Superfreak3

On Jun 22, 5:11 pm, Superfreak3 <Matt.Wal...@synergis.com> wrote:
> On Jun 19, 8:50 am, Jimmy Brush <j...@mvps.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > > Oh, big time confused! I guess we'll just have to waddle our way
> > > through.
>
> > > My immediate concern if for installation of our software at the moment
> > > as that is basically what I do.
>
> > > Our previous installation was allowed or designed, I should say for
> > > Admins and Power Users, so I was just wondering what the impact would
> > > be to our installations where end users may have utilized Power Users
> > > to install.
>
> > > Painting with a broad stroke, it looks as though installation Custom
> > > Actions and ensuring their execution is one of the big 'battles' with
> > > readying pre-Vista install packages for Vista.
>
> > > I guess the other concept would be to develop a purely Standard User
> > > or user install. ??
>
> > > Any more information with regard to impact on our installs caused by
> > > Vista would be, as always, GREATLY appreciated!
>
> > > Thanks for the info so far!!!
>
> > Hello,
>
> > I am not very familiar with Windows Installer on a technical level, so
> > this may be a better question for the more programmer-oriented msdn forums.
>
> > However, I think I can kind of explain at a high-level what you will be
> > working towards..
>
> > - you will need to keep your installation program from requiring the
> > user to be an administrator when the setup first starts (which will lock
> > out power users). This can be tricky, since windows by default assumes
> > setup programs require an admin to run them, but if you are using
> > Windows Installer you should be able to get around this easily.
>
> > - Thing is, if the user really IS an administrator, and your setup
> > program does NOT ask for admin power, then you will end up locking out
> > administrators!
>
> > - And if you get your setup program to NOT prompt for admin power, I'm
> > not sure if it will run as highestAvailable (where it would be able to
> > use the extra power user privileges and it would work), or whether it
> > would just ignore the extra privileges and still locking out power users!
>
> > What you really need is for your installer to run under the setting I
> > mentioned in my previous post ("highestAvailable"), where if it's an
> > administrator then prompt for admin power, if not, just run with the
> > highest privilege we can get.
>
> > But I really don't know how you would accomplish that using Windows
> > Installer.
>
> > The solution might be to have some sort of bootstrapper program that
> > determines the type of user and then launches the appropriate setup
> > program based on that.
>
> > --
> > -JB
> > Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User
> > Windows Vista Support FAQ -http://www.jimmah.com/vista/-Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> --"To use the Power Users group on Windows
> Vista, a new security template must be applied to change the default
> permissions on system folders and the registry to grant PU group
> permissions equivalent to Windows XP."
>
> Would anyone know how to go about applying this 'new security
> template' so that the Power Users group will mimic security behavior
> as in XP?
>
> Any pointers on doing this would be greatly appreciated and would
> prove beneficial in my testing. Currently, my application
> installation will run with UAC enabled after credentials are provided,
> but when I attempt to install as a Power User (VISTA out of the box
> with no changes to policies/security) with UAC disabled, the
> installation fails because I do not have permission to access the
> Program Files folder (at least that's what I recall the message
> indicating).
>
> APPRECIATED!!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

More information requests for help....

(From a different/previous post reply...) You say...

"Signing will not negatively affect your MSI file use downlevel from
Vista.
However it won't suddenly allow you to by-pass UAC prompts. Your
application will have to be elevated in order to silently run the
installation without prompts -- either that or have a service perform
the
installation for you. "

What do you mean by 'your application will have to be elevated in
order to silently run the installation without prompts'? Do you mean
there is a way to elevate the .msi so it can be run silently?

Also, you follow that up with 'either that or have a service perform
the installation for you'. How can this be accomplished, with a
service? Is there any documentation out there to explain this?

The reason I ask these questions it because we currently have an
install that is basically writing 'stuff' all over the place with
regards to the registry. It also defaults to an installation location
under Program Files, which most end users leave unchanged, but is now
considered sacred in VISTA so if they are not an Admin (this occurs
with UAC disabled in my testing as well) they receive a message
indicating the install cannot continue.

Our mechanism of updating our client piece is that our application
looks to an .ini for various information. If the information
indicates an update is available, our .msi is installed silently.
This probably will not work any longer in VISTA so I will have to
search for an alternative here as well.

I've inherited these various installs since starting my new job last
December. They basically have to be reworked. Its difficult because
there is some third party stuff in there that writes to HKLM, etc.,
which is tough to deal with in locked down environments where
installing users are not Admin's. The workaround in earlier OSs to
VISTA was to indicate that Power Users would be an acceptable means of
installation. In Vista, this concept seems to no longer apply really.

If anyone out there knows of where I can turn for possible consulting
services with regard to installation and security, please let me
know. It seems as though you really need someone close to or part of
Microsoft to guide you through.

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP, INFORMATION, LINKS PROVIDED!!