This question may be relevant to any version of Windows where Windows Update is present, as I imagine the answers might be different between versions.
(Also, my apologies if this question should have been placed somewhere else, I looked for a Windows forum on SE and couldn't find one.)
I'm writing system requirements for a web application that requires at least IE8, and would like to communicate in the documentation how the user can make sure they have the latest browser version (on Windows) without having to download it manually, if possible. However being on OS X I'm having a hard time managing to find out if Windows Update will actually update IE (from say, 7 to 8) on Windows XP? What about later versions like Windows 7 or 8?
As a side note, Microsoft won't (by default anyway) even let my OS access any areas of their website where I might find a download link to Internet Explorer 8 or any other version since I'm not on Windows. Just sayin', if I wanted to supply a link to our users, that is. Yes, I will fire up my VM or PC to get the link but it seems... unnecessary?
Anyway, can I tell our users they just need to fire up Windows Update to make sure they're running IE8, or do I need to ask them to check version manually and download a new version manually (if necessary)?
While Windows Update generally does update critical IE components, major updates are generally considered optional updates that are not installed unless the user chooses to install them manually.
Consequently, you'll likely need to include a download link. Try http://microsoft.com/ie/download, which should redirect to the language appropriate page for the given user.
(Also, some users choose to not run Windows Update, so the download link may be needed anyway.)
Hope this helps...
-- Lance
To answer your query "Anyway, can I tell our users they just need to fire up Windows Update to make sure they're running IE8, or do I need to ask them to check version manually and download a new version manually (if necessary)?"
Yes, windows update also update Internet explorer.
To change setting for windows update where you can choose which updates is related to your OS and components and you can download and install to avoid unnecessary downloads.
Please find below steps to change the settings
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Windows Update\Change settings
Under Important updates option you will find
Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them.
I believe it will be an 'optional' windows update. In this case the user will still have to select and accept it, but windows update will do the rest. I would advise your users to check Windows Update for the latest browser version.
IE is part of Windows OS so I guess Windows update take care of IE like any other Windows components
Related
My install fails on uninstall because of a bug in my CustomAction. I've fixed the bug, but I now have a test machine with that product installed and I can't get it to uninstall (keeps rolling back and staying).
In the past (years ago), I used msizap.exe that comes with the Windows SDK. But it doesn't seem to come with it anymore. I installed it and can't find it. My only guess is that it's no longer relevant in Windows 10.
Anyway, is there a best way to forcibly remove the product so that Windows no longer thinks it's installed?
msizap.exe: You are correct, msizap.exe has been deprecated long ago.
Broken Uninstall Workarounds: This problem is very common. You can find a list of approaches for these kind of uninstall problems here.
The easiest and fastest is probably to just use the Microsoft FixIt tool to remove the package. This basically "unregisters it" by the looks of it, and is similar to msizap.exe in that regard.
If this is just a single machine you can hack the cached installation database using Orca (how to find cached msi path, powershell version, using Windows Explorer - point 2) - if it involves many machines you should make a patch. Please see details in link above.
Virtual Machines: It is obvious, but just to mention that you should check setups on virtual machines so you can just revert the virtual machine when you encounter "development and QA bugs" like these.
Custom Action Flag: You can also add a condition to each custom action so that you can disable the whole custom action from running by a custom command line sent to msiexec.exe.
If your flag is a property RUNCA="1", then you can disable it by setting this flag property to 0 via the command line - this is sort of a little inoculation for the package's uninstall feature breaking - you can disable custom actions from running at all during install / uninstall - it might even be useful for your tech-support guys and real-world installations:
msiexec.exe /x {PRODUCT-CODE} RUNCA=0
I just recently upgraded to Windows 10 and ever since I have upgraded I can't get into VB6. I keep getting the System Registry error. I have googled and tried about everything and nothing seems to work. Running VB6 as Administrator is not an option, don't ask but we can't have admin to our computers we have to be logged in as users. The way we use to fix it was to trick Windows 7 log on as Admin run VB6 as Admin then switch me back to user and it worked, but this no longer works. Does anyone have any suggestions that currently have VB6 working as a user and not admin? I really don't want to resort to have to run it out of my virtual machine :( Thanks in advance!
Amanda,
I know it is 3 years later and I wonder what you did. and my solution may be late.
I moved VB6 Enterprise to a Windows10 machine, I did not upgrade the machine to Win10 with the IDE. However to make it work for some of my clients with Win10 machines I:
Back up all the VB6 files, folder and directories.
Using control panel in Win10, uninstall VB6 app. That's right, uninstall!
Using the original install disk, running it as an Administrator, install the program.
If the program has been updated to a later version, you need to get a copy of the latest version and copy over the one that was installed.
Or, Sweet Talk your IT guy into making you a new install disk with the latest version you are supposed to be running.
Go to the folder where the exe file is installed, Right Click on it and open the Properties, and go to the Compatibility tab.
Choose run as an administrator, and also click the Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP Service Pack3, or if it shows Latest version of Windows XP try that. You may need to check with your IT department.
Warning: if the VB6 program uses any non-Microsoft tools you may need to register them by hand.
I suspect this has already been worked out for you, but I put it here for anyone that may stumble across it, needing it.
Thank you in advance for considering this question. If a similar question existed, I was unable to find it.
The Issue: Our company packages an application into an MSI. This MSI when installed outside of any GPO properly updates, blocks attempts to downgrade (or move from a higher revision to a lower revision), and never has trouble uninstalling previous versions of the application regardless of how long ago those versions were created/installed. For example, we can install version 1.2.3 and then install version 2.3.4 and the application will properly install without issue. However, we work with a customer who uses GPO to deploy our application to hundreds of PC's. Each time we have provided an updated version of the application the following has been indicated:
On any machine where a previous version of our application was installed via GPO, no matter what the previous version is, the update successfully installs without issue.
On a machine where the application was manually installed (outside of the GPO), and an attempt to update the application via GPO is made - either the application is installed in addition to the old version, OR there remain registry keys to the previous version of the application and the application cannot open/run correctly. In this case the registry keys must be manually removed, and the install is then attempted again from a clean machine.
What we know is that on any machine where the application was originally installed via GPO - updating the application is no problem. On every machine where the application was not installed with the GPO in the first place, updating via GPO fails with one of the problems presented above.
My question is: Is there a technical issue with how the installation is being handled partially through the GPO and partially outside? Does the GPO need to be responsible for the entire life-cycle of the application? OR is it a reasonable expectation that the application be updated both on machines where the original version was manually (outside the GPO ) installed, and when it was installed initially from within the GPO?
One solution we are aware of is simply having all computers manage the application life-cycle (since we know updates work in that environment already), however this would mean that many computers would need to have the manually installed versions removed by hand - and then properly handle the installation through GPO which is an extensive bit of work.
We would greatly welcome any solutions, references to technical documentation that formally shed light on the proper management or expectations here, or links to information. Our research suggests that it is "best" to manage the entire applications life-cycle inside the GPO - but I have as of yet been unable to determine that it is 100% necessary to do so.
Looking forward to any assistance. If any further technical details are required to help the viability of the question, please don't hesitate to request such details.
If you end up with two versions installed in Control Panel, then all other things being correct, the most likely explanation is that you upgraded a per user install with a per machine install (or vice versa). In the GPO world that's related to assigning it to a user or to the computer, something like that. That's easy to verify by getting a verbose log and checking the FindRelatedProducts actions for an indication that another product was found but in a different context.
When you're in GPO mode all the time, I assume each one (whether it's per user or per machine) is consistent, therefore upgrades always work, but they don't work cross-context.
I believe GPO suppresses the UI in most cases, and the UI (or the UI sequence) is sometimes where per user/per machine is set. That might be something else that would cause it, depending on how the GPO publishes to the computer or the user.
My engineer send me 2 versions of installation software for evaluation (made with Installshield), which he said he has made no changes to the Restart settings, but just changes messages in dialog boxes.
However, when tested on Win 8 and Win 7
One version will restart Windows while Windows does not prompt there are applications with open files
One version will attempt to restart Windows, but then Windows will prompt there are applications with open files
I am not a programmer, but I would like to know what may be possible cause of this difference? And what is the setting which can cause the 2 different restart behavior.
Then I would like to know how can I test the installation software to make sure it is designed properly and make Windows attempts to restart properly such that it won't force a restart if there is any open files; after all, making users lose their work is very bad.
Thank you very much.
John
If your Installer installs any prerequisites, it may be possible that the reboot is required to install the prerequisite properly. So it is possible that the prerequisite would be installed when you wold have installed your product for the first time and it would have asked for the 'Restart'. And now as the prerequisite is installed, no need to reinstall it so 'Reboot' is not required.
If this is the case, you can go to'Application Data' > 'Redistributables' and edit the prerequisite. Here you can specify appropriate condition to handle the 'Restart' behavior.
If your application doesn't install prerequisite and it is your product that requires a reboot, please have a look at this answer. You can configure a property to handle the 'Restart' properly.
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, seeing as I don't currently have any code to share, but perhaps someone has an insight.
I have a very old Flash MX projection (.exe file) that was written and compiled in flash MX 2004. It's a simple interactive app - a test where a user picks an answer to a question and pushes ENTER to move to the next question.
The projection works fine on WinXP SP3 but doesn't work in win7, failing with a "class not registered" error.
It does work after I install flash player activex (I tried installing the latest, and also legacy version 6 r71), but then it doesn't register any keyboard commands and crashes a short while after a key is pressed.
Any idea what can be causing this?
So far I've tried fiddling with IE security settings, disabling DWM and windows themes, compatibility settings, etc., with no luck.
Also, despite the fact that the compiled projection is supposed to have all necessary components to run inside, it doesn't run if flash.ocx isn't registered. Isn't that weird?
Any help will be appreciated. I know this is old stuff and no one promises compatibility etc. And I don't even have the code as of now (not sure I can find it; assume I can't) - but this app is somewhat important to my company and this really seems like a "small" issue - if I could just find it...
Update - it kinda works if install the latest flash player and run it in compatibility mode - but it hangs after about a minute, regardless of what i do.
if i run it without compatibility mode, it doesn't run with a "library not registered" error.
You might want to repackage it.
Extract SWF from projector executable, for example, using this tool.
Get the newest standalone Flash Player and check if your .swf-file works with it.
Now export new projector file.
If this doesn't work for you, the only other way to do this is to recompile your .swf from source.
I agree with Ale's solution.
Have you tried Window's compatibility options to run the .exe as it would in an older compatibility mode ? This may work.