Manifest File - Installs in Vista

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Anything that used to go in Program Files\... goes in C:\Applications\...

Anything that is specific to the current user (temp files, etc) goes in
C:\Users\<Current user>\AppData

Whereas I'm now putting the FE and associated DLL files in
%appdata%\<app name>. (In Vista - C:\Users\<Current user>\AppData\<app
name>.)

The BE goes into My Documents\<app name>.

Now if multiple users are using the same PC then they will have to
re-install the FE and associated DLLs. And the backend will have to
go somewhere else. That's fine by me as that's easy to handle. And
the My Documents folder has an icon so it's real easy to find.

Anything that is truly shared (like the back-end) usually goes in a network
share.

My apps are sometimes installed on stand alone systems. So if the
user then tells me they are using a network I just tell them to grab
the contents of My Documents\<app name> and put it on the network
share. Then they just relink and they're done.

Tony

 

[CDev]

Finally, someone has shed some light on my Vista headaches. Unfortunately, I
am one of those who have been doing thing "incorrectly" all these years. My
FE installs into the Program Files folder which seems only fitting. My BE
files (multiple job files) are created and reside underneath the "Program
Files\my app\" folder. This has worked just fine for my 100 plus users for
years.

Now along comes Vista. So yes, I need to revamp my installer to conform to
the new rules. But what do I do then for my 100 plus existing users? I
release updates at least quarterly and now I'll have to create two separate
update installers - one for existing users and one for Vista users.

If the "proper" thing was not to place BE files under the "Program Files\my
app\Job Folders\" folder, why did XP allow it in the first place? Why didn't
the MS Access Package and Deployment Wizard walk me through the "Proper" way
of deploying my application?

Since MS changed the rules, they should find a way to correct all my
existing users installations as well.