Virtual PC has been freely downloadable from Microsoft since 2006 as has VMWare Server & I think VirtualBox may have been freely downloadable for longer. Bob A. wrote a blog post on using virtualization to test installation 3+ years ago -> http://www.joyofsetup.com/2007/09/24/test-your-setups-virtually/
Personally I started off in 2006 using Virtual PC to test installation during development myself then moved on to VMWare Server when I needed more functionality than Virtual PC could offer & so I could rope our QA team into testing my packages too. Now we use VMWare ESXi (also free) on a couple of servers so our QA team can test the whole process from installation onwards since they've been convinced of the whole "Setup development is still development" mantra our benevolent dictator Rob M. champions. I cannot stress how much easier setup development is when you test before you ship (make sure & test uninstall, upgrade, reinstall, repair etc as well not just install). If you need licenses for the operating systems you use in your VM's you may want to look into an MSDN subscription as one will give you a fair number of licenses for development use. Palbinder Sandher Software Deployment Engineer T: +44 (0) 141 945 8500 F: +44 (0) 141 945 8501 http://www.iesve.com **Design, Simulate + Innovate with the <Virtual Environment>** Integrated Environmental Solutions Limited. Registered in Scotland No. SC151456 Registered Office - Helix Building, West Of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0SP Email Disclaimer -----Original Message----- From: Jammer [mailto:jam...@jammer.biz] Sent: 14 March 2011 21:26 To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Removing Broken Installs Safely <slaps forehead> I'd totally forgotten about Virtual PC being available on Windows 7 ... duh! Thanks, Jammer On 14/03/2011 13:09, Durwin Wright wrote: > I use three techniques to test installs: > > Brute Force Technique > --------------------- > Install on a VM using VMware. > Prior to the install take a snapshot. > Use the Snapshot Manager to revert to a prior state. > This is particularly effective when testing installs managed by > bootstrappers. I brings the system back to the state prior to the > install > > Less Brute Force Technique > -------------------------- > Install the MSI Editor, ORCA, on your system Turn on MSIEXEC logging, > /LOG .\msiexec_install.log to get an idea of what happened. > Locate the location of the cached msi copy that ARP will use to remove > the product Edit that cached copy of the msi using ORCA to get around > whatever error is causing the problem. > Invoke the Remove option from ARP. > This usually fixes things. > > The first technique can be considered a "best practice". The second > technique can be done if you are desparate. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Wilbert van Dolleweerd [mailto:wilb...@arentheym.com] > Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 1:41 AM > To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. > Cc: Rob Hamflett > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Removing Broken Installs Safely > > 2011/3/14 Rob Hamflett<r...@snsys.com>: > >> Depending on what exactly is broken you might be able to get things > into a working state again just >> by running a repair first. > I don't know about you guys, but I use a virtual machine to test the > installs/uninstalls. Yes, you can still run in situations like this, > but hopefully less so ;-) > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------ Colocation vs. Managed Hosting A question and answer guide to determining the best fit for your organization - today and in the future. http://p.sf.net/sfu/internap-sfd2d _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Colocation vs. Managed Hosting A question and answer guide to determining the best fit for your organization - today and in the future. http://p.sf.net/sfu/internap-sfd2d _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
