I gave the short answer in a hurry. The longer answer ( found on a blog exchange between Bob Arnson and myself ) involves using a custom action to resolve the 64bit ProgramFilesFolder and then converting it to a shortpath.
The magic wasn't in that part though. The magic is in exploiting the undocumented behavior of MSI to fail to redirect short paths like it does long paths. Christopher Painter, Author of Deployment Engineering Blog Have a hot tip, know a secret or read a really good thread that deserves attention? E-Mail Me ----- Original Message ---- From: Travis Gaff <tra...@pc-doctor.com> To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net> Sent: Sat, September 18, 2010 11:30:04 AM Subject: Re: [WiX-users] How to allow 32-bit installer to write toC:\Program Files That may not work on localized or non-standard installations. For example, in Spanish C:\Program Files can become C:\Archivos de Programas CONFIDENTIALITY The information contained in this message is confidential. It is intended to be read only by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed or by an authorized designee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, be aware that distribution of this message in any form is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and destroy any copy of this message. -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Painter [mailto:chr...@deploymentengineering.com] Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 6:21 PM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] How to allow 32-bit installer to write toC:\Program Files Officially it's not possible in a 32bit install but unofficially ( and at your own risk ) I found a way. Convert the C:\Program Files to C:\Progra~1 and you'll sneak past Windows Installer trying to "fix" it for you. Christopher Painter, Author of Deployment Engineering Blog Have a hot tip, know a secret or read a really good thread that deserves attention? E-Mail Me ----- Original Message ---- From: garnold <grant.arn...@safe.com> To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 7:14:02 PM Subject: [WiX-users] How to allow 32-bit installer to write to C:\Program Files Hi I am creating an installer that needs to install some .war files in a servlet engine directory. In the installer, I am prompting for the location of their installed servlet engine (for example, Apache Tomcat). The problem occurs when they have a 64-bit computer with a 64-bit servlet engine installed in "C:\Program Files". If they specify in the browse dialog of our 32-bit installer to install those files to "C:\Program Files\Apache\tomcat\webapps", then it will actually change the directory to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Apache\tomcat\webapps", where there is no Apache installed! I understand that it is trying to be helpful in not allowing a 32-bit app to be installed into Program Files, and for our main INSTALLDIR, this is fine. However, for this prompt, I would like it to not have this behaviour. Do you know of some way I can work around this so that the installer won't change the "C:\Program Files" to "C:\Program Files (x86)" in this case? Thanks! Grant -- View this message in context: http://windows-installer-xml-wix-toolset.687559.n2.nabble.com/How-to-allow -32-bit-installer-to-write-to-C-Program-Files-tp5544693p5544693.html Sent from the wix-users mailing list archive at Nabble.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances and start using them to simplify application deployment and accelerate your shift to cloud computing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances and start using them to simplify application deployment and accelerate your shift to cloud computing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances and start using them to simplify application deployment and accelerate your shift to cloud computing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances and start using them to simplify application deployment and accelerate your shift to cloud computing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
