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Installing 'Compatibility Files' in Vista and Windows 7
Hello,
We have a small collection of programs that have data and settings files within our Program Files folder. Currently we are only installing our programs on XP Pro machines. Now, we're testing our programs on Vista and Windows 7 beta machines.
One issue that came up is how to deal with the 'compatibility files' in Vista and Windows 7. Under XP, the database and INI files worked perfectly in our Program Files folder, but in Vista and Windows 7, each user has their own set of these files in their 'VirtualStore' folders (which we don't want). We need those files to carry data/settings from one user to the next and the users may be Admin or Standard.
The two solutions we came up with have their drawbacks...
1) Force the program to 'Run as administrator'. The problem with this is if a Standard user runs the program, they will have to enter an Admin password or the UAC settings have to be at the lowest setting (which will be unacceptable for some of our customers).
2) Move the otherwise 'compatibility files' outside of Program Files... which seems very messy way of doing it.
If at all possible, we would like something that is install-and-go without having to deal too much (at all?) with permissions. Is it a setting in InstallShield?
I'm fairly new to both of these OS, so I'm guessing I'm missing something... or I'd like to know if these are the only ways to go so we can move forward on acting upon a solution.
Thank you in advance,
Mofa
We have a small collection of programs that have data and settings files within our Program Files folder. Currently we are only installing our programs on XP Pro machines. Now, we're testing our programs on Vista and Windows 7 beta machines.
One issue that came up is how to deal with the 'compatibility files' in Vista and Windows 7. Under XP, the database and INI files worked perfectly in our Program Files folder, but in Vista and Windows 7, each user has their own set of these files in their 'VirtualStore' folders (which we don't want). We need those files to carry data/settings from one user to the next and the users may be Admin or Standard.
The two solutions we came up with have their drawbacks...
1) Force the program to 'Run as administrator'. The problem with this is if a Standard user runs the program, they will have to enter an Admin password or the UAC settings have to be at the lowest setting (which will be unacceptable for some of our customers).
2) Move the otherwise 'compatibility files' outside of Program Files... which seems very messy way of doing it.
If at all possible, we would like something that is install-and-go without having to deal too much (at all?) with permissions. Is it a setting in InstallShield?
I'm fairly new to both of these OS, so I'm guessing I'm missing something... or I'd like to know if these are the only ways to go so we can move forward on acting upon a solution.
Thank you in advance,
Mofa
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Have you considered putting the files in the All Users application data folders? On Windows XP this ens up being C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<Company Name>\<App Name>
In Vista, it ends up being C:\ProgramData\<Company Name>\<App Name>\
The one weird thing to deal with in Vista, however, is that I believe that these folders in this directory will gain different rights depending on who creates them. If an admin runs the initial install then your subfolders are only given write access by other admins. However, if a normal user creates them I think that all users get write access! You'll want to double check that, but we use these folders on WinXP/Windows 7/Windows Vista and all works fine for us!
As for setting the install to do anything special, you just need these files in Features and Components that go to the right place...I think the Installshield property is [CommonAppDataFolder]