Determining the Best Upgrade Solution

InstallShield 2019 Express Edition

The first step in creating an installation for any type of upgrade is identifying whether you want to address target systems that do not have any earlier version of your product. Then you can determine what type of method you should use to package the upgrade. The following table presents a general overview to help you decide which method you should use. For a more in-depth discussion of the techniques for packaging the upgrade, see Packaging Options for Upgrades.

Possible Upgrade Solutions for Express Projects

Status of the Target Systems

Type of Installation Needed

Technique for Packaging the Update

Some of the target systems have an earlier version of the product, and some do not have any version of the product.

If file size is not an issue, you can create one installation that does both of the following:

• Behaves as a first-time installation if an earlier version of the product is not already present on the target system
• Updates an existing product if it is already installed on the target system

Create a full-installation upgrade. For more information, see Creating Full-Installation Upgrades.

Some of the target systems have an earlier version of the product, and some do not have any version of the product.

If you want a small installation for end users who need to update an earlier version of the product, you can create two separate installations:

• A full installation that behaves as a first-time installation.
• A smaller installation that updates one or more earlier versions of an already installed product. Since this installation consists of only the changed data between the versions to be updated, it usually enables you to deploy your upgrade using much less bandwidth than that required to deploy a full-installation package.

For the first-time installation, create a full-installation upgrade. For more information, see Creating Full-Installation Upgrades.

For end users who have an earlier version of your product, you might be able to create a QuickPatch project instead of a full-installation upgrade. To determine if a QuickPatch project is suitable, see Packaging Options for Upgrades.

All of the target systems have an earlier version of the product.

You can create a small installation that updates one or more earlier versions of an already installed product. Since this installation consists of only the changed data between the versions to be updated, it usually enables you to deploy your upgrade using much less bandwidth than that required to deploy a full-installation package.

You might be able to create a QuickPatch project instead of a full-installation upgrade. To determine if a QuickPatch project is suitable, see Packaging Options for Upgrades.

See Also

Working with Upgrades and QuickPatch Projects

InstallShield 2019 Express Edition Help Library

April 2019

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