hansenk
asked on
VC++, Installshield, and Win2K/XP
The setup.exe for my program was created under VC++ 4.1 with the bundled SDK version of InstallShield. It works fine under Win95, WinNT, and Win98. But it doesn't work under Win2K and XP.
(1) Is this to be expected?
(2) I have a copy of VC++ 6.0. Is the setup.exe apt to work under Win2K and XP if I recreate it with the InstallShield that comes with this version? (Note that the program code won't compile under VC 6.0 because of syntax rule changes, so it would be matter of working with the exe created by VC++ 4.1)
(3) Or am I going to have to buy a commercial installation tool? Not surprisingly, this was the reaction of the people at InstallShield when I called them.
(1) Is this to be expected?
(2) I have a copy of VC++ 6.0. Is the setup.exe apt to work under Win2K and XP if I recreate it with the InstallShield that comes with this version? (Note that the program code won't compile under VC 6.0 because of syntax rule changes, so it would be matter of working with the exe created by VC++ 4.1)
(3) Or am I going to have to buy a commercial installation tool? Not surprisingly, this was the reaction of the people at InstallShield when I called them.
ASKER
(2) My InstallShield (the one that came with VC++ 4) is called "SE" (presumably for "SDK Edition"). I don't see a release number or other more detailed identifier.
(3) The reported failures are spotty--they don't happen all the timer. I don't have info on where in the install they occur, unfortunately. (Next time I'll ask for it.)
<<...the one that comes with Win2K...>>
Interesting idea. My impression is that this uses the Windows Installer. Other things being equal, I'd rather not get into that; the great majority of the installs are onto machines where that doesn't exist yet. I know it can be made part of the install; it somehow feels simpler if the setup can avoid it.
(3) The reported failures are spotty--they don't happen all the timer. I don't have info on where in the install they occur, unfortunately. (Next time I'll ask for it.)
<<...the one that comes with Win2K...>>
Interesting idea. My impression is that this uses the Windows Installer. Other things being equal, I'd rather not get into that; the great majority of the installs are onto machines where that doesn't exist yet. I know it can be made part of the install; it somehow feels simpler if the setup can avoid it.
<<(3) The reported failures are spotty--they don't happen all the time>>???
What do you mean? Your install script sometime works fine on Win2K or XP? If it does.. the the problem is different.. and we'll need more data to debug it.
Did I understand you correctly?
What do you mean? Your install script sometime works fine on Win2K or XP? If it does.. the the problem is different.. and we'll need more data to debug it.
Did I understand you correctly?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
DanRollins, but hansenk said it sometimes works and sometimes not...
Yes, and I said:
>>...And the OLE-techniques used to do that are known to fail in certain situations
But I agree, we are shooting in the dark until we get some concrete info on failure modes.
-- Dan
>>...And the OLE-techniques used to do that are known to fail in certain situations
But I agree, we are shooting in the dark until we get some concrete info on failure modes.
-- Dan
ASKER
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll pursue the 'program group' possibility and confirm if it solves the problem for the first reporter of the problem.
ASKER
Haven't been able to confirm with the person who reported the error, but I don't want to leave this hanging.
(1) yes, there are some differences between these versions.
(2) What version of the InstallShield do you have?
(3) What parts of the installation script fail? Cause if the most works, you may be able to write a script that runs the installation script and "helps" it a bit..
Dis you think of using other installation product? something free? like the one that comes with the Win2k?