With the change in...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 09/13/2006

Thursday Night "Deployment Dinner Discussions" with Rob Mensching.

Over the last couple months, I have been trying to come up with new ways to connect with the...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 08/25/2006

Creative Commons Add-in's Office XP PIA - Conditioning the Office XP PIAs - Part 1

Previously I described how the Office XP PIA install detected what parts of Office XP were...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 08/22/2006

This then this then this. What am I still doing here?

First, I see this. Then I'm skimming my RSS backlog and see this that points at this. This isn't the...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 08/09/2006

Blogging from the outside.

Jenny talked me into going shopping for patio furniture today. I was skeptical. There isn't a lot of...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 08/06/2006

Creative Commons Add-in's Office XP PIA - Detecting Office XP Parts

There was a lot more interest in the Office XP PIA install that Bob created than I expected. I'm...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 07/28/2006

Wow, Microsoft Acquires Wininternals.

PressPass just released the news that Microsoft has acquired Winternals. This is amazing. I've seen...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 07/18/2006

Creative Commons Add-in for Microsoft Office: Behind the Office PIAs.

Tonight, we'll continue with the story of the development of the Creative Commons Add-in for...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 07/12/2006

7 lbs. of M&Ms means only one thing.

If you follow Microsoft culture then you've undoubtedly heard about the distribution of M&Ms on...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 06/28/2006

Creative Commons Add-in for Microsoft Office v1.0.1 released.

As promised, the first two issues reported with the Creative Commons Add-in for Microsoft Office...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 06/27/2006

Supporting the unsupported Creative Commons Add-in for Microsoft Office.

Tonight I had hoped to be continuing the story about the creation of the Creative Commons Add-in for...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 06/23/2006

The WiX toolset presents the Creative Commons Add-in for Microsoft Office.

I have been working on a few unrelated side-projects over the last several months. These are...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 06/21/2006

ScrollableText Control in MSI

A few questions about the ScrollableText Control in MSI come up every once in a while, so I thought...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 05/30/2006

WiX v2 Manual Online

Just a short post here to point out some of Fredrik Grohn's latest handiwork. If you look on the...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 05/18/2006

Thoughts about the CodePlex Beta

I am back from a lovely long weekend with Jenny in Vancouver. It was great to get away from the day...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 05/16/2006

Source code is an inanimate object.

Via Miguel de Icaza, I came across this summary of Google's Summer of Code Mozilla projects. Miguel...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 04/21/2006

Biking here to there.

It's that time of year again. The sun shines out at least as much as the rain comes down. The roads...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 04/16/2006

Windows Installer XML Toolset is 2 years old.

Today is the second anniversary of the Windows Installer XML Toolset's release to SourceForge....

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 04/05/2006

Rob Mensching on Microsoft TechNet Radio

About a month ago, I wandered over to MS Studios to have a chat with Mike Ward who hosts Microsoft...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 03/01/2006

Is your MSI Package ready for Vista?

Here's a quick tip I've been meaning to post for a while. By now you all know that Windows Vista is...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 02/22/2006

On the short list of Microsoft Watch's "Microsoft Bloggers".

Speaking of Mary Jo Foley, last week I had a conversation with Dare Obasanjo about RSS Bandit's...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 02/14/2006

SugarCRM uses Ms-CL and the WiX toolset.

A few months ago, Bill Hilf asked if I would attend a meeting to discuss the Windows Installer and...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 02/14/2006

New name for the same thing...

I've changed the name of my blog. I've been thinking about doing this for a while. Tonight I noticed...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 02/08/2006

Google Toolbar Beta for Enterprise a "Trojan horse" MSI package.

Wow, I started this morning off really excited. I saw the announcement that Google has a toolbar for...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 02/01/2006

This is exactly where I am at...

I am an individual contributor because I prefer designing and writing code over managing people who...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 02/01/2006

Information overload.

Note: I originally wrote this entry at 6 AM Tuesday morning but Community Server upgrade issues...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 02/01/2006

You should own your personal information.

This is very cool. R0ml just posted a typical storytold blog entry about his new vocation. I say...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 01/17/2006

Restarts Revisited: Windows isn't that different than UNIX

I've been meaning to follow up on my blog entry about the Restart Manager and reboots on the Windows...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 01/17/2006

Blogging comments the "Scoble Way".

Usually, when I find comments about the WiX toolset on other people's blogs I would put comments...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 01/07/2006

How the WiX toolset got its name.

This morning someone asked me how the WiX toolset got its name. It isn't a terribly long story so I...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 12/22/2005

In defense of Windows Vista's Restart Manager.

In the last week there were three RSS feeds I follow that mentioned the new Restart Manager service...

Author: Rob Mensching (ex-MSFT) Date: 12/10/2005

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