Doctor Deploys Blog

The RTM release of the Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is now available for customers to install from the download center in both ISO and Web Setup format.  See the SDK announcement on the Windows SDK blog.   

Please note that the stand-alone version of the Windows Installer 4.5 SDK is now no longer available for download from the Microsoft download center. Windows Installer SDK has traditionally always been included with the Windows SDK, but during the timeframe for the release of MSI 4.5 redistributable there was no other Windows or Windows update release for simultaneously shipping the SDK.

We encourage you to download and use the latest version of the Windows Installer SDK tools (Windows Installer 5.0) included with the RTM release of Windows SDK for Windows 7.

[Author: Zainab Hakim]
This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm.

Original post by Windows Installer Team

As you may already know that Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista (SP2) is available for download from Microsoft download center [link]. MSI version 4.5 is natively included as part of SP2. The version of Windows Installer is 4.5.6002.18005 across all architectures and platforms.

If you have already installed the MSI 4.5 redistributable on your Vista or Server 2008 SP1 machine, you can upgrade to SP2 over the MSI 4.5 redistributable. After installation of SP2, the Windows Installer version on your machine will be 4.5.6002.18005. The upgrade would have no effect on the functionality provided by Windows Installer 4.5.

Other notable hotfixes for Windows Installer 4.5 also included in SP2 are;

·         KB 958655 – Error message when you use Windows Installer (MSI) 4.5 to install multiple MSI packages in Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP: “API call rejected - No actions in Context”.

·         KB 967756 – After you uninstall some software updates in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008, some assembly files may still reflect the updated version instead of the original version of the files

·         KB 958756 – The customized properties for an .msi package installation are reset to their default values after you install Windows Installer 4.5

[Author: Zainab Hakim]
This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm.

Original post by Windows Installer Team

 As some of you may have already heard, Windows 7 has now been released to manufacturing! Read the latest blog post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog here http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/07/22/our-next-engineering-milestone-rtm.aspx. This also means that now you have all the more reason to try the new functionality in Windows Installer 5.0 that is included in Windows 7. Windows Installer provides some key improvements and enables new experiences for application setup developers, ISVs and IT Administrators. Also all features provided with the MSI 4.5 redistributable release are rolled into Windows 7. Attached to this blog post you will find the recorded presentation of these Windows Installer features and how you can start using them…

Improvements over Windows Vista:

• Standard actions support for enhanced permissions setting, service configuration and most common UI oriented tasks, eliminating the need for writing custom actions


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  Performance related improvements give you the ability to speed up installation of large packages & patches, and better integration with UAC help provide a good overall end user experience
  
  
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  Patching improvements made to support highest version of shared component, and support custom action during patch uninstall

New experiences in Windows 7:

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  Support for installing multiple packages using transaction processing
  
  
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  Support to embed a custom UI handler within MSI package, making custom UI easier to integrate
  
  
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  Support to create & deploy a single dual mode MSI package capable of being installed both in per-user as well as per-machine context

Please note that the MSDN documentation section “What’s new in Windows Installer 5.0” has been updated accordingly and is available for online viewing. Feel free to post your comments/questions to this blog post.

 [Author: Zainab Hakim]
This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm.

Original post by Windows Installer Team