On 3/20/11 8:47 AM, Paul Hill wrote: > On Sat, Mar 19, 2011 at 8:34 PM, Mike Copeland<[email protected]> wrote: >> Ditto. I've always created my own folder off the root and created my own >> subfolder structure. I never saw the benefit of putting code files in >> "C:\program files\Genesis Group\Application Name" and data files in some >> God-knows-where buried subfolder off of a user's name...or not. I see >> little reason to comply with Windows Whim o' the Year. > > Actually it's always been that way, since at least NT4 (possibly 3.5 I > can't remember). > It's only since Vista that this was enforced - XP defaulted to giving > you admin rights.
My application plus regular updates need to be downloaded and installed by the user, and depending on what Windows they are running, and whether they are running as Administrator (lots of them are, even with Win7 and Vista) or a regular user (lots of them are, even with older Windows versions), they may or may not be able to install software into c:\Program Files. Or, perhaps it'll look like the install worked but then the software will silently fail to run due to some security setting somewhere. Therefore, here's what I've standardized on, and I haven't had any problems with any wacky user configuration yet: InnoSetup install application to location of user's choice, but default to user's directory (c:/Users/<user> or c:/My Documents/<user> usually). A normal user has full privilege to install software into their own user directory. The data the application needs to work involves several files, including a license file, a preference file, and the actual live (single-user) database. All of these go into %appdata%, although savvy users can and do put the database in different locations, even on server shares. Nothing changes anything inside the program directory, except when the software is updated by InnoSetup. This allows the program directory to be c:\Program Files which some of my clients prefer. If they install as administrator into c:/program files, then all users of the system can use the software, but if they install into their user directory as themselves, only they can use the software. The latter is the predominant use case so this general setup is the right choice for me. Paul _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
