What’s New in InstallShield 2010 SP1

InstallShield 2024

InstallShield 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) includes changes that offer support for the final released versions of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Installer 4.5. It also includes additional changes.

Important:If you want to open an InstallShield 2010 project in InstallShield 2010 SP1, you must allow InstallShield to upgrade your project to InstallShield 2010 SP1. InstallShield 2010 SP1 includes support for tables that were not available in InstallShield 2010 projects, and these tables need to be added during the upgrade. Note that it is not possible to open InstallShield 2010 SP1 projects in earlier versions of InstallShield (including InstallShield 2010 without SP1). Therefore, if multiple users need to open and modify your InstallShield projects, ensure that all of you apply the SP1 patch at the same time.

If you open an InstallShield 2010 project in InstallShield 2010 SP1, InstallShield 2010 SP1 displays a message box that asks you if you want to convert the project to the new version. If you reply that you do want to convert it, InstallShield creates a backup copy of the project before converting it.

Setup.exe Manifests Now Have Compatibility Section to Avoid Triggering Program Compatibility Assistant on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Systems

If you configure your InstallShield project to create a setup launcher for your installation, the manifest that InstallShield creates for the setup launcher now includes a compatibility section. Previously, without this compatibility section, a Program Compatibility Assistant (PCA) dialog box may have appeared at the end of an installation on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 systems. The PCA dialog box indicated that the program might not have installed correctly. This dialog box was displayed if the installation did not create the application uninstallation key. This may happen if the end user cancels the installation or the installation fails to complete successfully.

Support for Creating App-V Package Upgrades and for Compressing App-V Packages

InstallShield now has support for creating App-V package upgrades. The Package Information page in the Microsoft App-V Assistant has a new Upgrade Settings link. Click this link to specify whether you want to create an upgrade. If you specify that you do want to create an upgrade, you can specify additional information about the upgrade, such as whether to append the version number to the App-V package file name. By default, App-V package upgrades are not created.

The Build Options page in the Microsoft App-V Assistant has a new setting that lets you specify whether you want to use compression for the data files in the App-V package. If you select Yes for this setting, InstallShield uses zlib compression for your App-V package.

The App-V upgrade and compression functionality is available in the following project types: Basic MSI and MSI Database.

The Microsoft App-V Assistant is available if you purchase the Premier Edition of InstallShield.

For more information, see:

•

Specifying Upgrade Package Information

•

Specifying Whether to Compress the Data Files in an App-V Package

Windows Installer 5 Support for Configuring New Customization Options for Windows Services, Plus Other Service-Related Improvements

InstallShield now includes support for configuring extended customization options for Windows services. The customization options include a new delayed auto-start capability to help system startup performance, improved failure detection and recovery options to improve system reliability, and more. Windows Installer 5 supports these new options; earlier versions of Windows Installer ignore them.

To configure the new service-related settings, use the new Services node in the Advanced Settings area for a component in the Setup Design view (in installation projects) or the Components view. All of the services for a component are now grouped and listed by service name under the Services node. In addition, the previously available service-related settings are now consolidated in the same grid with the new settings. In earlier versions of InstallShield, these previously available service-related settings were split among separate subviews for the Install NT Services and Control NT Services nodes. The consolidated grid of settings makes it easier to create a component that installs, configures, starts, stops, or deletes a new or existing service during installation or uninstallation.

This functionality is available in the following project types: Basic MSI, InstallScript MSI, Merge Module, MSI Database, MSM Database, and Transform.

For more information, see:

•

Installing, Controlling, and Configuring Windows Services

•

Services Settings

Validation for the Windows 7 Logo Program

InstallShield includes two new validation suites: InstallShield Validation Suite for Windows 7 and InstallShield Merge Module Validation Suite for Windows 7. These validation suites can help you verify that your Windows Installer–based installation or merge module meets the installation requirements of the Compatible with Windows 7 logo program. If you want to be able to use the Windows 7 logo artwork, your product’s installation must meet the program’s requirements.

If you want to configure InstallShield to perform validation with these validation suites each time that a release is successfully built: On the Tools menu, click Options. On the Validation tab, select the appropriate check boxes.

If you want to perform validation separately from the build process: On the Build menu, point to Validation, and then click the appropriate new suite.

Windows Installer 5 Support for Setting Windows Shell Properties for a Shortcut

The Shortcuts view in InstallShield now lets you specify one or more shortcut properties that need to be set by the Windows Shell at run time. For example, if you do not want the Start menu entry for one of your shortcuts to be highlighted as newly installed after end users install your product, you can set a property for that shortcut. You might want to use this property with shortcuts that are for tools and secondary products that are part of your installation.

Windows Installer 5 includes support for setting Shell shortcut properties. Earlier versions of Windows Installer ignore those properties.

For more information, see Setting Shell Properties for a Shortcut.

Windows Installer 5 Support for the MsiPrint and MsiLaunchApp Control Events

When you are adding a control to a dialog in your project, you can select one of the new events that is now available for Windows Installer 5:

•

MsiPrint—You can add this event to a push button control that is on a dialog that has a scrollable text control. When an end user clicks the push button control, the contents of the scrollable text control are printed.

•

MsiLaunchApp—You can add this event to a check box control on a dialog, and select the file that you want to be launched in the event’s Argument setting. The check box enables end users to choose whether to run the file at the end of the installation. This event is typically used with a check box control that is on the SetupCompleteSuccess dialog. The check box control should include a condition that prevents the control from being displayed during uninstallation.

Windows Installer 5 includes support for these control events. Earlier versions of Windows Installer ignore these events. Therefore, if your installation is run on a system that has Windows Installer 4.5 or earlier and you want to use one or both of these new events, add a condition to the dialog controls so that they are not displayed on systems that have Windows Installer 4.5 or earlier.

This functionality is available in Basic MSI projects.

Note that if you want to add the print or launch support to your project but your installation targets systems that have Windows Installer 4.5 or earlier, consider using the support that InstallShield provides. For information on adding the print support, see Specifying Dialogs for Your Installation in the Project Assistant. For information on adding the print support, see Adding a Print Button to a Dialog. The support that is available with InstallShield does not require Windows Installer 5.

Additional Changes

For a list of issues that are resolved in InstallShield 2010 SP1, see the release notes. The release notes are available from the Help menu in InstallShield.