InstallShield: Suppress Restart Messages in the middle of Software Upgrade or Uninstallation

I'm back to Installation development in this post. This time, I'll show some personal tips to get rid of restart recommended messages in the middle of software upgrade or uninstallation. First of all, let me make it clear. This is just a temporary solution under some specific conditions and trade-offs. I won't seek for a perfect solution in this post. Should you do, I don't think this post will be helpful for you. You can save your time by looking for other sources on the Internet instead. 

Free app: My favorite PDF Reader ever for both Windows and Android

I've been a user of Foxit Reader for more than 5 years. I feel like I'm responsible for a thank, and Foxit is deserved a post on my blog. Yeah, if you're looking for a free and compact PDF reader, you know its name now: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/. It's very simple and does the great job as a reader. 

InstallShield: Dealing with Major upgrade on a new project?

What is major upgrade? Usually, we require major upgrade if we either add/remove features or we want to force to remove all old files on target system before installing new files. Sometimes, adding components or removing components also require major upgrade. Those are very basic concepts in installation development, especially working with InstallShield (or Windows Installer). You've been doing major upgrade without problems for years on your current projects. Now you need to enforce major upgrade for a new project (previous developed by someone else) and it suddenly doesn't work at all. Checking installation log file, IS_MAJOR_UPGRADE is clearly set to YES. Then why?

(Source: from the Internet)

InstallShield: One basic tip for using Install Level and SetupType dialog to control features in Custom Setup

Working with software packaging, just soon or late, you will ask the question how to show/hide or select/deselect a feature during setup. The larger your packaging projects are, the sooner the question comes. Sometimes, it becomes very tricky to control the features during setup and one little bug may cost you a couple of good days to trace to the root. It will be more complicated if you're working on projects created  and designed by many other people before you. This post will show you a small tip to deal with custom setup in two scenarios: fresh installation and major upgrade.  

(Source: here)

InstallShield: Why minor upgrade doesn't overwrite old files?

Today, I will share my experience around the question: Why suddenly minor upgrade doesn't overwrite old files? It always rocks but not this time! I used to struggle for an answer at least twice in just a couple of months. To resolve this question completely, the last time, I determined to find out the root cause (yes, I paid   a good half day on it!). Some of you may wonder, why I had to wait until the last time to solve the issue, but the first time? Actually, it's understandable: TIME issue. Sometimes, we rush for release and we just need to make things move first. With this kind of issue, the most difficult part is tracing out the root cause, fixing it is not really a big deal. Enforcing major upgrade is always a  perfect workaround to overcome this issue. 

Mass converting InstallShield Binary project files to XML format

It's been so long and so far, it seems like my blog carries just a few IT professional entries (or another way to say, there is only one, LOL). There were many reasons, but the most important one was that I've never thought I'm able to write anything here that you cannot find  an answer somewhere else on the Internet. Google is a magic wand, with just couple of key words, it will lead you as far as you are willing to go. 

However, I'm thinking in a different way now. If my expertise isn't that special, I still should share some simple tips for beginners (like me), who are struggling to reveal an answer from hundreds of Google returns as I was. Also, if I'm lucky enough, I may receive some good feedback to improve my work. Again, Google will introduce my blog to strangers and some of those strangers may turn to be my great supporters. This entry thus will introduce a tiny piece of work on InstallShield project format conversion from binary to XML by commands (of course you can use the same routine to convert back from XML to binary).