Vista Compatible Install

[oex]

arg.... rolled an app installed on XP no probs, tested on Vista and get some compatibility nag screen.... What defines a 'Vista Compatible' install?

[sinsi]

What's the app? Try 'run as admin' on the installer (even though vista tries to run every *setup*.exe as admin) and avoid installing it into 'program files'.

If you get the dialog that says 'this program has a known problem with vista' you have a 90% chance it won't work (personal experience here).

[oex]

It's a self compiled installer that copies the files to the right place and executes them.... The app works fine, no problems at all just a nag screen saying something like "Did this application install properly? If you want vista to reinstall properly click here or click here to confirm"

Obviously windows thinks there is something I should do other than copy the files over.... maybe a registry entry, put it in the "Program Files" directory instead of C:\ or something?

It also installs a screensaver so maybe the problem lies there....

As I say everything seems to work fine so it just makes my app look unproffessional atm :bg

PS Yes I do want to use my own installer not a M$ or NSIS etc one

[dedndave]

no fan of vista, here - and certainly not an expert - lol
maybe it is looking for the uninstall files ?
or registry entries for the Add/Remove Programs list ?
just guessing   :P

[sinsi]

You might need a manifest - http://stackoverflow.com/questions/898220/how-to-prevent-this-program-might-not-have-installed-correctly-messages-on-vist

[oex]

ty I will check it out and see, M$ being versionist really gets my hackles up

[sinsi]

I haven't looked at it yet, but this may be of help - Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5

[hutch--]

I dowenloaded it and guess what, it needs the DOT.NOT.2.0.FRAMEWORK.  ::)

[sinsi]

I dowenloaded it and guess what, it needs the DOT.NOT.2.0.FRAMEWORK.  ::)

Well us modern people already have it as part of the os  :bg

I was more interested in the docs and faq, since I figured that the .msi had code to analyze your C source, not asm.
One guinea pig down... :toothy

[hutch--]

I have had some version of NET on a win2000 machine that did not mess anything up but after the last Microsoft SDK install that ijnstalled 4 different versions it broke a whole pile of standard API code so I was a little wary of trying it on this box again.

[Farabi]

I did repair my computer friend, he used vista.
He did encrypt and lock his harddisk and suddenly, the software for doing it is broken.
It took  me a month to understand how can it be solved.

So here is what I did, when the program crashes, take a look on the detail of why the software is broken.
The error code is "Buffer Protection bla bla bla". Where it mean, Vista protect the stack buffer just in case if someone abuse it.

So how to solve it? Simple, just open the windows defender, uncheck all of the memory protection, and your software will start working. This is why I more like XP than Vista. Vista is secure, but informationless.

[Farabi]

Oh I forget, based on my experience, turned off the buffer protection will lead you to a buffer overflow attack when connected to the internet. Never experienced it but worth to know. DDOS is a failed buffer overflow attack.

[hutch--]

Its a good idea to leave the DEP in later Windows versions turned ON as it protects you from older hacks of system DLLs. If you have some old software that is not DEP compliant it may be worth setting exceptions for it but generally DEP is a good idea implimented at the OS level to slow up the idiot fringe that wrote stack exploits.

[oex]

Windows Vista is still reporting my installer as 'being prepared for an old version of windows' any other ideas this is driving me nuts :lol

I have tried the SAT (Software Analysis Tool) which just lists what my installer is doing (Which obviously I already know) rather than telling me what a Vista install requires that an XP install doesnt :lol (I have no Vista machine to test on so I cant try out M$ Vista compatability auto reinstaller)

It is the most basic Vista install requirements I'm looking for, the app doesnt do anything special.... I already know certain registry entries are required for windows installer and I think I have met all of those....

If someone feels extra generous and wants to do the app install to test I can pm a link to the installer but the site isnt completed yet so I dont want to promote it to the world :bg.

If I can get it working I'll prepare a special Vista/7 Installer post for the board listing the requirements.... It is only a nag box that is the issue but it would be nice to avoid it :bg

[Vortex]

My question for Vista users moved to Windows 7 : what's the situation with the latest OS Win 7?