Registry Flags

InstallShield 2024 Express Edition

Registry flags enable you to control the installation and uninstallation of your registry entries. By default, your registry entries are installed if the feature to which they belong is installed. They are then removed from the target system when that feature is removed. If you would like your registry entries to remain on the target system even after the product has been uninstalled, or if you want to create registry entries only if they do not already exist, you need to set the installation flag for that key.

In InstallShield, installation behavior is set at the subkey level. All values beneath the key must have the same installation and uninstallation behavior.

To change the registry flag of a key, right-click one of your project’s keys in the Registry view, and then click any of the commands that are listed in the following table.

Registry Flags
Icon	Command	Description
	Automatic	This is the default option for all registry keys. If the key is not already present, the installation creates it. During an uninstallation, if the key is empty, it is removed.
	Install only (+)	Project:This registry flag type is available in Express projects. If the key does not already exist, it is created. The key is left on the target system when the feature to which this key belongs is uninstalled. This option is available only for keys that do not contain subkeys or values.
	Uninstall entire key (-)	Project:This registry flag type is available in Express projects. If this flag applies to an empty key, the key is not created at installation. If this flag applies to a key that contains values and the key does not exist on the target system, the key and values are created at installation. In both cases, the key, all subkeys, and values are removed at uninstallation—even if the subkeys and values were added after the installation.
	Install if absent, Uninstall if present (*)	Project:This registry flag type is available in Express projects. This option is similar to the default behavior (the Automatic registry flag), with one exception. For the Automatic registry flag, if the key is not empty during uninstallation, it is not removed. For the Install if absent, Uninstall if present (*) flag, if the registry key is present during uninstallation, the key is removed, regardless of whether its subkeys or values remain.