J
Josh Mayfield
I'm wondering whether an application can stay logo-compliant if it
installs a message DLL (for Event Viewer) into the Windows System
folder and leaves the message DLL on the system after uninstall.
The "Designed for Microsoft Windows XP Application Specification"
version 2.3 states that with few specific exceptions, an application's
files should be installed to the current user's Program Files folder.
However, I'm curious whether Event Viewer message DLLs are a special
case, because the Event Viewer requires them in order to display
message text, even after the product they're associated with is
uninstalled.
For example, I install product X that logs messages to the event log.
The message DLL is installed in the same folder as the rest of the
application. Then I uninstall the product, including the message DLL.
If I then go to the Event Viewer, any events that product X created
will now just show errors indicating that no text could be retrieved
to describe the event. This is kinda ugly- it seems like it would be
best to leave the message DLL around so that the events logged in
Event Viewer still make sense.
So I guess this really boils down to TWO questions:
1. Will the Windows logo guidelines allow that an application's
uninstaller leaves the message DLL on the hard drive?
2. If the answer to #1 is yes, is it appropriate to install message
DLLs in some other location (such as the System32 folder) so that the
Program Files folder isn't left with a bunch of folders from products
that have been uninstalled but just left their message DLLs on the
system?
The existing guidelines do not mention message DLLs at all so I'm
wondering whether there's some leeway here.
Thanks.
installs a message DLL (for Event Viewer) into the Windows System
folder and leaves the message DLL on the system after uninstall.
The "Designed for Microsoft Windows XP Application Specification"
version 2.3 states that with few specific exceptions, an application's
files should be installed to the current user's Program Files folder.
However, I'm curious whether Event Viewer message DLLs are a special
case, because the Event Viewer requires them in order to display
message text, even after the product they're associated with is
uninstalled.
For example, I install product X that logs messages to the event log.
The message DLL is installed in the same folder as the rest of the
application. Then I uninstall the product, including the message DLL.
If I then go to the Event Viewer, any events that product X created
will now just show errors indicating that no text could be retrieved
to describe the event. This is kinda ugly- it seems like it would be
best to leave the message DLL around so that the events logged in
Event Viewer still make sense.
So I guess this really boils down to TWO questions:
1. Will the Windows logo guidelines allow that an application's
uninstaller leaves the message DLL on the hard drive?
2. If the answer to #1 is yes, is it appropriate to install message
DLLs in some other location (such as the System32 folder) so that the
Program Files folder isn't left with a bunch of folders from products
that have been uninstalled but just left their message DLLs on the
system?
The existing guidelines do not mention message DLLs at all so I'm
wondering whether there's some leeway here.
Thanks.