Offering trial versions of applications is a common strategy to attract users by allowing them to evaluate the software before purchasing. However, designing a secure and user-friendly trial func...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-trial-for-csharp-windows-forms-application.html
Digital Signing should be a formality for professionals. It’s been almost 30 years since the first software was digitally signed but we still have many users who don’t know how or why they sh...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/trusted-signing-integration.html
MSI deployments, while effective, are often marred by common errors.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/common-challenges-in-msi-deployment.html
Advanced Installer 21.6 was released on April 4th, 2024
Advanced Installer 21.6.1 was released on April 4th, 2024
Today, we're exploring the WindowsApps folder that you find in Windows 10 and 11. This folder holds all the files for UWP (Universal Windows Platform) applications on your computer.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/change-uwp-applications-with-mutablepackagedirectory.html
Whether it's in-house applications, custom-made software, or applications from third-party vendors, there are times when we need to package them with a URL shortcut.
In our previous article, we discussed how to create Web, Offline & Enterprise MSI within the same Advanced Installer project.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/define-prerequisite-source-online-offline-installer.html
In our previous article, we talked about how to create Web, Offline & Enterprise MSI all within the same Advanced Installer project.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-web-installer-with-lzma-compression.html
Advanced Installer 21.5.1 was released on March 11th, 2024
In today's technology-driven workplace, deploying Win32 applications efficiently and securely is a critical challenge for IT departments.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/deploy-win32-applications-to-microsoft-intune.html
Installing MSI packages through PowerShell is a widely known technique that simplifies the deployment of software across multiple systems, especially for system administrators and IT professional...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/install-msi-files-with-powershell.html
Advanced Installer 21.5 was released on February 26th, 2024
Running Python scripts from PowerShell is a powerful way to integrate Python's capabilities into a Windows environment. Before diving into how to execute a Python script from PowerShell, it's imp...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/execute-python-script-through-powershell.html
In the world of software development, especially within the Java ecosystem, JAR files are a fundamental component. Standing for Java Archive, a JAR file is essential for packaging, deploying, and...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-jar-file-how-to-package-it.html
At the 2022 Microsoft Build event, a new opportunity was announced for developers: the ability to upload MSI and EXE applications directly to the Microsoft Store.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/publish-msi-exe-app-microsoft-store.html
Creating a seamless user experience for an application often involves the use of shortcuts.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-desktop-shortcut-for-windows-form-application.html
Ensuring the security and integrity of software applications is a key part of modern digital safety practices. Digitally signing an MSI file from the command line is a straightforward process tha...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/digitally-sign-msi-with-powershell.html
As one of the most prominent programming languages in the world, Python is supported by many tools and modules. It is easy to learn and provides a nicely constructed code -- which opens the door ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-msi-python-executable.html
NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is an open-source tool that enables developers to create efficient and customizable Windows installers. Originally developed by Nullsoft, the creators of...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/nsis-advanced-installer-packaging-software-comparison.html
MSIX is a game-changer for software application distribution. However, it’s not all smooth sailing - there are challenges to face. A big one? Configuring your application.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/from-msi-to-msix-app-deployment.html
With Microsoft's transition from MSI to MSIX, notable changes have emerged in application deployment, particularly in the software activation process.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/license-key-validation-msix-applications.html
Hey there, IT folks! I have some exciting news to share with you about Microsoft Intune Enterprise App Management. This addition to the Intune Suite is set to launch in February 2024, and it's go...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/microsoft-intune-application-management-solution.html
With the release of version 1.2023.1005.0, the MSIX Packaging Tool has introduced an exciting new feature: PSF Fixups. This feature allows for the automatic injection of PSF fixups, eliminating t...
In a field as dynamic as software development and IT, keeping up with the latest tools and technologies is crucial. That's why we're excited to offer you a spot at our upcoming webinar, "Advanced...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/webinar-advanced-installer-2023-rewind.html
Advanced Installer 21.4 was released on January 25th, 2024
With the release of version 1.2023.1005.0, MSIX Packaging Tool has introduced a significant new feature: the Package Analyzer.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/package-analyzer-feature-by-msix-packaging-tool.html
When you switch from using App-V to MSIX for packaging your applications, you'll notice a big change in how shortcuts work. MSIX doesn't use the old .lnk shortcuts StartMenu you might be used to....
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/appv-to-msix-startmenu-folder.html
Microsoft’s guidelines for MSIX packages introduced a new approach to app configuration, in contrast with the MSI package format.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/configure-sql-connections-for-msix-packages.html
At Advanced Installer, security is not just a feature; it's a core value. We are dedicated to protecting our users' data, intellectual property, and overall digital well-being. Our commitment ext...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/exe-local-directory-vulnerability-solution.html
Microsoft introduced new guidelines for configuring apps deployed via MSIX packages, different from those for traditional MSI packages. These include the app configuration when the user first lau...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/add-eula-msix-app-deployment.html
When deploying with MSIX, the files and folders within the user's AppData directory (located under C:UsersAppData) are written to a per-user, per-app location.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-vfs-appdata-notepad-plus-plus.html
Software deployment is a crucial process in the world of IT and software management. It refers to the activities and procedures involved in making software applications available for installation...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-software-deployment-and-helpful-tools.html
Ever faced the puzzle of deploying an application silently via Intune in a system context, but also needing to communicate with the user? You're not alone!
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/display-user-messages-during-intune-deployment.html
Advanced Installer 21.3.1 was released on December 20th, 2023
Advanced Installer 21.3 was released on December 14th, 2023
In today's world, where digital security is crucial, installing new software on your computer should be straightforward and secure.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/secure-install-properties-guide.html
VBScript (Visual Basic Script) is a scripting language introduced by Microsoft in the mid-1990s. It was designed to offer a lightweight scripting capability for web development and Windows admini...
In the dynamic world of software installation, one often faces the challenge of creating both offline and web installers, not to mention the MSI version for Enterprise customers.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-web-offline-enterprise-msi-advanced-installer.html
In the labyrinth of Windows Registry data types, there's a special one that stands out for its ability to juggle multiple strings in a single act.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/edit-reg-multi-sz-with-powershell.html
Navigating the Windows Registry can seem like wandering through a digital jungle. Fear not! Advanced Installer offers a user-friendly way to tweak registry keys and values.But what if you have a ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/set-windows-registry-value-with-powershell.html
Advanced Installer 21.2.2 was released on November 16th, 2023
The Context Menu is undeniably one of the most useful shell extensions in Windows. This menu appears when you right-click on an object, like a file, folder, or icon, in Windows Explorer or File E...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-shell-context-menu.html
Developing in C++ means creating powerful and efficient applications. But once the development is done, how do we package such an app for the end users?
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-msi-installer-for-cpp-application-visual-studio.html
Hey there, IT folks and tech enthusiasts! Today, we're diving into the ever-changing world of IT management, specifically the transition from SCCM to Intune, and spicing things up with a bit of a...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/sccm-to-intune-migration-for-application-deployment.html
Advanced Installer 21.2 was released on November 7th, 2023
Advanced Installer 21.2.1 was released on November 7th, 2023
Have you just finished developing your application and created the installation package using Advanced Installer?
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/link-installer-analytics-to-application-package.html
In software development and system administration, automation is crucial. Consider this: you want a PowerShell script to run every time an application starts.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/convert-powershell-to-exe.html
Winget is a command-line package manager created by Microsoft for the Windows operating system. It enables users to search for, install, update, and uninstall software applications using the comm...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/winget-missing-or-not-installed-issue-fix.html
C# is a widely used programming language for developing various applications - from desktop apps to games and websites.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-msi-installer-for-c-sharp-application.html
In our previous article, we simplified the steps of App-V 5 to MSIX conversion using MSIX Packaging Tool and Advanced Installer. We went even further and saw How to Automate the App-V to MSIX con...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/appv-to-msix-environment-variables.html
Ever faced annoying errors when trying to install something on Windows? You’re not alone.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/top-windows-installer-package-errors.html
In our latest article, we discussed App-V to MSIX conversion: Shortcut argument skipped during conversion. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The same goes for WorkingDirectory.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/appv-to-msix-skipped-workingdirectory.html
Advanced Installer 21.1 was released on October 4th, 2023
Automatically converting your App-V application to MSIX spares you from rebuilding them from the ground up.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/appv-to-msix-shortcut-argument.html
AppManagEvent is around the corner, and Advanced Installer is back in the game as a Gold Partner. We’re gearing up for October 6th in Utrecht, The Netherlands. We’re ready to tackle some of t...
Whether you're a seasoned IT professional or new to the application packaging industry, understanding the ins and outs of the process can be crucial.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/sccm-application-packaging-and-deployment.html
If you're already familiar with the basics of publishing an MSIX application to the Microsoft Store, you're ahead of the game.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/microsoft-store-private-app-distribution.html
Advanced Installer 21.0.1 was released on September 7th, 2023
Advanced Installer 21.0 was released on September 5th, 2023
Branding an installation package plays a key role in today’s competitive digital landscape. It helps you differentiate your application in a crowded marketplace. Especially, for those in the ap...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/use-logo-for-msix-package.html
You often need to install additional components (known as prerequisites or runtimes) to your software product so it runs successfully on a machine. You must include the necessary prerequisites in...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/custom-prerequisite-detection-criteria.html
In business, we often have to weigh the differences between expenses and true investments. Take the application packaging industry, for example.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/app-packaging-benefits.html
With the release of the MSI Packaging Academy after which you can get a certification that proves your packaging skills, I also thought to give you some of the most used application packaging int...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/application-packaging-interview-questions.html
When deploying software, configuration files are the key to customizing behavior without modifying the source code.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/loading-xml-config-file-not-working-msix.html
Repackaging aWin32 app with Java dependencies as MSIX can often be challenging.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/package-advancedview-java-as-msix.html
Software branding plays a fundamental role in distinguishing your product in the competitive market. Beyond functionality, your software's brand recognition is crucial.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/branding-msi-installer-with-logo.html
Application packaging is an ever-evolving domain, and MSIX has become the de facto choice for IT professionals and developers.When an application is packaged as an MSIX, it runs within a containe...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-error-fix-loadersearchpathoverride-extension.html
Advanced Installer 20.9.1 was released on August 8th, 2023
We've all been there - you're trying to uninstall a piece of software, but it just doesn't seem to be as straightforward as you'd like. Perhaps the traditional uninstall process is proving to be ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/software-uninstall-with-powershell-package-management.html
For many years, Windows was missing a handy feature that Linux users took for granted: an efficient package manager. This tool streamlines the process of installing, updating, and configuring sof...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/winget-windows-package-management.html
Ever stumbled upon the message “Do you want to allow this app from an unknown publisher to make changes to your device”? You're not alone. This User Account Control (UAC) alert can be unclear...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/allow-app-from-unknown-publisher-make-changes.html
Struggling with creating an MSIX package for a native Ahead-Of-Time compilation (AOT) application? You're not alone. With AOT apps becoming more popular, it's essential to streamline this process...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-msix-for-aot-app.html
The confusion of dealing with unsigned drivers can sometimes disrupt your software installation process. Windows typically raises a red flag when such drivers come into play, triggering a warning...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/install-unsigned-drivers-windows-10-11.html
In the world of digital communication, being able to correctly identify and interpret different types of data files is crucial.
In today’s software development industry, the partnership between PowerShell and MSI packaging continues to grow stronger.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-windows-powershell.html
Advanced Installer 20.9 was released on July 27th, 2023
Keeping your application upgraded is key for maintaining its functions and security. Regularly checking for and installing new versions ensures that your app works at its best.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/upgrade-application-built-with-visual-studio.html
Working with registry files is quite a simple task. However, depending on the action you want to take, you can encounter various scenarios.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/import-registry-files.html
With the rise of configuration files in various applications, understanding the ins and outs of INI files can elevate your productivity as a developer or software enthusiast. Despite their roots ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/read-ini-files-with-powershell.html
Installing software drivers can often seem like a complex task, but it doesn’t have to be. While MSI technology doesn't directly support driver installation, the Operating System (OS) provides ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/install-drivers-msi-package.html
Inno Setup is a free open-source script-driven installer creator that was released in 1997. Inno Setup has some similarities to WiX Toolset, like not having a GUI when it comes to package creatio...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/inno-setup-advanced-installer-software-comparison.html
To enhance the security of your machines, it is crucial to properly define and configure the firewall rules, ensuring a safer environment.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/configure-firewall-rules-msi.html
Understanding custom actions can be challenging, and most beginner IT Professionals tend to “leave the chat” when custom actions are brought to the table. Without a doubt, MSI technology is c...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/process-custom-actions-msi-packaging.html
To repackage a setup, we first need to understand how that setup was originally built. You can find a brief explanation of this in our free MSI Packaging eBook.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/this-package-can-only-be-run-from-a-bootstrapper.html
The Run PowerShell inline script is offered as a predefined Custom Action in Advanced Installer. This action lets you directly type a code into the Advanced Installer editor. After saving your pr...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/change-output-directory-temp-powershell-files.html
If you’ve worked with MSI Windows Installer, you most likely know that the Windows Installer database includes various interrelated tables as a standard format for component management.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-access-msi-table-using-powershell.html
Visual Studio is a powerful development tool that provides an environment for creating a wide range of applications. One of its notable features is the ability to create Setup.exe files, which gr...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-setup-exe-visual-studio.html
Advanced Installer 20.8 was released on June 28th, 2023
With VMware ThinApp, your application management and delivery across different computing environments is much easier.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-thinapp-package.html
Advanced installer Repackager allows you to repackage your application in multiple environments, such as the host machine, different types of virtual machines like VMware, Hyper-V, and now Window...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/app-repackage-windows-sandbox-vm.html
MSIX applications can behave differently when running in an MSIX container.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-debug-msix-crash-psf-trace-fixup.html
For several decades, MSI technology has played a crucial role in ensuring seamless installation of Windows Applications on a device. Typically, MSIs will only throw errors to the users if there a...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/there-is-a-problem-with-this-windows-installer-package-error.html
Alright, let's dive into the fascinating world of portable applications!
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/portable-app-msix-package.html
Ensuring your application is well-designed is one of the key methods to keep users engaged. They need to have a positive experience while using your app, therefore a poor design can drive them aw...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-csharp-winui3-desktop-app.html
Advanced Installer 20.7.1 was released on May 31st, 2023
Microsoft Office introduced add-ins, replacing the old COM plugins for developers. Now, developers create applications using Office Add-Ins, expanding the range of possibilities and features with...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/office-32-64-bit-add-in-installation.html
Advanced Installer 20.7 was released on May 25th, 2023
Cabinet files, also known as CAB files, are files that store compressed files in a file library. When it comes to Windows Installers, cabinet files can be located either inside or outside the MSI...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/add-file-msi-embedded-cab.html
Even though MSI is still the preferred packaging format, there's no question that MSIX is a great complement to MSI and AppV.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-to-msi-conversion.html
Windows Forms is a UI framework used to create Windows desktop applications. This development platform provides a broad set of features to develop graphically rich and interactive applications, i...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/automatic-updates-windows-forms-application.html
In the previous article discussing "Repackaging vs. Wrapping", we touched upon the concept of working with wrappers in the world of software packaging and deployment.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/handle-wrappers-with-psadt.html
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) is a proprietary technology developed by Microsoft that enables developers to embed and link to other objects.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/register-dll-ocx-file-windows.html
Do you need to execute your application (exe file) as an administrator or apply compatibility options to it?
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/run-exe-as-administrator-programmatically.html
Automation is probably one of the most used words in the IT Industry these days. We can't enter a room without hearing about it in the software packaging industry. However, sometimes simplicity i...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-msi-packages-from-command-line.html
MSI is a Windows Installer package format that uses Microsoft’s Windows Installer service to manage the installation (and uninstallation) of applications.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msi-error-1603-fatal-error-during-installation.html
If we were to manually install and manage software on a large number of target devices, the process would be very expensive and complicated. To avoid that hassle, enterprises use software deploym...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/dependency-supersedence-rule-sccm-deployment.html
The MSI Windows Installer is the most popular packaging format used in Enterprise environments. A lot of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) create their software installer using MSI Windows Inst...
In this article, we'll explore the various uses of WinGet and the options available when it comes to Store Apps deployment in Intune.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/winget-tool-deploy-apps-intune.html
Advanced Installer 20.6 was released on April 27th, 2023
Java is an essential component within enterprise environments, powering various business-critical applications that are necessary for daily operations. However, it is also the most targeted platf...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/repackage-java-dependent-applications-as-msix.html
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a powerful User Interface (UI) framework for building desktop client apps. It's a part of .NET and offers a multitude of helpful features, such as media s...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/deploy-net-wpf-msi-installer.html
Often throughout the repackaging process, it's frequent to come across files featuring straightforward paths such as: C:Program Files.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/de-hardcoding-file-paths-vbscript-powershell-custom-actions.html
.NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI) is a cross platform framework designed for creating native mobile and desktop applications using C# and XAML. With the .NET MAUI platform, you can create applica...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/add-dependencies-to-dotnet-maui-msix.html
In this article, we'll explore how to deploy an MSIX using Group Policies, covering Direct MSIX Deployment with Scheduled Tasks and the MSI Wrapper method.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/deploy-msix-with-group-policies.html
Advanced Installer 20.5 was released on March 30th, 2023
It can be challenging to create a software package that works seamlessly across different technologies and platforms.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/advanced-installer-vs-visual-studio-for-msix.html
Batch scripting is still widely used within organizations all over the world, despite the popularity of PowerShell, which is a more powerful programming language. Almost every task or action can ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-install-msi-from-cmd.html
MSIX is a modern technology that has transformed the way we approach software installations and deployments, both for individual users and enterprises.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-migration-limitations-and-solutions.html
There are multiple ways to deploy PowerShell scripts in SCCM. Some of the most popular options are the Application model, the Legacy Packages model, and most recently, the Scripts option.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/deploy-powershell-scripts-in-sccm.html
One of the greatest things about software packaging is the variety of choices available to you to achieve your objectives. However, having too many alternatives to choose from can make it challen...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/repackaging-versus-wrapping.html
Let's suppose you want to make changes to a build system so that it can perform multiple actions when building MSI or EXE packages.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/build-msi-exe-package-using-msbuild.html
Advanced Installer 20.4.1 was released on March 8th, 2023
In some cases, changing the packaging type of an application requires going back to the drawing board. Even though Advanced Installer's GUI lets you convert MSIX packages by importing them, chang...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/change-packaging-type-of-appx-msix-to-msi-exe.html
Advanced Installer 20.4 was released on March 2nd, 2023
Installing and maintaining software applications across a large number of workstations can be a cumbersome and time-consuming operation for any enterprise.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/automate-software-deployment-with-configuration-manager.html
We are excited to announce the Graphics Adapter functionality - our latest addition to Installer Analytics.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/optimize-graphics-intensive-applications.html
As an IT professional, you might have come across Windows Forms (WinForms) when building applications on Windows. WinForms is a free and open source GUI class library included in the .NET Framewo...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-msix-package-for-winforms-app.html
In the tech industry, there's often a dilemma about which technology to use for patches. Specifically, when an ISV (Independent Software Vendor) creates an MSI for the first time and updates come...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msi-upgrade-vs-msp-patch.html
The GitHub Actions platform simplifies the automation of your software workflows. It allows you to build, test and deploy your code directly from GitHub, making it a super reliable CI/CD platform...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/automate-msi-building-using-github-actions.html
Power up your installation process with Advanced Installer’s integration with PowerShell. In our upcoming webinar, we'll explore how this dynamic duo can simplify the often overwhelming task of...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/webinar-powershell-integration.html
Electron is an open-source framework to develop desktop GUI applications using web technologies. It combines the Chromium rendering engine and the Node.js runtime.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/electron-msi-installer.html
Advanced Installer 20.3.2 was released on February 14th, 2023
One of the main challenges IT Pros face with application packages is the unattended installation. Unattended installations ensure that the same configuration is applied to all your active systems...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/silent-install-exe-using-powershell-and-cmd.html
In our previous articles, we discussed How to Set Automatic MSIX Downgrades with .appinstaller and the MS-AppInstaller Web Protocol, and now we will be discussing the technicalities of the .appin...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-app-installer.html
Advanced Installer 20.3.1 was released on February 7th, 2023
It's the beginning of a new year, and we at Advanced Installer are releasing our first product update of the year - Advanced Installer 20.3.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/start-page-design-updates-winui-migration.html
Have you encountered an .appx file and wondered what it is and what it can be used for?
Advanced Installer 20.3 was released on January 30th, 2023
As a vendor, you may often receive user complaints about the “Windows Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting" warning whenever they download your installer.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/prevent-smartscreen-from-appearing.html
Advanced Installer 20.2.1 was released on January 17th, 2023
By now, we all know the importance of a digital signature to secure our applications and how standard code signing certificates work.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/ev-code-signing-vs-regular-code-signing.html
It is commonly known that MSX technology comes with a set of limitations that most of the packagers must deal with, in spite of all its benefits.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/fix-dll-not-found-issue-in-msix.html
Although Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM) is still a very popular infrastructure management tool, many companies are moving to Azure and Intune.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-microsoft-intune.html
It is well known that whenever you install a .NET application, you need to add a .NET Framework prerequisite to your installation package.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/net-framework-prerequisite-install.html
When we install a Windows program, we often have to deal with MSI and EXE files.
We are pleased to announce the Automatic MSIX Conversion and Compatibility Analysis Framework, moving us one step forward in our mission to provide software engineers with the most robust MSIX te...
As IT Pros, we deal with all sorts of application installers developed by different software vendors. We also need to configure and customize each of those applications to fit our organization's ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/ways-of-handling-user-resources-in-msi.html
We are living in a digital era, and the need for trust and authenticity of digital documents, websites, and applications requires the use of a digital signature.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-code-signing-certificate.html
Advanced Installer 20.2 was released on December 14th, 2022
To make websites or applications available online, you need to host them on a web server.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-set-aspnet-version-for-application.html
22 years after its introduction, MSI is still the most widely used method of managing program installation. Microsoft released Windows Installer with Office 2000 to enable the application's admin...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/pros-and-cons-of-using-vbscript-in-msi-packaging.html
In our previous blog post, Azure Virtual Desktop - Step by Step Guide of Creating, Configuring and Managing your AVD setup, we took a look at how we can set up an Azure Virtual Desktop environmen...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-set-up-msix-app-attach.html
Environmental variables, as their name implies, are variables that specify the environment in which a program runs.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/set-up-environment-variables-in-msix.html
Advanced Installer 20.1.1 was released on November 23rd, 2022
Throughout their entire history, MSI applications have used Microsoft Windows Installer as an installation and configuration tool provided with Windows since version 2.0 for Windows XP and procee...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/per-user-per-machine-msi-installation.html
There are multiple ways to provide an extra layer of security for your applications in order to distribute them safely and build trust with your users. One of the most reliable methods is using S...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-pfx-certificate.html
Advanced Installer 20.1 was released on November 16th, 2022
When you install an application, you may notice that it can take quite a long time – especially when it needs prerequisites for a successful installation. And that happens because prerequisites...
We are over the moon to announce the release of the MSI Packaging Essentials Training and Certification Program, our first educational program dedicated to young IT Professionals who want to beco...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/free-msi-packaging-training-and-certification.html
Adobe Reader DC (Document Cloud) is one of the most popular tools to manage PDFs. Adobe Reader DC installation is an executable (EXE) file.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/package-adobe-reader-dc-for-avd-msix-appattach.html
Building an MSIX package for your app? Use the table below to check what Windows version you can target, depending on the features you are using.
IT professionals are now considering switching from App-V to MSIX technology more than ever, since main-stream support for App-V ended a few years back and extended support is due to end in a few...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/automate-appv5-to-msix-conversion.html
If you are part of a software development team, you know how valuable it is to have a single environment for your team work.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-team-foundation-server.html
In this article, you will get an overview of Windows Installer packages, what application packaging formats are available, and how to create your first MSI package.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-windows-installer-package.html
Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) is a fully developed technology that enterprises use to deliver Win32 applications as virtual applications.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-convert-appv5-to-msix.html
For the past 10+ years, I have worked with various projects and types of organizations as an Application Packager. During that time, I have witnessed some "elementary" mistakes that could have be...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/application-packaging-process.html
Sometimes, your end-users need quick updates to relevant information, such as software updates, discounts, or up-to-date documentation.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/send-custom-messages-through-updater.html
To keep up with the evolution of technology, the architecture of the processors shifted from 32 bit to 64 bit, as did the operating systems.Due to the rapid technological advancements, the logic ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-syswow64-folder-and-its-role.html
Advanced Installer 20.0 was released on October 18th, 2022
ClickOnce is a Microsoft deployment technology that facilitates deploying Windows applications.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/repackaging-clickonce-applications.html
The INI file format was introduced in the 90s with the release of Windows 3.0. It was the primary mechanism used to store configuration settings from applications and operating systems.
A digital signature guarantees the authenticity of an electronic document or message in an electronic format. In the software industry, code signing provides an added layer of security and trust ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/digital-signing-complete-guide.html
Advanced Installer news RSS feed
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-create-an-installer-for-a-net-windows-service.html
Starting with Windows 10 (version 20H2), Microsoft added the option to group MSIX Shortcuts in the Start Menu. This is a particularly convenient feature that was highly requested by the packaging...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/group-msix-shortcuts-in-start-menu.html
Advanced Installer 19.9 was released on September 14th, 2022
Jenkins is an open-source automation server that enables developers around the world to reliably build, test, and deploy their software.
In this article, we will learn what “Log on as a Service" is, when and where to use it, and how to enable it.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/log-on-as-a-service-policy.html
Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) tool made by Microsoft to build code, and publish applications. It is mainly used to develop different types of software—from comput...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-msi-installer-with-visual-studio.html
For some time now, Windows has run on machines powered by ARM processors. ARM processors are fascinating devices, and they became popular due to their excellent performance delivery at low energy...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/support-windows-11-on-arm.html
In this article, we'll talk about how Windows Installer defines the directory location of an installation, what the INSTALLDIR and TARGETDIR properties are, and what is the difference between the...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installdir-vs-targetdir.html
Command-line switches should be present in every setup installer. When it comes to MSI installers, they support command line switches by default.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/find-exe-silent-install-switches.html
Uninstalling a package is as important as installing it, so it's crucial to handle it with care.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-uninstall-msi-package.html
Advanced Installer 19.8 was released on August 17th, 2022
Advanced Installer 19.8.1 was released on August 17th, 2022
Process Monitor is probably one of the most used tools by IT Pros to debug applications and check installations. We mentioned Process Monitor in our MSI Packaging Training free e-book but this ti...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/process-monitor-beginner-guide.html
Advanced Installer 19.7.1 was released on August 1st, 2022
We are aware of how challenging it is to add or edit menu items for unpackaged desktop applications to the new Windows 11 context menu.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/adding-items-to-windows-11-context-menu.html
With the release of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22567, Microsoft added a new security feature called Smart App Control (or SAC in short).
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/smart-app-control-windows-11-compatibility.html
Advanced Installer 19.7 was released on July 18th, 2022
Manually repackaging batch applications can be time consuming, especially when you have to deploy the applications on more than one computer.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/automating-sccm-apps-repackaging.html
Installer testing and application testing are two completely different subjects, even though they can seem very similar.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/application-testing-vs-installation-testing.html
Software packaging is the process of building an installer that includes all your applications' resources and can be used to distribute them on the end-user devices.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-software-packaging.html
Advanced Installer 19.6 was released on June 23rd, 2022
A ProductCode is made up of string GUIDs containing numbers and uppercase letters.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msi-retrieve-productcode.html
MSIX packages lack built-in support for installing a desktop shortcut. This is mainly because Microsoft recommends that user preferences are exclusively chosen by the user. So, for instance, crea...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/handle-desktop-shortcuts-through-msix.html
Product analytics is a core part of a business’s success.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/tracking-desktop-installations-properties.html
Continuously managing security improvements and updates, as we do at Advanced Installer, should be your top priority.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/security-updates-auto-updater.html
Depending on whether we're installing or updating an application, we need to use different types of files. For instance, we use MSI files when installing Windows applications, but if we want to m...
Many popular Windows features like Notifications, File Explorer Context Menu or Shares cannot be used by non-(MSIX)-packaged Win32 applications.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/introducing-msix-sparse-packaging.html
Silent installs are the preferred delivery method within an enterprise environment given that end-users don't have to worry about installing or having technical knowledge and just focus on using ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/silent-install-builder.html
A “Sparse” package contains an AppxManifest.xml but, unlike a regular/full package, the manifest can reference files outside its package in a predetermined 'external location’.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-create-sparse-package.html
A toast notification is a message that your app can create and deliver to your user while they are not currently inside your app.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-show-toast-notification-for-updates.html
Advanced Installer 19.5 was released on May 23rd, 2022
We use MSI or EXE files whenever we install a Windows application, so we're pretty used to them. But, what is an MSI file, and what makes it different from an EXE file? What’s the easiest way t...
Code signing is one of the most reliable ways to secure and authentify that our code is trustworthy. It is achieved by signing executables and scripts using a digital certificate with a unique cr...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/code-signing-with-signtool.html
Although not as popular and widely adopted as MSI, ClickOnce has been around for some time in the application packaging industry. ClickOnce enables you to create self-updating Windows-based appli...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-replace-clickonce-with-msix.html
In March 2022, we launched “The Installer Testing Guide” ebook (if you don’t have it already, grab your free copy now).
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/webinar-announcement-installer-testing-guide.html
With Advanced Installer’s PowerShell automation, you can automatically create the Updates Configuration File –the one placed on your server and used by the Updater to determine if there are a...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/generate-updates-config-file-azure-devops.html
As a developer or ISV, you spend most of your time developing and improving applications to meet your users’ needs.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/built-in-functionality-context-menu-items.html
If you are a System Administrator, IT Pro, or Developer, and want to find out how to perform a silent MSI or EXE installation – this article is for you!
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/silent-install-exe-msi-applications.html
Advanced Installer 19.4 was released on April 26th, 2022
In this article we’ll go through how you can preserve customizations between IIS (Internet Information Services) updates in just one-click.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/preserve-customizations-iis-updates.html
Prior to Windows 10 version 2004, if your MSIX package contained an HKCU registry and your application tried to modify it, the operation would crash.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/app-crash-when-modify-msix-user-registry.html
Applications behave differently when running within an MSIX container. For example, you cannot set a non-executable file as a target for your application by default.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/launch-bat-file-from-msix-shortcut.html
We extremely recommend you to validate an MSI before attempting to install it for the first time.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/ice-validation-and-how-to-fix-errors.html
In this ever-changing tech world, we are constantly adapting to keep up with the changes and remain relevant in the software sector we work in.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installer-testing-guide-for-developers-isvs.html
Advanced Installer 19.3 was released on March 21st, 2022
You are invited to join our upcoming LIVE Webinar to see a demo where Advanced Installer presents its own GitHub Action integration, and learn how to use it.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/webinar-automate-msi-github-actions.html
In our previous article titled "How to automate the MSI building using GitHub Actions", we saw how you can use Advanced Installer's own GitHub Action to automate the build of your MSI packages.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/code-signing-with-github-actions.html
In this article, we will take a look at how MSIX technology handles log files whenever an installation issue occurs.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/troubleshooting-msix-installation-errors.html
What's the most efficient way to perform quick edits to an MSI package?
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/edit-msi-file-with-orca-and-alternative.html
Advanced Installer 19.2 was released on February 21st, 2022
MSIX has been available for almost four years now, since Microsoft first announced it. Although 2021 did not deliver all of the advances I had hoped for, I was pleased to see MSIX adoption contin...
When Win32 applications run inside an MSIX container, they behave differently than when they are installed natively. Because of that, we come across errors in the operations we often perform.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/file-redirection-limitation-msix-container.html
With Intune, Microsoft made it easier to deploy MSIX/APPX packages in your infrastructure.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/deploy-msix-packages-with-intune.html
Virtual Machines are not a new concept in the business world. In fact, companies are very familiar with services such as VMWare and Citrix to handle specific tasks, like giving users access to ap...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-azure-virtual-desktop.html
Advanced Installer 19.1 was released on January 20th, 2022
Based on my experience, when working with beginner IT Pros who are starting out with MSIX, there's a common misconception when defining registry keys.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-registry-not-visible.html
In 2018, MSIX was announced by Microsoft as the new universal package format for Windows 10 apps with the later support on desktop, mobile, and other Windows 10 devices.
Python is one of the most widely used programming languages, due to its versatility. In a previous article, we covered how to create an MSI for a Python application, where we first converted the ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/create-msix-for-python-app.html
Sometimes, we have a package folder in our MSIX, containing files that are not part of the redirected locations list. Since all the folders need to be part of the known-VFS list, we need to use a...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-tweaker-automate-package-validation.html
Advanced Installer was the first application to fully support MSIX technology – and we truly believe in its power.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-fix-msix-limitations-with-psf.html
We've received inquiries from users that encounter issues with the SCCM cache folder.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/restore-missing-msi-sccm-cache-folder.html
Advanced Installer 19.0 was released on December 17th, 2021
On December 10th, 2021, the CVE-2021-44228 was released, documenting a major vulnerability with Apache Log4j.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/log4j-vulnerability-update.html
Live Q&A Webinar with MSI Packaging author - Your chance to get all of your MSI questions answered
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/webinar-announcement-msi-ebook.html
This article will teach you how to configure an Azure Key Vault Digital Signature in a TeamCity Pipeline.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/configure-key-vault-digital-signature-teamcity.html
Advanced Installer 18.9.1 was released on December 2nd, 2021
When developing software, the codebase is always growing, making it difficult to navigate. Software engineers use continuous integration (CI) technologies like TeamCity to address this.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/configure-build-step-teamcity-pipeline.html
Advanced Installer 18.9 was released on November 23rd, 2021
Get a quick 5,000 words introduction that will bring you up to speed with the latest packaging and deployment technology for Windows.
MSIX uses the same PowerShell cmdlets available for AppX packages. But Microsoft added aliases for them not to create confusion between the AppX and MSIX packages.Let’s go through some of them ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-powershell-cmdlets.html
We are pleased to announce that we will be attending this year's AppManagEvent conference, which will take place in the Netherlands on November 12th.
Digitally signing your application is not only mandatory, it is an essential step to making your software secure and trustworthy.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/jenkins-configure-digital-signature.html
Advanced Installer 18.8.1 was released on November 3rd, 2021
Jenkins is one of the most famous Continuous Integration tools, similar to TeamCity, that allows developers to easily integrate changes into their build on a continuous basis.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/configure-build-step-jenkins-pipeline.html
A few days ago, we released a new version of Advanced Installer 18.8.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/announcement-installer-ui-modernization.html
We are so proud to announce Alex Marin’s brand new work: the MSI Packaging ebook - visit the link to get your free copy.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/announcement-msi-packaging.html
Why does my MSIX app fail to find files from the package? The short answer is that this is related to how the files inside the VFS folder are, or are not, virtualized.
Advanced Installer 18.8 was released on October 20th, 2021
Sometimes we need to perform quick edits to our MSI packages without having to create a new project or going through the whole repackaging process.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-edit-msi-package.html
On September 21st, 2021, the Morphisec team published an article explaining how a PowerShell script can be used to deploy malware via an MSI installation package.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/powershell-malware-detection.html
There's a certain feeling of relief and achievement when we finally launch our application to the Microsoft Store.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/update-msix-app-microsoft-store.html
Windows 11's official release on October 5th, 2021 brings significant updates to the software industry which have direct implications in current application packaging processes.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/windows-11-application-packaging.html
Advanced Installer 18.7 was released on September 21st, 2021
During the installation process of WebApps, there are cases where users are asked to select an SSL certificate. This is because this certificate is used by the IIS elements.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/bind-ssl-certificate-during-upgrade.html
Advanced Installer 18.6.1 was released on August 30th, 2021
We got a question in the Advanced Installer forum about the possibility of passing arguments to a service when the parameters are received from a configuration file, such as an .INI file.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/passing-arguments-ini-file.html
Advanced Installer 18.6 was released on August 25th, 2021
Advanced Installer news RSS feed
Sometimes we need to have a single distribution package as an MSIX, which includes MSIX supported features along with MSI features that are no longer available (such as old drivers).
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/trigger-msi-from-msix-using-powershell.html
In the packaging industry, we're used to using application dependencies very often. And with the transition from MSI to MSIX, we have more options to declare and handle them.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/handle-prerequisites-msix-dependencies.html
Advanced Installer 18.5 was released on July 27th, 2021
There are scenarios where you need to change a file version programmatically with each launch. To achieve that, we will set an installer property that changes with each release and then uses its ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/get-exe-version-programmatically.html
One of the main things we need to consider when performing a Major Upgrade is how we will backup and restore our previous files and folders.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/backup-restore-files-major-upgrade.html
MSIX delivered Shared Package Containers to allow applications to share their files and registries, enabling classic Win32 apps to communicate with each other without changing any code.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-shared-containers.html
You are invited to join the upcoming webinar "The most common packaging mistakes that developers make. And how to avoid them." where Bogdan Mitrache, Product Manager Advanced Installer, will show...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/developers-common-packaging-mistakes.html
While for MSIs, this was an optional step, signing your MSIX package is mandatory. Microsoft’s MSIX technology requires the use of code signing certificates to deploy packages.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-certificates-developer.html
Advanced Installer 18.4 was released on June 28th, 2021
If there's something we've mentioned over and over again about MSIX is that it requires digital signing. We have a diversity of resources regarding this topic, from why it is a good practice to i...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-azure-key-vault-signing.html
Announced in 2018, MSIX was presented by Microsoft as the universal package format. Although it may not be widely known, the MSIX technology retains the functionalities for translations and local...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-package-localization.html
In order to allow a program to execute, you must first register its extension as a DLL or OCX.
Over the years, we've received many questions regarding how Custom Actions work with PowerShell scripts in MSI.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/powershell-custom-actions-msi.html
Advanced Installer 18.3 was released on May 24th, 2021
Many of us are aware of the importance of securing our applications and how digital signatures are a solid way to avoid security breaches. For those looking into MSIX, you must know that Microsof...
Your application's installer is the very first direct interaction of users with your product. And, a positive first impression is essential for the success of any software.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/software-packaging-best-practices.html
A while ago we released a free tool for APP-V called TweakAPPV at Advanced Installer. Our purpose with this tool was to take App-V 5.x editing from the command-line to a new level by offering ful...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-tweaker-automating-digital-signing.html
The method to replace an existing configuration file varies depending on the application installer's format. For example, whether it's a vendor MSI from an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) or an...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/replace-file-existing-installer-msi.html
Advanced Installer 18.2 was released on April 23rd, 2021
Self-healing, also known as self-repair, is one of the major benefits of the Windows Installer technology. In simple words, it ensures packages are secure and resilient by automatically checking ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msi-self-healing-file-extensions.html
“Your package is not digitally signed”.. “The certificate is not installed on your machine”.. “A new package is already installed..”
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-troubleshooter-announcement.html
Many applications keep settings or configurations in files that later get stored in per-user based locations, such as %appdata% or %localappdata% folders.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/handling-appdata-custom-actions.html
Advanced Installer 18.1.1 was released on March 25th, 2021
We all know that MSIX is an evolving technology - but it is not a fix-all for all the situations we encounter when running Windows applications.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/app-compatibility-issues-msix.html
Advanced Installer 18.1 was released on March 23rd, 2021
In this article, we will explore what happens during a Windows Installer registration and what are the repercussions that appear if you don't register your MSI during installation.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msi-windows-installer-registration.html
Applications often require different types of permissions to operate smoothly - so adding permissions to files, folders, and registry keys is a standard practice in MSI.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/different-ways-add-permissions-msi.html
Did you package Notepad++ as an MSIX, and need to add extra plugins to it?
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/notepad-plus-plugins-msix.html
Advanced Installer 18.0 was released on February 22nd, 2021
With the experience of unfortunate security breaches in recent years, the focus of making safe and reliable applications has increased in the software industry. This is why adding a digital signa...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/digital-signature-timestamp.html
Microsoft Visual Studio is the most popular integrated development environment (IDE) among Windows developers. It supports a large variety of programming languages including C, C++, C#, F#, Visua...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-package-in-visual-studio.html
It has been almost a year since we started building MSI and MSIX packages for Advanced Installer. The first versions were purely for internal testing and evaluation of potential show stoppers (el...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/bandwidth-savings-with-msix.html
On December 2nd of 2020, MSIX Packaging Fundamentals book authors Tim Mangan, Bogdan Mitrache, and Kevin Kaminski answered a series of questions within the MSIX Packaging Fundamentals Q&A live we...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-packaging-fundamentals-webinar-summary.html
As we've emphasized before, we're big fans of MSIX technology here at Advanced Installer. It has brought more control to developers when it comes to their packages -- as it includes options for r...
Advanced Installer 17.9 was released on January 25th, 2021
In my experience, CustomActions can be difficult to add and set up, especially in MSI, often requiring reviewing lengthy documentation or dealing with unexpected failures or bugs. If you started ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/access-installer-properties-using-custom-action-data.html
In this article, you will learn how to configure and build an Advanced Installer Visual Studio Project(AIPROJ) from an Azure DevOps pipeline.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/visual-studio-project-from-azure-devops-pipeline.html
Advanced Installer 17.8 was released on December 21st, 2020
In a previous article we had a look on how Environment Variables work with MSIX. We now know that in MSIX, Environment Variables are redefined as AppExecutionAlias.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/environment-variables-types-in-msix.html
As software packagers, we know the struggle that comes with new technologies. And there's no need to sugarcoat it -- is downright stressful.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/smart-psf-msix-fixups.html
Up until 2020, Windows Services were not supported in MSIX -- which represented a blocker for organizations looking to transition their applications (that used Windows Services) to MSIX technolog...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-windows-services.html
TL;DR: Let's put it bluntly, you should never set a CustomAction to “Immediate” when you intend to change the system state.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/immediate-vs-deferred-custom-action.html
In this article we are going to talk about the application repackaging process and more specifically: what is a Repackager, what can you do with it, how can it help you in your daily job - either...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/what-is-the-repackager.html
Advanced Installer 17.7 was released on November 25th, 2020
Working with Azure DevOps pipelines can be a tedious task, especially if you have to perform updates on complex pipelines or make the necessary configurations to each of them in a short amount of...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/azure-devops-pipeline-powershell-automation.html
In 2018, Microsoft delivered a breakthrough packaging technology to enable a flawless application packaging process, including enhanced features to help IT Pros and Developers carry out updates a...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-packaging-fundamentals-free-ebook-announcement.html
Ever wonder how an MSI registration ProductID is created?When installing an MSI, it registers on the system with a "strange" ProductID (different from regular ProductIDs) which is sometimes trick...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msi-registration-productid.html
Scripts have been traditionally used by ISVs to add Custom Actions to their applications and make changes to the environment. They have been present in MSI and App-V packaging formats for ages, w...
Nowadays CI/CD(Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery) pipeline became a best practice for developers and DevOps helping them to manage the software process in a much easier and automated...
There are numerous cloud services available for software developers, and some of them can be almost forgotten until we need them. And when we need them, they turn out to be invaluable.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/using-azure-key-vault.html
Advanced Installer 17.6 was released on October 22nd, 2020
A firewall is a network security system that can be found on any modern operating system. It's purpose is to act as a barrier against network-based intrusions, to monitor and control incoming and...
Release management and version control go hand in hand when delivering quality software, whether you are a solo developer or part of a development team.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/github-integration-for-updater.html
Digital signing is an important stage of an application packaging cycle and can be achieved by code signing your own software’s certificates. By digitally signing your software, you prove your ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/azure-devops-configure-digital-signature.html
Microsoft recently came out with an MSIX-related packaging format called the MSIX Bundle, which includes safer and more reliable deployments as well as auto-updates and improved widespread suppor...
Advanced Installer 17.5 was released on September 22nd, 2020
Managing an infrastructure doesn’t only require updating software, creating OS deployments, or applying GPOs (Group Policy Object).
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-app-inventory-sccm.html
MSIX packages are installed by default per-user, and the option to provision per-machine MSIX applications is possible through SCCM - which is not yet available in Task Sequences.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-sccm-task-sequence.html
Advanced Installer 17.4.1 was released on September 7th, 2020
In today's article, we're bringing a specific scenario into discussion and proposing the right solution to manage similar situations.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/no-manual-installs-in-sccm.html
Application Packaging itself is just a small step within the whole process, starting with the application being requested by the business, and resulting in a finished product that is rolled out t...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/application-management-challenges.html
Advanced Installer 17.4 was released on August 26th, 2020
If you missed out on our previous blog articles about MSIX, make sure to check out this comprehensive guide to get insights about the technology and the changes it brings to the industry. To cont...
In a previous article , we went over handling the migration from System Center Configuration Manager 2012 to Configuration Manager Current Branch using the 1902 baseline version.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/sccm-in-console-2002-update.html
Environment variables are settings or paths that are set outside of a program and can be globally accessed by any software.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-environment-variables.html
With App-V packages closing to end-of-life (2026), the reality of a transition to MSIX is much closer and many are starting to research the ins and outs of what it entails. Although we now know t...
Advanced Installer 17.3 was released on July 29th, 2020
Starting with version 17.3, Advanced Installer natively supports Device Guard Signing. This feature is of most use for the vendors to prepare their software product installers to be used in enter...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/device-guard-signing-integration.html
When building a new version of an installation package, you should pay attention not only to adding improvements but also ensuring a seamless upgrade to the old version.
On a recent post, we explored how MSIX deployments are done via SCCM, covering the scenario when a per-user installation is needed.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/per-machine-deployment-msix-sccm.html
If you have ever wondered how fonts are installed in an MSIX package or if you want to master all MSIX concepts, you landed on the perfect page. In the following article, we’ll see how to add a...
Recently, in one of our previous articles, we covered how MSIX redirects user data to specific locations.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-disable-registry-file-redirection.html
Recently, one of our users has asked us if it is possible to install, through Advanced Installer, a service under a Managed Service Account (MSA).
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/managed-service-accounts-installing-service.html
Advanced Installer 17.2 was released on June 30th, 2020
To help with the MSIX transition, Microsoft has released the Package Support Framework (PSF) - an open-source framework that enables you to apply runtime fixups for issues that might appear when ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/package-support-framework-introduction.html
You've finished building your MSIX application, and it's time to share it with the rest of the world.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-publish-microsoft-store.html
Although not necessarily common practice, there are some instances where you would want to prevent users from uninstalling specific MSIX packages such as monitoring software that is required to g...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/disable-msix-uninstallation.html
Advanced Installer 17.1.2 was released on June 17th, 2020
MSIX Modification Package is a type of MSIX package format introduced by Microsoft with the goal of decoupling customizations from the main application. Launched with the release of their MSIX pa...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-modification-package-introduction.html
Advanced Installer 17.1.1 was released on May 28th, 2020
Advanced Installer 17.1 was released on May 27th, 2020
Automation. A word heavily used around industries, especially the software one. A word that arouses great interest for every manager, service, or business owner.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/software-packaging-automation.html
Every new MSIX package we build allows us to learn more and improve the tools we build. The whole Advanced Installer team got involved.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-ready-announcement.html
Although it’s a rare scenario - you might run into the situation where you need to continue the installation of a certain application after reboot. We are talking about a silent installation th...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/how-to-continue-installation-after-reboot.html
As a standard, Advanced Installer automatically creates the components when generating the product package. The automatic process respects a strict set of Windows Installer rules, together with a...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/windows-installer-components-and-features.html
Advanced Installer 17.0 was released on April 27th, 2020
We learned in How does Files Redirection work with MSIX that user data files, either from the project or created by executables, are automatically redirected to: %localappdata%packagesPublisherNa...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-temp-folder-access.html
Every software packaging department has its own rules when it comes to MSI - whether we talk about naming convention (package naming, product naming) or package description and comments.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/package-versioning-best-practices.html
Nowadays, with Windows 7 running out of extended support, for those organizations who have not migrated to Windows 10 yet there is a race against time.
Advanced Installer 16.9 was released on March 17th, 2020
Advanced Installer 16.8.1 was released on March 9th, 2020
In this article, we go through:
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/appdata-localappdata-programdata.html
Lessons I have learned from making many mistakes in my enterprise software packaging newbie (and not only) years.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/do-not-delete-windows-installer-folder.html
Advanced Installer 16.8 was released on February 18th, 2020
In our IT Pro world, the best practice we have in place regarding app deployment is that all applications are installable per machine. No matter if it’s an MSI, EXE, or other custom types of in...
The purpose of this article is to show you how redirection works and how you can add your user files in the project using Advanced Installer GUI.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-files-redirection.html
In this article, we went through the process of building an MSI package for an Electron application and we have delved into how to parametrize a setting within the newly created Electron MSI pack...
When it comes to registry inside the MSIX container, we all know that by default there is no direct access from the machine.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/registry-in-msix-container-hover.html
Advanced Installer 16.7 was released on January 15th, 2020
Just think about how many times you needed to debug your applications.And every single time you repeat the long commands in PowerShell , you wish it was a better alternative out there. Well, we f...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/cmd-in-msix-container-hover.html
If you want to upload an MSIX to the Microsoft Store, you might be overwhelmed by the process, or not know where to start. This article makes each step clear – you’ll have your app up and run...
Advanced Installer 16.6.1 was released on December 17th, 2019
In our previous MSIX related blog articles, we’ve approached some of the MSIX particularities and different scenarios such as Digital Signing, MSIX Deployment via SCCM, MS-AppInstaller Web Prot...
Advanced Installer 16.6 was released on December 12th, 2019
Web protocols are not something new to the table. We have been using them for years, and they make our life a bit easier.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/ms-appinstaller-protocol.html
This article explores Microsoft's recommended solution for managing your Startup applications, when deployed as an MSIX package.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/startup-programs-msix.html
For those new to Windows deployment/management, Windows Installer is Microsoft's solution used for the installation, removal, but also maintenance of software. Windows Installer was released for ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/role-based-guide-to-windows-installer.html
Advanced Installer 16.5 was released on November 13th, 2019
There are multiple package formats used for deploying Windows applications, the most well-known being the MSI – Windows Installer. If you didn't know already, an MSI is a database that can be e...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/mst-wise-package-studio.html
Will you be at Microsoft Ignite this November? Because we will definitely be there.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/microsoft-ignite-2019.html
In November 2015, Microsoft released the first edition of System Center Configuration Manager called SCCM (Current Branch) 1511. And since then, Microsoft decided to change its name to “SCCM YY...
Advanced Installer 16.4.1 was released on October 10th, 2019
Advanced Installer 16.4 was released on October 8th, 2019
If you are in the software packaging business, you might have heard of WIX bootstrapper. This was released by Microsoft back in 2004, and it was the first ever open source license project for the...
One fundamental rule in almost any enterprise regarding applications is to disable the auto-updates feature. However, from an enterprise point of view, it makes sense.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/disable-updates-chrome-enterprise.html
Advanced Installer 16.3 was released on September 4th, 2019
Sometimes you might end up in a situation when you cannot uninstall a package. We already covered how you can recache an MSI in our user guide. However, we noticed that this might not work for tr...
VLC media player (or in short VLC) is an open-source, cross-platform media player created by VideoLan. At the moment, its one of the most popular players on the market.Let’s see if we can conve...
A few years ago, we were used to rebooting our machines to complete installations; nowadays, applications that require a restart are becoming a thing of the past.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/capture-applications-which-require-a-reboot.html
Advanced Installer 16.2 was released on August 1st, 2019
Notepad++ is the most popular free source code editor. Since MSIX is the future of packaging, let’s see how we can repackage Notepad++ to MSIX by using Advanced Installer.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/notepad-plus-plus-msix.html
Advanced Installer 16.1 was released on July 2nd, 2019
Let’s assume that you have an application that installs files or registry in a user location. In this article we explain how you can install that information for all users by using MSI, APP-V o...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/appdata-msi-msix-appv.html
In the lifecycle of an application package, it comes a point when an update is required. Whether we want to fix minor bugs and vulnerabilities, or we come up with some improvements and big change...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/major-upgrade-vs-patch.html
In January 2020, Windows 7 end of life support comes in place. This means that users won’t receive any updates from Microsoft, and companies have to pay extra for the next three years if they w...
Advanced Installer 16.0 was released on May 28th, 2019
Blender is a free and open source 3D creation suite which includes a variety of tools such as Modeling, Rendering, Animation, Video Editing and many types of Simulations. Its source file can be d...
All MSIX packages must be digitally signed, no exception. In order to digitally sign your MSIX package, you can use a self-signed certificate. However, you need to ensure that same certificate us...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/install-test-certificate-from-msix.html
Wise Installer was one of the most popular software tool used for creating application installers. It’s discontinued from 2013, but until then not many changes were added to it since the origin...
In our days, many apps offer you a context menu. A context menu is a pop-up menu that appears after a user interaction, for example, in Windows, when you perform a right-click. However, there are...
Before we begin, it is important we know that starting with SCCM version 1806, MSIX application is supported in System Center Configuration Manager. Integrating MSIX apps in previous versions, do...
Advanced Installer 15.9 was released on April 23rd, 2019
If we check the official Microsoft documentation about PackageName and appID, we can see that in theory, there aren’t so many differences between them.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-packagename-app-id.html
Java is one of the most recognized frameworks, made popular by many things, the most important of all WORA (Write once, run anywhere). But, if you want to run any type of Java code on a machine, ...
The Environment Table is used to create and set the values of environment variables.
Hover is a free application that allows you to run natively installed applications inside an MSIX/App-V container.
There are times when you need to install multiple applications at once, either EXEs or MSIs; we call this a suite installation. Wise Installer was one of the most popular software tool used for c...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/suites-installer-wise-vs-advanced-installer.html
There are four main methods of deploying an MSIX application. Publishing in Microsoft Store and Sideloading are methods that target unmanaged devices while Deploying via SCCM and Deploying via In...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-deployment-options.html
Opposite to old Win32 apps, Modern Windows 10 apps come with full control of their access, just like modern mobile apps. You can control their access to certain APIs or resources like pictures, m...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/allow-elevation-msix-packages.html
Google Chrome is one of the most popular browsers on the market at the moment. For enterprise use and deployment, Google offers the Chrome browser as an MSI installer.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/google-chrome-enterprise-msix.html
We know 13th Jan 2015 is the date when Microsoft's mainstream support for Windows 7 ended. Since then, Microsoft has continued to provide security updates for free and will do this until 14th Jan...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/windows-7-extended-support-pricing.html
Advanced Installer 15.8 was released on March 20th, 2019
Advanced Installer 15.7 was released on February 13th, 2019
Advanced Installer 15.6 was released on January 8th, 2019
As a Microsoft partner, Advanced Installer supports all the official Windows versions, and we will continue to do so with every new update, but as the platform evolves, so does our application. E...
This year our team was invited to hold a technical session at Microsoft Ignite, showcasing our latest MSIX support. You can find the original recording of the session and the slides on the confer...
Advanced Installer 15.5.1 was released on November 27th, 2018
Migrate your legacy application to the new MSIX packaging standard by using Advanced Installer’s built-in support for Microsoft’s Package Support Framework.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/package-support-framework.html
Advanced Installer 15.5 was released on November 21st, 2018
Advanced Installer 15.4.1 was released on October 26th, 2018
Advanced Installer 15.4 was released on October 17th, 2018
Package once, deploy anywhere. Package and deliver applications for the entire Windows 10 platform in the new MSIX file format, using the latest version of Advanced Installer. Get your app in fro...
Advanced Installer 15.3 was released on September 12th, 2018
Extend and update your MSIX packages by taking advantage of the power and functionality of modification packages.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msix-modification-package.html
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service that can be used for managing mobile devices, protecting company information, and ensuring devices/applications used, meet your company's security polici...
Advanced Installer 15.2 was released on August 13th, 2018
Target multiple architectures and platform types by creating APPX bundles with Advanced Installer.
Advanced Installer 15.1 was released on July 23rd, 2018
Advanced Installer 15.0.1 was released on July 9th, 2018
Advanced Installer 15.0 was released on June 28th, 2018
Advanced Installer 14.9 was released on May 24th, 2018
False positives virus detection is a common occurrence when installing software; learn why they happen and how you might prevent them, before deploying your application to your users.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/false-positive-virus-detection.html
Advanced Installer 14.8 was released on April 16th, 2018
Create a single package for all Windows platforms, the promise of MSIX, Microsoft’s vision for the future of Windows Installer. MSIX is a complete containerization solution which inherits all t...
Localize your Universal Windows Platform(APPX) package and target any language you require.
Advanced Installer 14.7 was released on March 7th, 2018
Self-repair is one of the most powerful functionalities Windows Installer offers. It gives the ability to check and fix broken packages automatically, saving you valuable development time.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/windows-installer-self-repair.html
Advanced Installer 14.6 was released on February 19th, 2018
Advanced Installer 14.5.2 was released on December 7th, 2017
Advanced Installer 14.5.1 was released on November 29th, 2017
Advanced Installer 14.5 was released on November 27th, 2017
Automatically migrate your project customizations from the first version of a repackaged application, while repackaging a newer version.
Advanced Installer 14.4.2 was released on November 14th, 2017
Advanced Installer 14.4.1 was released on November 8th, 2017
Easily create new PowerShell scripts or integrate existing ones into your installer with the predefined custom actions.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/powershell-custom-actions.html
Advanced Installer 14.4 was released on October 26th, 2017
Adding a service to your project is as simple as going to the Services page, pressing the New Service button and selecting it.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installing-windows-services.html
Advanced Installer 14.3 was released on September 18th, 2017
Advanced Installer projects can now be built on your hosted agents using our extensions and Azure DevOps, making the packaging process a lot smoother for your team.
Synchronizing folders can make the installer creation process faster and easier by automatically detecting and syncing to Advanced Installer changes made to the installer files on your disk.
Advanced Installer 14.2.1 was released on August 18th, 2017
Reach more users, create installers for an international market with just a few clicks.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/language-selection-dialog.html
Getting your application in the Windows Store can be at times a difficult process, this is why Advanced Installer helps you with Windows App Certification Kit(WACK) validation, to make sure your ...
Advanced Installer 14.2 was released on July 26th, 2017
Building packages can be quite challenging and complicated at times, this is why Advanced Installer offers a way to have an overview of your package content as well as creating reports to documen...
Advanced Installer comes with a multitude of languages built-in, but there are cases when you need to localize a new language or change an existing one.
In a global market, it is essential to make the installation process of your software as easy to understand as possible; localizing your installer UI is one of the most important actions you can ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/multilingual-packages.html
Advanced Installer 14.1.1 was released on June 30th, 2017
Advanced Installer 14.1 was released on June 27th, 2017
A deep dive into our recent major release, Advanced Installer 14, on the updates it brings for Windows 10 Creators Update.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/windows-10-creators-update.html
Install numerous instances of your application on a single machine by using Advanced Installer’s built-in Multiple Instances feature.
The fastest way to a modern application package format that will streamline your application deployment on Windows 10.
Advanced Installer 14.0.2 was released on May 19th, 2017
If you are attending BUILD, in Seattle, visit the Advanced Installer booth on the expo floor. We’ve got some great new tools to showcase from our latest release. Together with our Microsoft col...
Advanced Installer 14.0.1 was released on May 9th, 2017
Advanced Installer 14.0 was released on May 7th, 2017
Debug your desktop application inside an MSIX app container using the Visual Studio extension from Advanced Installer Professional edition, or higher.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/debug-msix-packaged-apps.html
The digital transformation has changed the way users work across a new generation of devices. If in the past, traditional computers were the only gateway to the digital world for both enterprise ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/distribute-apps-using-desktop-bridge.html
Make your application stand out from the crowd, use native tiles. You can easily customize how your tile looks in the in Start Menu with options like custom logos, colors and more.
Advanced Installer 13.8.1 was released on April 4th, 2017
Advanced Installer 13.8 was released on March 30th, 2017
Simplify and customize your installer conditions by using the MSI Condition Editor. With features like Auto-complete, Validate or Expression Wizard, you will ensure that your conditions are alway...
Every application is a puzzle for IT professionals to figure out when it comes to a customized, silent deployment. What switches will the setup accept? How can automatic updates be disabled? How ...
Transforms enable fast and easy MSI preparing for automatic deployment. Create responsive and differential transforms with just a few clicks, following our wizard.
As a Visual Studio Industry Partner, we at Caphyon are always working together with Microsoft to improve the Visual Studio experience of our users. To see how Visual Studio and Advanced Installer...
In the latest Windows Insiders update there is a new OS-level switch that allows users to block installation of Win32 apps outside of the Windows Store. This means your MSI/EXE setups may no long...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/win32-app-install-switch.html
Advanced Installer 13.7 was released on February 27th, 2017
Document your repackaging process and save time on package maintenance operations and training new packagers, by using the Repackager Assistant.
Recently I have been seeing many queries regarding shortcut icon not displayed after publishing a virtualized App-V 5.x package. The answer would be quite simple. But I would like to demonstrate ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/missing-shortcut-icon.html
Advanced Installer 13.6 was released on February 15th, 2017
Take full control over your MSI tables with Advanced Installer's built-in editor. Extend the easy to use options from our GUI, and customize your package just as you need to.
Automation is never enough. Save time, eliminate human errors and streamline your build process with the predefined support for build events from Advanced Installer.
Know your users, understand how they use your application and improve it to fit their requirements. Get live insights on how many unique users launch your application daily and how many times the...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/desktop-app-analytics.html
The installation is the first experience your users have, before using your application. ICEs help make sure your installer is compliant with the Windows standards for application packaging and d...
With the help of Office add-ins, you can make solutions that improve Office programs by adding new features and functions and letting you interact with the content in documents.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/office-addin-deployment.html
Advanced Installer 13.5 was released on December 14th, 2016
If you're a software vendor doing multiple releases a year, you're bound to hit (and hate) this problem - false-positive detection by antivirus solutions. It's just one of the neverending problem...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/antivirus-whitelisting.html
The Notes pane in Advanced Installer allows you to add comments just as you do when you write code for your application. Saving from the horrible task of having to edit the .AIP source file in ra...
Starting with version 2.9 of Installer Analytics you can integrate our service with Google Analytics and take your data analysis to the next level.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/google-analytics-integration.html
Advanced Installer 13.4 was released on November 16th, 2016
Set up your complete development environment using the Advanced Installer extension for Visual Studio. This feature is available in all editions, including Freeware, and our support starts with V...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/visual-studio-extension.html
The latest version of Installers Analytics is now live. Version 3.0 brings you a completely new insight on your installations data, exposing precise information on how many successful, cancelled ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installer-analytics-30.html
The built-in virtual machines manager from Advanced Installer allows you to test your MSI installations inside a VM with just a click. Connect your Hyper-V or VMware machines to our manager and w...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/virtual-machines-testing.html
Advanced Installer 13.3 was released on October 31st, 2016
Starting with version 2.9 of Installer Analytics you can integrate our service with Mixpanel to gain deeper insights from your data.
Advanced Installer 13.2.2 was released on October 19th, 2016
Grab a sneak peek on the latest features we’ve included in version 2.9 of Installer Analytics. The most important mentions being: integrations with other analytics platforms, time zone bounded ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installer-analytics-29.html
Advanced Installer 13.2.1 was released on October 13th, 2016
Starting with version 13.2, all future versions of Advanced Installer are using a new engine to manage prerequisites installations, multiple language and multiple instances support.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/bootstrapper-132-changes.html
The MSI Conflict Detector is a tool that allows you to monitor a repository of MSI packages (no matter with what tool they were built) for breaking conflicts. It can be run manually with full UI ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/msi-conflict-detector.html
TweakAppV is a free tool from Advanced Installer that takes App-V 5.x editing, from the command-line to a new level, by offering full access to the package contents. You can automate any operatio...
Advanced Installer 13.2 was released on October 6th, 2016
For the 5th year in a row the Advanced Installer team is proud to sponsor the AppManagEvent conference. This is the place to be if you want to learn more about application packaging, virtualizati...
Come and talk to us in Paris on October 4-5, at Microsoft experiences'16. You can find us at the ExperTeam booth, our official partner in France.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/microsoft-experiences-2016.html
It has been some time since we made our last release but we haven't spent all summer at the beach. We've got some great stuff to for you and version 2.8 includes just a few, so stay tuned for mor...
On August 2nd, 2016 Microsoft has released the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. One of the most important features from this update is Project Centennial, this support allows you to easily migrate ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/windows-10-anniversary-update.html
Assess and plan your packaging process easily by validating your applications against the App-V compatibility rules.
Advanced Installer 13.1 was released on July 19th, 2016
Verify what resources were added, modified or removed in the repackaged installation by comparing the results with the original installation, all within Advanced Installer's GUI.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/repackager-quality-assessment.html
Microsoft has announced starting this summer App-V will be a built-in Windows feature. This brings desktop virtualization to a new level. If you want to learn more on the topic from the industry ...
Advanced Installer 13.0 was released on June 2nd, 2016
Our team just came back from London. We were extremely happy to be one of the sponsors for what is probably the best conference on desktop virtualization from Europe, BriForum.
Installer Analytics to decide when it is better to include a prerequisite into your installer or to use a launch condition. Making the right choice can help you simplify the installation steps, t...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/launch-conditions-vs-prerequisites.html
Package your Win32/.NET application as an AppX package and leverage all the benefits of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). Without any changes you can have your current application in the Wind...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/appx-project-centennial.html
Advanced Installer 12.8 was released on March 23rd, 2016
Merge modules are the Windows Installer standard for reusable setup logic and resources. Development teams can build and distribute MSM files that include installer components and functionality s...
You might think that the users downloading your application also install it. That is not true. If you want to see how many users install your application successfully you need to track the applic...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/monitoring-desktop-installations.html
Advanced Installer 12.7.2 was released on February 22nd, 2016
The RC Text Bounds Checker is an open source command line tool that helps you build an application UI which will look good on any screen size, no matter its DPI settings.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/rc-text-validation-for-visual-studio.html
Finding bugs is never easy. You get customer complaints, spend tens of hours reproducing and fixing the problems, then start all over again. It's the never-ending circle of software development.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/bug-hunting-with-analytics.html
Advanced Installer 12.7.1 was released on February 8th, 2016
Advanced Installer 12.7 was released on February 4th, 2016
A vulnerability in all Windows OSes allows a malicious DLL to hijack your EXE installer upon launch. While the EXE shows your legitimate digital signature the attacker DLL will be able to run in ...
Starting with January 1st, 2016 Microsoft is implementing a mandatory update of the Digital Signature system from SHA-1 to SHA-2 in order to deal with the decreasing security of the SHA-1 digital...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/sha-2-digital-signature.html
The team behind Mailbird has one vision, to create "The world's best email solution that is highly secure, fast and innovative" and it will stop at nothing to build remarkable email software that...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/case-studies/mailbird.html
Advanced Installer 12.6.1 was released on December 14th, 2015
Advanced Installer 12.6 was released on December 8th, 2015
Our partners can offer dedicated training and license reselling services for Advanced Installer. Some partners also offer their services in the neighbouring countries, we recommend to contact you...
Advanced Installer 12.5.1 was released on November 19th, 2015
Starting this summer we are a VSIP premier member, working together with Microsoft's team to deliver you our best Visual Studio extension.
You know everything your user does on your website from the moment he loads the first page until he downloads a trial version of your application. But you don't understand why so few users buy yo...
Advanced Installer 12.5 was released on October 21st, 2015
Advanced Installer 12.4.2 was released on September 23rd, 2015
Advanced Installer 12.4.1 was released on September 15th, 2015
Advanced Installer 12.4 was released on September 7th, 2015
Streamline your Windows 10 adoption, with 100% compliant setup packages. Build the latest generation of MSIX packages with a tool recommended by Microsoft.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/windows-10-installers.html
Advanced Installer's officially supported Bamboo plugin has been released. You can now set your Bamboo-based build machines even more easily; with our plugin, configuring the last step of your bu...
Advanced Installer 12.3.1 was released on August 10th, 2015
Wondering how to dole out your product's functionality in license editions like Professional, Enterprise or Architect? With Advanced Installer's Stock Keeping Units support you can seamlessly gro...
For the 4th year in a row the Advanced Installer team is proud to sponsor the AppManagEvent conference. This is the place to be if you want to learn more about application packaging, virtualizati...
Installer Analytics keeps adding awesome features and new users. We just passed over 1 million counted installations, next milestone is 100 million.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installer-analytics-discount.html
Advanced Installer 12.3 was released on July 16th, 2015
Advanced Installer 12.2.1 was released on June 29th, 2015
AutoForm Engineering GmbH builds software solutions that are an acknowledged industry standard at virtually every automotive OEM and at leading suppliers of tooling, stampings and materials world...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/case-studies/autoform.html
Easily add serial number protection to your installation packages with Advanced Installer. Two custom and two predefined validation methods are available: server side validation, user defined val...
Advanced Installer's trial and licensing feature allows potential clients to evaluate your application before purchasing. It enables them to fully activate the application only with your consent,...
Advanced Installer 12.2 was released on June 10th, 2015
Advanced Installer news RSS feed
The official Advanced Installer plugin for TeamCity has been released. Setting up the last step of your build (i.e. creating the setup package for your application) is now just a few clicks away ...
Installer Analytics is out of beta, with this release we are also announcing our free 2-month subscription.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installer-analytics-free-subscription.html
Advanced Installer 12.1 was released on May 19th, 2015
A bug in Windows Installer expands environment variables present in a folder's name and stops the installation with an error, due to an invalid folder name.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/environment-variable-folder-name.html
Once again, the Advanced Installer Team will participate at Microsoft Ignite (ex-TechEd). Visit us at booth #331 and you'll be able to speak directly to the engineers that are building Advanced I...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/microsoft-ignite-2015.html
The packaging and deployment of an application is often a neglected step from its development life cycle. Learn what are the key features required in a professional installation package.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/enterprise-application-deployment.html
Advanced Installer 12.0 was released on April 2nd, 2015
Every time a new version of Firefox has to be installed you must search or test if the settings from the config file have changed, to check if they are still valid or not.
Advanced Installer 11.9 was released on March 17th, 2015
Advanced Installer's App-V Editor exclusively enables you to open, edit and save App-V 5.x packages from an easy to use GUI or CLI. Using our high level interface you will be able to configure va...
Performing MSI quick-edits from Advanced Installer's user interface is extremely easy and intuitive. Configure MSI installers on the fly and save changes as MST transform files, App-V or ThinApp ...
Advanced Installer 11.8 was released on January 28th, 2015
Advanced Installer 11.7.1 was released on December 22nd, 2014
Advanced Installer 11.7 was released on December 16th, 2014
Advanced Installer is the key to packaging and deploying every new version of EmEditor globally. Automating its distribution means more time can be invested in its development.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/case-studies/emeditor.html
ISO 19770-2 is an international standard that aims to simplify identification of software applications installed on a computer. Advanced Installer allows you to create setup packages that deploy ...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/iso-software-identification.html
Advanced Installer 11.6.3 was released on November 17th, 2014
Advanced Installer 11.6.2 was released on November 11th, 2014
Advanced Installer 11.6.1 was released on October 30th, 2014
Advanced Installer 11.6 was released on October 23rd, 2014
If you are an active Microsoft MVP or MCT, you can request for a free NFR (not-for-redistribution) Advanced Installer Architect license for your personal use.
Microsoft's Web Deploy technology allows you to copy resources, configure databases, certificates, access control and other required dependencies. Use Advanced Installer to integrate this process...
Advanced Installer 11.5.1 was released on October 7th, 2014
Continuous Integration Include the installer in a shared mainline and make deployment part of the automatic build. Through its comprehensive command line interface, Advanced Installer offers full...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installer-continuous-integration.html
Advanced Installer 11.5 was released on September 25th, 2014
MSIX/APPX is the next generation, simple and secure packaging format for Microsoft Windows. With Advanced Installer you can easily create Appx packages for Windows Store, having your application ...
Advanced Installer 11.4.1 was released on August 12th, 2014
Use the Advanced Installer support to create, update or remove elements, attributes and comments inside XML files or to perform custom searches in the XML files already present on the target syst...
Advanced Installer 11.4 was released on July 30th, 2014
Advanced Installer 11.3 was released on June 17th, 2014
Advanced Installer 11.2.1 was released on May 28th, 2014
Advanced Installer 11.2 was released on May 21st, 2014
Establish the required deployment environment on the target operating system by installing prerequisites along with your software. With Advanced Installer's intuitive GUI you're only a few clicks...
Advanced Installer 11.1 was released on April 28th, 2014
Advanced Installer's AutoRun customizes the icon and label that will be displayed in Windows Explorer. Additionally it can customize the commands that will be available from the CD/DVD's context...
Developing Microsoft ASP.NET web apps? Advanced Installer can help you easily deploy your applications in standard Windows Installer MSI packages. Quickly configure all the necessary settings and...
Upgrade the standard MSI extension design and functionality with Advanced Installer's powerful EXE bootstrapper. With Windows Installer technology still at its core, the EXE setup can bring signi...
Advanced Installer is a vital tool in InnovMetric's chain of development. The key words that would express what Advanced Installer represents in technology of application packaging are reliabilit...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/case-studies/innovmetric.html
Web applications often require additional information from databases during installation. Advanced Installer's SQL Databases support can be used as a standalone feature to configure SQL servers o...
The difference between a good installer UI and an awesome installer UI often lies in the little differences, the small tweaks and customizations that make your installer just perfect for your app...
Advanced Installer 11.0 was released on March 13th, 2014
System Center Configuration Manager is the standard application deployment solution from Microsoft. It simplifies the complex task of distributing software to servers, desktops, laptops and mobil...
Advanced Installer 10.9.1 was released on February 10th, 2014
Advanced Installer 10.9 was released on January 23rd, 2014
Advanced Installer 10.8 was released on December 10th, 2013
Atlassian turned to Advanced Installer to make sure that customer experience for its SourceTree for Windows users was easy, fast and reliable. With Advanced Installer, Atlassian's team could also...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/case-studies/atlassian.html
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are heading rapidly to become some of the most important operating systems created by Microsoft, taking software development and deployment in a bold new direction. Thro...
Advanced Installer 10.7.1 was released on November 18th, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.7 was released on November 11th, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.6 was released on September 30th, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.5.2 was released on September 13th, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.5.1 was released on September 6th, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.5 was released on September 2nd, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.3 was released on June 26th, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.2 was released on May 27th, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.1 was released on May 2nd, 2013
Advanced Installer 10.0 was released on March 21st, 2013
Advanced Installer 9.9 was released on February 4th, 2013
Advanced Installer 9.8 was released on December 20th, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.7 was released on November 29th, 2012
If you're distributing a RAD tool, providing your clients with a full installer authoring feature is only a couple of steps away. Windows Installer is the most popular engine for deploying applic...
Advanced Installer 9.6.1 was released on October 18th, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.6 was released on October 5th, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.5 was released on September 10th, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.4 was released on July 26th, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.3 was released on June 26th, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.2 was released on May 23rd, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.1.1 was released on May 14th, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.1 was released on May 2nd, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.0.1 was released on April 4th, 2012
Advanced Installer 9.0 was released on March 26th, 2012
Advanced Installer 8.9 was released on January 26th, 2012
Advanced Installer 8.8.2 was released on January 16th, 2012
Advanced Installer 8.8.1 was released on December 28th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.8 was released on December 22nd, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.7.1 was released on December 9th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.7 was released on November 29th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.6 was released on October 19th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.5 was released on September 19th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.4 was released on August 16th, 2011
Advanced Installer offers complete Windows Installer support for SharePoint applications. Forget about creating installers for your SharePoint solutions by hand. With Advanced Installer you can d...
Advanced Installer 8.3 was released on July 26th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.2 was released on June 6th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.1.3 was released on April 27th, 2011
Advanced Installer provides a quick and easy way to distribute add-ins and extensions for Microsoft Visual Studio 2017. It will automatically generate all the required files, so you don't need to...
Advanced Installer offers a fast and uniform installation of your web applications on multiple servers without the need to manually configure IIS on every machine. Since it provides a tight Windo...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/internet-information-services.html
Advanced Installer 8.1.2 was released on April 18th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.1.1 was released on April 4th, 2011
Advanced Installer 8.1 was released on March 31st, 2011
The first part of your application experience, the installer User Interface is also the way your users start interacting and making decisions about how they want to work with your product. This i...
Often you need to create distinct install packages of your products, configured for different platforms or editions. Advanced Installer makes this extremely easy with its integrated build system ...
In an increasingly globalized world, customers demand software products adapted to their culture and environment, starting from the installation process up to the application itself. Localizing s...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/installer-localization.html
Advanced Installer 8.0.2 was released on November 24th, 2010
More and more companies choose to implement virtual applications because they offer fast and easy deployment, reduced security risks, and the possibility to run multiple versions of the same appl...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/application-virtualization.html
Advanced Installer 8.0.1 was released on November 12th, 2010
Advanced Installer 8.0 was released on November 11th, 2010
Advanced Installer 7.7 was released on June 17th, 2010
Advanced Installer 7.6.1 was released on May 3rd, 2010
Advanced Installer 7.6 was released on April 8th, 2010
Advanced Installer 7.5.2 was released on March 1st, 2010
Advanced Installer 7.5.1 was released on February 11th, 2010
Advanced Installer news RSS feed
Advanced Installer 7.5 was released on January 27th, 2010
Advanced Installer 7.3.1 was released on November 23rd, 2009
Advanced Installer 7.3 was released on November 9th, 2009
Advanced Installer 7.2.1 was released on October 1st, 2009
Advanced Installer 7.2 was released on September 8th, 2009
SERGIO CALDERON - MVP WINDOWS AND DEVICES FOR IT | WINDOWS INSIDER MVP
Advanced Installer 7.1.3 was released on July 29th, 2009
Advanced Installer 7.1.2 was released on July 23rd, 2009
Mobile access is becoming increasingly important in today's connected world. A mobile component for your services and applications is no longer optional but a requirement for success. Advanced In...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/windows-mobile-installers.html
Advanced Installer 7.1.1 was released on July 9th, 2009
Advanced Installer 7.1 was released on July 8th, 2009
Advanced Installer 7.0.1 was released on May 27th, 2009
Advanced Installer 7.0 was released on May 25th, 2009
Advanced Installer 6.9.1 was released on March 23rd, 2009
Advanced Installer 6.9 was released on March 18th, 2009
Advanced Installer 6.8 was released on February 5th, 2009
Advanced Installer 6.7.1 was released on December 8th, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.7 was released on November 26th, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.6 was released on October 3rd, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.5.2 was released on August 29th, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.5.1 was released on August 21st, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.5 was released on August 19th, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.4.1 was released on July 18th, 2008
Microsoft OSs come with a built-in personal firewall which provides a barrier against network-based intrusions. Advanced Installer helps integrate your networking applications with Windows Firewa...
Most applications have a standard setup process which basically involves installing files and creating registry entries. However, there are situations when the built-in Windows Installer actions ...
Advanced Installer 6.4 was released on June 16th, 2008
The Games Explorer provides game developers with a secure and attractive way to present their games to users in Windows 7. As part of its extensive Windows 7 support, Advanced Installer offers on...
Advanced Installer 6.3.1 was released on May 20th, 2008
When creating MSI setups it is of great help if you can get a head start and don't have to start from scratch. Advanced Installer's powerful import capabilities allow you to leverage your existin...
Advanced Installer 6.3 was released on May 7th, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.2 was released on March 6th, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.1.1 was released on January 31st, 2008
Advanced Installer 6.1 was released on December 18th, 2007
Advanced Installer 6.0.1 was released on November 21st, 2007
Advanced Installer 6.0 was released on November 9th, 2007
Your ability to address customer issues in a timely and cost-effective manner is crucial to your product's success. Using Advanced Installer patches you can quickly create and distribute applicat...
Advanced Installer 5.2.2 was released on September 10th, 2007
Advanced Installer 5.2.1 was released on August 29th, 2007
Advanced Installer 5.2 was released on August 21st, 2007
Advanced Installer 5.1.1 was released on July 16th, 2007
Advanced Installer 5.1 was released on July 12th, 2007
Advanced Installer 5.0 was released on June 12th, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.9.2 was released on April 13th, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.9.1 was released on April 10th, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.9 was released on April 3rd, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.8.1 was released on March 7th, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.8 was released on March 6th, 2007
An installer's packaging can vary a lot, depending on the goals it has to meet. The installer may be required to allow running the product directly from a CD or DVD, it may need to be as small as...
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/best-installer-compression.html
Today's users and organizations are becoming increasingly wary about installing software of uncertain provenience on their computers. By digitally signing your installers and products in Advanced...
Advanced Installer 4.7.2 was released on February 16th, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.7.1 was released on February 2nd, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.7 was released on January 29th, 2007
Staying up to date with the latest installer events can be challenging, considering the fast pace things usually move at. For your convenience, Advanced Installer is now offering two free web fee...
Advanced Installer 4.6.4 was released on January 11th, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.6.3 was released on January 5th, 2007
Advanced Installer 4.6.2 was released on December 22nd, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.6.1 was released on December 19th, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.6 was released on December 12th, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.5 was released on November 8th, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.4.1 was released on October 16th, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.4 was released on October 3rd, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.3 was released on August 23rd, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.2 was released on July 24th, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.1.2 was released on June 30th, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.1.1 was released on June 26th, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.1 was released on June 21st, 2006
Advanced Installer 4.0 was released on May 29th, 2006
Advanced Installer 3.9 was released on April 12th, 2006
Advanced Installer 3.8.1 was released on March 27th, 2006
Advanced Installer 3.8 was released on March 15th, 2006
Advanced Installer 3.7.1 was released on February 22nd, 2006
Advanced Installer 3.7 was released on February 7th, 2006
Advanced Installer 3.6.1 was released on January 17th, 2006
Advanced Installer 3.6 was released on January 9th, 2006
Advanced Installer 3.5.1 was released on December 22nd, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.5 was released on December 12th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.4.2 was released on December 6th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.4.1 was released on November 28th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.4 was released on November 21st, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.3.1 was released on October 6th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.3 was released on October 4th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.2 was released on September 5th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.1.1 was released on August 16th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.1 was released on August 15th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.0.1 was released on July 12th, 2005
Advanced Installer 3.0 was released on July 11th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.6.5 was released on May 20th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.6.4 was released on May 11th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.6.3 was released on May 9th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.6.2 was released on April 22nd, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.6.1 was released on April 20th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.6 was released on April 19th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.5.1 was released on March 10th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.5 was released on March 9th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.4.1 was released on February 11th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.4 was released on February 10th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.3 was released on January 10th, 2005
Advanced Installer 2.2 was released on December 1st, 2004
Advanced Installer 2.1.1 was released on November 15th, 2004
Advanced Installer 2.1 was released on November 9th, 2004
Advanced Installer 2.0.2 was released on October 13th, 2004
Advanced Installer 2.0.1 was released on October 12th, 2004
Advanced Installer 2.0 was released on October 11th, 2004
Advanced Installer 1.9 was released on September 20th, 2004
Advanced Installer 1.8 was released on August 9th, 2004
Advanced Installer 1.7 was released on July 5th, 2004
Advanced Installer 1.6 was released on June 7th, 2004
Advanced Installer 1.5 was released on May 4th, 2004
Advanced Installer 1.4 was released on March 15th, 2004
Advanced Installer 1.3 was released on January 5th, 2004
Advanced Installer 1.2 was released on December 12th, 2003
Advanced Installer 1.1 was released on December 1st, 2003
Advanced Installer 1.0 was released on October 17th, 2003
Advanced Installer 0.5 was released on August 3rd, 2003
Advanced Installer 0.4 was released on July 23rd, 2003
Advanced Installer 0.3 was released on July 10th, 2003
Advanced Installer 0.2 was released on July 1st, 2003
Advanced Installer 0.1 was released on March 31st, 2003