MSI Installer question

HI everyone,

I'm trying to download a piece of software that says on VIsta, it cannot be
intalled with InstallShield, but needs to be installed by the MSI Installer.

1) How/where do I find the appropriate version of the installer?
2) How do I make sure the file gets opened/installed with the right installer?

Hi Davey,

It can be tricky. Perhaps you will get more info in deployment or
development group. You can also try SMS and System Center Configuration
Manager groups and forums, they do a lot of repackaging of applications.

You probably have 64-bit Vista. Vista 64-bit does not support 16-bit apps.
Some vintage installers are 16-bit, hence the incompatibility.

I used WinInstall LE (Limited Edition), but this is rather old program and
not available in free distribution anymore. However, you may try your luck
with searching on the net. There were two versions of this program.
First version was distributed on Windows 2000 installation CD (somewhere in
the valueadd folder).
Second version was available for download when Win 2003 was released. The
download was available from the company called OnDemandSoftware.com.

Anyway, WinInstall LE was a repackaging program.

I would recommend you procede as stated below if you get hold of this
program. But the steps would be similar for other repackaging programs.

Install some kind of virtual environment (Virtual PC for example).

Install 32-bit windows virtual machine (it can be WinXP).

Install WinInstall LE inside a virtual machine.

Run WinInstall LE in "dicovery mode - before". WinInstall will take a note
of all files and registry settings in your VM.

Install your application inside a VM. Run your application once.

Run WinInstall LE in "discovery mode - after". WinInstall will note all the
differences in files and registry settings between the first and second run.
From these differences WinInstall will build your MSI package.

Perhaps there are more modern tools available, but I lost the track of them.

Good luck

"davey1108" <> wrote in message
news:76A465AA-385F-469C-9782-...
> HI everyone,
>
> I'm trying to download a piece of software that says on VIsta, it cannot
> be
> intalled with InstallShield, but needs to be installed by the MSI
> Installer.
>
> 1) How/where do I find the appropriate version of the installer?
> 2) How do I make sure the file gets opened/installed with the right
> installer?

Good news, Davey.

I did some search myself and it seems that WinInstall LE is alive again.
I found it on http://www.scalable.com/
The link "Free MSI Packager" is available in the top right corner.
You need to register.

Thanks to the kind folks at Scalable.

"Dusko Savatovic" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi Davey,
>
> It can be tricky. Perhaps you will get more info in deployment or
> development group. You can also try SMS and System Center Configuration
> Manager groups and forums, they do a lot of repackaging of applications.
>
> You probably have 64-bit Vista. Vista 64-bit does not support 16-bit apps.
> Some vintage installers are 16-bit, hence the incompatibility.
>
> I used WinInstall LE (Limited Edition), but this is rather old program and
> not available in free distribution anymore. However, you may try your luck
> with searching on the net. There were two versions of this program.
> First version was distributed on Windows 2000 installation CD (somewhere
> in the valueadd folder).
> Second version was available for download when Win 2003 was released. The
> download was available from the company called OnDemandSoftware.com.
>
> Anyway, WinInstall LE was a repackaging program.
>
> I would recommend you procede as stated below if you get hold of this
> program. But the steps would be similar for other repackaging programs.
>
> Install some kind of virtual environment (Virtual PC for example).
>
> Install 32-bit windows virtual machine (it can be WinXP).
>
> Install WinInstall LE inside a virtual machine.
>
> Run WinInstall LE in "dicovery mode - before". WinInstall will take a note
> of all files and registry settings in your VM.
>
> Install your application inside a VM. Run your application once.
>
> Run WinInstall LE in "discovery mode - after". WinInstall will note all
> the differences in files and registry settings between the first and
> second run. From these differences WinInstall will build your MSI package.
>
> Perhaps there are more modern tools available, but I lost the track of
> them.
>
> Good luck
>
> "davey1108" <> wrote in message
> news:76A465AA-385F-469C-9782-...
>> HI everyone,
>>
>> I'm trying to download a piece of software that says on VIsta, it cannot
>> be
>> intalled with InstallShield, but needs to be installed by the MSI
>> Installer.
>>
>> 1) How/where do I find the appropriate version of the installer?
>> 2) How do I make sure the file gets opened/installed with the right
>> installer?
>
>