Destination Folders

InstallShield 2018

Project • Some folders are not available in all project types. Project-specific differences are noted where appropriate.

When you add files to your installation project, you do so by placing them in a destination folder. The following destination folders are provided by default. Each one is dynamic, meaning that they do not use hard-coded paths. Instead, the value for each destination folder is obtained from the operating system of the target machine.

Folders in Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI Projects

The following folders are available only for Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI projects:

Default Destination Folders for Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI Projects

Folder Name

Description

AdminToolsFolder

Points to the folder where administrative tools are located.

ALLUSERSPROFILE

This is the full path to the folder containing program data for all users. A common path is:

C:\ProgramData

AppDataFolder

This property holds the full path to the current user’s Application Data folder. A typical value of this property is:

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming

CommonAppDataFolder

This is the full path to the folder containing application data for all users. A common path is:

C:\ProgramData

CommonFiles64Folder

The value of this property is the full path to the 64-bit Common Files folder. This property requires Windows Installer version 2.0 or later.

CommonFilesFolder

The value of this property is the full path to the 32-bit Common Files folder.

DesktopFolder

This property is used to hold the full path to the Desktop folder for the current user. If the setup is being run for All Users, and the ALLUSERS property is set, the DesktopFolder property should hold the full path to the All Users desktop folder.

FavoritesFolder

The FavoritesFolder property contains the full path to the Favorites folder for the current user.

FontsFolder

This property holds the full path to the Fonts folder.

IISROOTFOLDER

This property stores the root directory of the Web server on a target system. If you are using IIS functionality in your installation project and you have added a Web site, then IISROOTFOLDER is automatically added.

For more information, see Adding IISROOTFOLDER Support.

INSTALLDIR

This property stores the default destination folder for your installation program’s files. You can set an initial value for INSTALLDIR in the General Information view.

LocalAppDataFolder

The location of locally stored application data. A typical value of this property is:

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local

MyPicturesFolder

This property holds the full path to the current user’s My Pictures folder.

PersonalFolder

This property holds the full path to the current user’s Personal folder.

ProgramFiles64Folder

This property holds the full path to the 64-bit Program Files folder. This property requires Windows Installer version 2.0 or later.

ProgramFilesFolder

This property holds the full path to the 32-bit Program Files folder.

ProgramMenuFolder

This property is used to hold the full path to the Program menu for the current user. If the installation is being run for All Users, and the ALLUSERS property is set, the ProgramMenuFolder property should hold the full path to the All Users Programs menu.

PUBLIC

This property holds the full path to the Users Public folder.

SendToFolder

This property holds the full path to the current user’s SendTo folder.

StartMenuFolder

This property is used to hold the full path the Start menu folder for the current user. If the installation is being run for All Users, and the ALLUSERS property is set, the StartMenuFolder property should hold the fully qualified path to the All Users program menu.

StartupFolder

This property is used to hold the full path to the Startup folder for the current user. If the setup is being run for All Users, and the ALLUSERS property is set, the StartupFolder property should hold the full path to the All Users program menu.

System16Folder

This property holds the full path to the folder containing the system’s 16-bit .dll file. (In Windows Installer version 2.0, this property is no longer used.)

SystemFolder

This property holds the full path to the 32-bit Windows system folder.

System64Folder

This property holds the full path to the 64-bit Windows system folder. This property requires Windows Installer version 2.0 or later.

TempFolder

This property holds the full path to the Temp folder.

TemplateFolder

This property holds the full path to the current user’s Templates folder.

WindowsFolder

This property holds the full path to the Windows folder.

WindowsVolume

This property holds the volume of the Windows folder. It is set to the drive where Windows is installed.

Folders in InstallScript Projects

The following folders are available only for InstallScript projects:

Default Destination Folders for InstallScript Projects

Folder Name

Description

Script-Defined Folders

This folder allows you to create folders whose location is determined in your script. Files cannot be added directly to this folder, but only to its subfolders; to create a subfolder, right-click the folder and select New Folder. Specify a folder name that is enclosed in angle brackets, for example, <MYFOLDER>; to assign the folder a location through your script, call FeatureSetTarget.

Application Target Folder

This folder’s location is determined by the value of the system variable TARGETDIR.

Program Files

This folder’s location is the 32-bit Program Files folder.

Program Files (64-bit)

This folder’s location is the 64-bit Program Files folder.

Program Files\Common Files

This folder’s location is the 32-bit Common Files folder.

Program Files (64-bit)\Common Files (64-bit)

This folder’s location is the 64-bit Common Files folder.

Support Folder

This folder’s location is determined by the value of the system variable SUPPORTDIR.

Windows

This folder’s location is the Windows folder.

Windows\Fonts Folder

This folder’s location is the Windows Fonts folder.

Windows\Windows System

This folder’s location is the 32-bit Windows System folder.

Windows\Windows System (64-bit)

This folder’s location is the 64-bit Windows System folder.