Upgrading Apps Not Installed by MSI

[dstmartin]

I'm currently evaluating IS7 and have a question regarding upgrading an application that was installed by a non-Microsoft Installer utility (IS 5.53).

I'm aware of the current bugs in 7.02, however, beyond those, does anyone out there have any experience with Major/Minor upgrades prior to making the move to MSI? I've noticed that most of the installs I've run require a full uninstall prior to re-installing the App. Is this due to fact that the previously installed package was not delivered by MSI, or is it driven by the existing bugs?

We really want to make our move to MSI a "pain-free" as possible for our users. We want to preserve user data and configuration settings, but judging from what I've seen, that may not be possible.

i'm very interested in how others have faired in migrating to IS7/MSI. What are the other "gotchas" that are lurking out there (before I get bit)?

Dave

[Joshua]

Dave,

Because of the difference in installation engines (Microsoft vs. InstallShield), we strongly recommend silently uninstalling the old IPSE 5.53 application before installing the Developer 7 application.

We suggest this because of the engine difference, not because of any bugs in the product. This would allow the product to be silently uninstalled without the user seeing any confusing UI.

[dstmartin]

Joshua:

That works provided the uninstall does not remove any user data. Unfortunately, we have some config files that would be removed -- sounds like we have to manually back these up and then restore them to the target directory following the uninstall/install.

It would be simpler if we could do the update operation.

Thanks for the response and recommending a course of action. . .