Blair, once more, thank you for this interesting insights!
So in short: perMachine will work everywhere the same, but perUser will work differently for Windows 7 to all the rest - on Windows 7 the MSI5 will automatically provide "privately mapped" locations, while on all other platforms the .msi author has to provide this logic (what also will work on Windows 7). Ok, since least of my customers will have Windows 7 in the next months, then I should provide this on my own. If I see it correctly, what I have to do is *not* using ProgramFilesFolder but something different. This shouldn't be hard to do, but: As a result, it is up to the *.msi author* to decide *where* the software will go. I don't think that administrators will love the idea that each .msi has some other, fancy location (they had been so glad about the fact that some day ProgramFilesFolder was invented: now they know for sure where all the software is located). This is a real drawback I think. In fact, what I think would be optimal: * Files go into %ProgramFilesFolder% (per Machine) * Shortcuts and Verbs go into each user's profile (per User) * both in one installation step ...but this is exactly what you told me *not* to do... :-( Regards Markus > -----Original Message----- > From: Blair [mailto:os...@live.com] > Sent: Freitag, 6. November 2009 01:51 > To: 'General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.' > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] InstallScope="perUser" makes only sense on > Windows Seven? > > If you set InstallScope="perUser" then your MSI will be marked to not > prompt > for elevation. As a consequence you cannot set ALLUSERS and all > resources > must go into locations that don't require elevation, unless you want to > see > the error you are reporting. ProgramFilesFolder always requires > elevation > (unless the default permissions have been severely altered) and as a > result > your files should not go under ProgramFilesFolder if you set perUser as > your > installation scope. > > Real perUser installations are very possible under Vista and XP (I have > written several), but they require that you pick a directory to install > that > is in the user's profile and not in "Program Files", and that you don't > put > anything in HKLM. > > In Windows 7 (using MSI 5.0), the ProgramFilesFolder gets remapped to a > profile location when the installation ends up perUser, which is what > helps > enable switchable packages, but only when setting the MSIINSTALLPERUSER > property. In downlevel platforms, that folder never changes value and > thus > always points to a protected perMachine location. > > Also, Windows 7 does not force you to write perUser. You can write > perMachine and get just as good a job as under Vista with the very same > MSI. > It simply makes a very old pattern installation pattern that was never > very > well supported previously more viable. > > Without Windows 7 you generally have to write two MSI files if you wish > one > to be perUser and the other perMachine. With Windows 7 you can still > use the > exact same MSI files in the same way (there is NO forcing of a new > way), or > you can make a single package that can be installed either way using > the new > property to enable the new behavior. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Markus Karg [mailto:markus.k...@gmx.net] > Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 1:01 PM > To: 'General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.' > Subject: [WiX-users] InstallScope="perUser" makes only sense on Windows > Seven? > > This perMachine / perUser discussion really confuses me. ;-) > > > > I tried what happens if I set InstallScope="perUser". > > > > The result is, that I cannot install the software on Vista, because it > says > I do not have sufficient access rights to enter C:\Program > Files\[Manufacturer] (no, it does not ask whether it shall elevate, > even if > I set InstallPrivileges="elevated" in addition to > InstallScope="perUser"). > This is because "real" perUser installs are only possible in Windows 7, > but > all other Windows (= 99,9% of all existing installations) will share > the > files folder. > > > > So if InstallScope="perUser" useless on every OS besides Windows 7? > > > > The consequence would be that one must write different .msi for Vista > and > Windows 7 -- one that is perMachine (since perUser will not work) and > one > that is perUser (since that seems to be what Microsoft wants us to do > in > Windows 7). > > > > This sounds weird, since everything else besides that flag will be the > same! > > > > Or did I miss something? > > > > Thanks > > Markus > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----- > -- > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 > 30-Day > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and > focus > on > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with > Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------- > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 > 30-Day > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and > focus on > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with > Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus on what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
