Floppy Disk installation for ISX 3.51

[ChrisJ]

I am trying to create a floppy installation on Install Shield Express 3.51. I have an existing installation working fine on Version 2.01. Of course, I can't get the Windows Installer to fit on the first disk. But, if I don't include Windows Installer, the client machine installation says that Windows Installer doesn't exist on the installation disk and then quits.

Will ISX work without including Windows Installer?? I have tried the method in the help file which is:

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To build your release, do the following:

Navigate to the Build Your Release view by clicking the Build Your Release shortcut on the checklist.

Select the Custom media type from the Builds explorer.

Set the Media Size property to 1.4.

Set the Media Size Unit to MB.

In the Cluster Size field, type the cluster size (in bytes) according to the disk capacity: 512 or 1024.

Set Compress Media to No.

Set the Include Setup.exe property to No.

Set the Include MSI Windows 9x Engine and the Include MSI Windows NT Engine properties to No.

Set the Generate Autorun.inf File property to No.

Click the Build button on the toolbar.
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Obviously, this doesn't work at all. My application file is 8MB, so how can no compression work?? It won't fit the files on the disk properly. Obviously, the user needs a setup.exe file to run right? So, how can not including setup.exe work?? I don't want to have to install Windows Installer separately, then run the setup on the floppy, that would be ridiculous. So, my question is that can Setup.exe actually install my application without using windows installer? Or is there another way to do this that works seamlessly? My target machines are only: Win95, Win98, and Win98 SE. Thanks!

- Chris Johnson

[Chandima]

I'm afraid Express 3.X cannot create Setups that don't use the Windows Installer (WI). If the WI engine already exists you can run the setup by just double-clicking on the msi file. That's probably what the KB article is referring to.

[ChrisJ]

So, is there a way to create a floppy disk installation including Windows Installer on the floppy disks, so that it will actually install without asking for Windows installer or anything else? We just bought ISX 3.51 assuming that it would work, and it doesn't really. What can I do to get it to work on floppy disks? If it won't work properly on floppy disks, then it is pretty much useless for our needs.

[OriginalboB]

Got my ISX 3.5 yesterday, and tried to build a floppy disk project. Get "** Error -1015: Not enough space to fit setup files on Disk 1."
The Windows Installer file instmsia.exe for Win95 is 1.67 MB in size, so this will not fit on the floppy! So we cannot distribute and run this first, then run the IS install.
I did not see anything in the IS promotional materials for ISX which states that floppy disk installs are not possible. As you say, the help file implies that it can be done. Send it back and stick to ISX 2.1x.
If you figure out how to do this, please let me know...
boB

[Chandima]

The size of the Windows Installer engines is what keep us from being able to put these on floppies. I'm afraid that's the way microsoft builds them and I don't think they will get smaller in the future either.

Do you think your users will have internet access? If so here is something you could try. I don't know if it will work but it's worth a try.

Build a Custom 1.4 MB release (include msi engines and ignore the build warnings)
Browse to the Disk1 folder and delete the two instmsi.exe files
Open Setup.ini
Replace the Sections and Keywords for [instmsia.exe] and [instmsiw.exe] with the following

[InstMsiA.exe]
Type=2
Location=http://www.Installengine.com/Msiengine/instmsia.exe

[InstMsiW.exe]
Type=2
Location=http://www.Installengine.com/Msiengine/instmsiw.exe

This might give an error or actually work and then later on complain about file certification for the engines (because a cert file has to be streamed into Setup.exe to avoid this).

If your setup will fit on one disk though, you can just try creating a Web Setup that does NOT create a web page. With this you can create a single Setup.exe file that contains compressed files AND allows you to download the msi engines if they are not found on the target machine.

[ChrisJ]

In some cases, users may have access to the internet. But, this is for an industrial application, in that, the only external storage is the floppy drive. We are using industrial PC's, which don't have CD drives, and no mouse. It has to be a stand alone floppy installation for it to work. I guess we will just have to stick to Version 2.01. Thanks for your help