I have a windows driver which is sys and inf files which I need to package up for deployment on end user systems.
How do I do this and what tools can I use?
I use AdvancedInstaller for building my MSI files, which also has the ability to install drivers using DIFx 2.1. Never used it to install drivers myself, but it can do it.
They have a trial version so you could give it a spin at no loss.
Related
I've seen this post and this other one. The list goes on.
However, I need to install MinGW (preferably the latest version) in a Windows machine which is purposefully isolated from the internet. The purpose is to use soem features of Matlab 2018b that require a compiler. I can upload files to it within some restrictions, but I can neither use the default MinGW installer, nor can I use the "Get Add-On" menu command.
By the way, the machine works with windows server.
How can I get an installer or a set of files that would allow me to install MinGW?
For versions 2016b and newer, MathWorks provides a tool that allows downloading support packages and sending them to off-line environments. The tool can be downloaded here and will require admin permission to install. With it, you can select packages to download at a target folder, and later transfer them to the off-line environment.
For each package there will be a readme file with the relevant instructions.
I am making installation project (currently with installshield le that comes with VS2010).
The project contains one file - application .exe file.
and driver files.
The driver files are .inf and .sys that should be installed during the installation process.
there are different .inf and .sys for each OS platform (64/32).
How can i do it with InstallShield LE ? if you plug the usb device you will see it under Device manager and can manually set the driver, but i want to do it automatically during installation.
Thanks
Strictly speaking, ISLE doesn't support this. For a workaround:
1) Checkout how to do it in WiX:
Drivers Installation With WiX
2) Adapt the solution to be encapsulated in a WiX merge module.
3) Add the merge module to your InstallShield LE solution:
Augmenting InstallShield using Windows Installer XML - Certificates
If it's going to take you more then a couple days to figure this all out (likely) you might want to just upgrade to IS Professional Edition that has a simple wizard for building an installer that installs a driver.
I want to be able to deploy a project to some of my users the requires a USB-serial adapter. The hard way is to give them the drivers and tell them to plug in the adapter and when prompted, they will have to locate the files manually. I don't want to do that.
Most install shields know how to do that automatically - you install the software, plug in the new hardware and windows will automatically install the correct drivers. This is the solution I want, only without an install shield. What are my options?
Checkout:
FAQ: Information about Driver Install Frameworks Tools
InstallShield has support creating installers that leverage DIFx ( Driver Installation Framework ). If you don't want to buy/use InstallShield, you can also take a look at Windows Installer XML (WiX). It also has extensions that support DIFx.
Drivers Installation With WiX
My problem is that a vendor is providing me with a 64bit application (packed in a 64bit installer) but it goes and installs to the x86 (Program Files) Folder and he keeps telling me its OK but I want it to install in the Program Files directory; as the 32 bit version does that and scripts for the app are developed based on this assumption.
Can someone direct me to the Microsoft recommended best practices for 64bit applications(links).
Thanks in advance.
This may help:
About Windows Installer on 64-Bit Operating Systems
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa367451.aspx
Is your vendor installing the app via an MSI file? If so, their app setup generator (WIX, InstallShield, etc) should be creating MSI's that store their components in the correct places.
If not and they're installing using a custom script, suggest they start investing in learning WIX ;)
Either way, they should be following the recommended guidelines and installing 64-bit code and 32-bit code to the correct locations and modifying the correct registry trees accordingly.
Is it possible to create MSI package, which will run without Windows installer installed in system, but first will install Windows installer itself, and then continue installing other components?
The goal is to create prerequisite package for our software, which must install some components, including some operation system service packs. We also prefer using MSI package. But it's obviously to us that our software will be installed on clean operation system. Though there will not be needed Windows installer present. Is it possible to create such prerequisite package using MSI?
No, there is no way to install an .MSI package without Windows Installer already being present in the OS.
However, Windows Installer has been a native part of Windows since Windows 2000. Are you really developing installers for Windows 95/98/NT4? That would be the only case where there is no Windows Installer support and you'd need to install a redistributable MSI package first.
Unless you meant to say that you require a higher version of Windows Installer than is native to one of the older OSes? (e.g. MSI 3.1 for WinXP) In that case, you'll need to bundle the .MSI redistributable for the MSI package you desire and run that first. Sometimes a reboot is required, other times not. YMMV.
One way, you can write an application in cpp or c or any language that does not require any additional frameworks or SDKs, to check for the installer and install it programatically.
It sounds like you need a bootstrapped with two or more msi files in it. Take look at the WiX documentation. WiX has build-in bootstrapped
Hope this helps
s