EMCO MSI Package Builder - Release Announcements

Version 4.3.0 is available

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:21:00 GMT

Improved Live Monitoring

Live Monitoring technology, used for repackaging of existing installations, was improved for correct handling of short paths to resources and better support of Windows 7. Improved monitoring engine can operate under both x86 and x64 platforms to make a repackaging of large and complex installations.

Default registry value editing

Functionality of registry editor was extended to include an advanced editing of default values for registry keys. Default key values now can be represented as values of different types and can be specified or changed using registry values editor.

References to system folders

A good practice of MSI project creation requires transforming absolute paths in registry values into paths containing system folders. It allows building platform-independent MSI packages, which can be successfully installed on PCs with different OS and configurations. Starting from this version format of references to system folders was changed. It became more unique now to prevent accidental coincidences with plain data stored in registry. This improvement is targeted to resolve frequent issues with automatic installations repackaging.

New and improved features

Features below were firstly introduced or significantly improved in this release:

Improved monitoring filters for Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Incorrect behavior of roll/unroll system folders operation for registry values
Incorrect monitoring of changes, applied to default value of a registry key
Possible errors while working with environment variables
Various errors during an MSI package decompilation
Impossible to create a shortcut as a child of WindowsVolume

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 4.2.0 is available

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:18:00 GMT

Windows 7 support

Starting from this version the application is compatible with Windows 7. It means that you can run the application under Windows 7 to create MSI packages.

MSI package validation

Starting from this version every generated MSI package is automatically validated to detect problems with the included resources. In case of problem detection you can find detailed information on the Log tab.

Improved Project Wizard

The Project Wizard was reworked to simplify main application workflows. Wizard options were regrouped, action descriptions and icons were updated to make wizard more intuitive. Also some minor visual changes were made in other parts of the application.

Simplified monitoring workflow

In previous versions monitoring process, activated from the Project Wizard, was completed automatically, by default, at the termination of monitored executable. This approach doesn't allow capturing of complex installations that launch few installation processes. To eliminate this limitation monitoring workflow in the Project Wizard was changed. Now, by default, you can manage capturing directly and proceed to MSI package generation if you sure that monitored activity is complete.

MSI package icon

Now you can configure a custom icon for generated MSI package. You can specify an icon during MSI package generation on the Project Wizard.

Updated filters

In previous versions filters was one of important, but rarely used features. To make the purpose of two different types of filters clearer, they were renamed to Monitoring and Uninstall filters. Also you can find detailed information about filters and their use cases on the configuration dialog.

New and improved features

Features below were firstly introduced or significantly improved in this release:

Added ability to delete installation projects directly from the Open Project dialog.
Improved integrated help to provide detailed description of the interface elements and more real-life examples.
An ICE (Internal Consistency Evaluator) is used to validate the generated MSI package to identify the errors in the packages being created during the generation process itself.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

MSI generation error in case of special symbols appearing in the registry data
Errors on using registry import operations
Incorrect work of Roll and Unroll System Folders operations in some cases
Incorrect work of Copy and Paste operation with registry data
Wrong enabling and disabling of some action buttons
Incorrect dialogs display under Windows 7
Possible incorrect monitoring of registry changes
Problems with monitoring of the installations with auto-registering libraries
MSI generation problem after monitoring the installations that use different languages

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 4.1.0 is available

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:04:00 GMT

Installation to Current User or All Users

New options were added to MSI generation dialog. Now you can choose if generated MSI package will be installed to current user or to all users profiles. These options have influence on shortcuts, Start menu and other resources, that should be installed to users profiles.

Persistent MSI generation settings

All settings that you enter on MSI generation dialog, including Manufacturer, Version, Support and Summary Information are now persistent. It means that you need to enter them only first time during MSI generation. On the next generation they will be set to previously entered values.

Extended permanence options for file system resources

A set of permanence control options for file system resources was extended. Now you can choose Auto option to set permanence flag for resource according with configured permanence filters, or choose Manual option to set or remove permanence flag unconditionally.

Attributes configuration at files/folders creation

File and folder creation dialogs were improved to allow configuration of file system attributes (Read Only, Hidden, System and Compressed) when resource is added to the the installation.

Reduced MSI generation time

New MSI generation engine allows to significantly reduce a time, required for MSI generation. The overall MSI generation performance was improved on 10-20% depending on the complexity of installation project.

Improved Service configuration dialog

Service dialog was improved to split service configuration options and installation actions. Now service actions, located at bottom, are always visible regardless what configuration tab is active.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Wrong installation behavior if registry string value has tabulation characters
Application freeze on validation sometimes when file resources are created
Monitoring option of the Program Capabilities Wizard doesn't allow to work with complex installations
Potential Access Violation at application closing
Potential Access Violation at project closing
Potential Access Violation at installation deleting

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 4.0.4 is available

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:36:00 GMT

Updated icons set

New icons applied to trees and toolbars helps better perception of displayed data and available actions. The overall interface became clear.

Performance improvements

Most time-consuming operations, such as project opening, were optimized. For large projects performance was increased in few times.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Error during Copy To/Move To operations
Creating MSI Package operation failure under specific conditions
Wrong content applied after Drag&Drop operation for files and registry

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 4.0.3 is available

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:28:00 GMT

Projects root directory setup

Now at the first launch, the path to projects storage is prompted to enter. You can select where project settings and monitoring results will be stored. It's recommended to specify a shortest path as possible to avoid problems with too long file names of file system resources during MSI creation. This requirement caused by limitation for the path length of file system resources. For each file system resource its path length, including projects storage path, shouldn't be more than 255 symbols. Thus, a short projects storage path is preferred, for example: C:\MSPBRoot.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Wrong handling of multi-string registry values with a special characters
License key validation with a trailing newline characters

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 4.0.2 is available

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:47:00 GMT

Visual interface for services management

Enterprise Edition now includes visual interface for services management. Using this interface you can define services installation settings.

Improved MSI generation

Generated MSI now supports more features from the list of standard MSI features set. It means that these standard MSI features are preserved during decompilation and can be included into generated MSI without any change, to keep similarity with original MSI.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Rolling/unrolling of registry values
Set of visual defects: labels, controls alignment
Controls enbling/disabling in Preferences
Slow MSI decompilation
Wrong drag&drop behaviour
Potential access violation in MSI generation
Wrong project preparation process in case of large data amount

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 4.0.0 is available

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:58:00 GMT

Services support in the Enterprise edition

Starting from this version, MSI Package Builder produce MSI packages, which can install Windows services. This feature allows to create customs MSI packages for original installations, which include steps to install services.

At the current moment services support works in automatic mode only. It means that during monitoring and decompilation services installation actions are detected and correspondent information is stored in the MSI Package Builder project and later used for generation of MSI package. In the current version information about services isn't exposed in UI and there are no actions for manual services management. These features will appear soon in upcoming releases.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Desktop shorcuts uninstallation when MSI is uninstalled
Deletion of installation folders when MSI is uninstalled
Registry operations exposing in GUI
Access violation in the import operation
Potential access violation in the manual directory creation

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 3.3.5 is available

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:16:00 GMT

Monitoring improvements

Monitoring module was improved in order to provide smart support of operation sequences applied to same resources. For example, if some file or registry key in scope of installation was deleted, then created and changed, MSI Package Builder will correctly define what to do with this resource.

History of project root paths

MSI Package Builder allows to define path to directory, where monitoring results and project settings are stored. You can enter path to new project storage in Preferences dialog or switch to one of previously used paths by selecting it from combo-box.

User Account Control (UAC) support on Vista

You don't need to launch MSI Package Builder using 'Run as Administrator' command under Vista now, because it is automatically executed with administrative permissions. If you are not computer administrator, you will be prompted to enter administrative credentials.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Move operation for Environment variables
MSI package creation with multiple SystemFolder values
Program execution by 'Run As...' option
Start monitoring

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 3.3.1 is available

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:55:00 GMT

Starter, Professional and Enterprise editions

Application was split on three editions with different functionality and price. If you don't need full range of MSI Package Builder features you can select edition with less functionality and save costs.

Starter Edition should be selected if you interested in manual MSI creation using truly visual MSI editor.

Professional Edition should be selected if you need to capture actions of existing installations and create custom MSI from monitoring results. This edition also provides MSI decompilation feature.

Enterprise Edition should be selected if you need to use all MSI Package Builder features including environment variables changes during MSI installation.

Paste content from Windows clipboard

If you need to include content of some folder into MSI project, in addition to import options you can also use Copy/Paste operations. In this case all what you need is just to make a Copy to Windows clipboard in external tool (Windows Explorer for example) and then make Paste to the selected installation in Projects Tree or folder in File System Actions tree. As the result folder with all its content will be added to the MSI project.

Drag&Drop from external tools

File system resources can be dragged to MSI Package Builder from external tools. It's another way how to quickly create MSI content. You can select folder in external tool like Windows Explorer for example and dragg it to installation in Projects Tree or folder in File System Actions tree. As the result folder with all its content will be added to the MSI project.

Import from Registry Files (*.reg)

MSI Package Builder allows registry changes importing into the project from Registry Files (with .reg extension) represneted in REGEDIT4 or REGEDIT5 formats. You can save a lot of time by registry data importing into MSI project instead of manual data entering through UI. Select Installation > Import > Import Registry... to use this feature.

Windows Vista and XP look&feel

User interface looks differently depending on operation system where application is executed. On Windows XP all controls have XP style, on Vista - Vista style accordingly.

Path to projects root directory

You are able to set the path to directory where MSI Package Builder projects are stored. By default projects stored under the directory where MSI Package Builder is installed. If you with large projects you can change this location to another disk, for example.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Permanent resources detection in import operation
File attributes tracking in import operation
Menu layout
Registry and file system filters
MSI generation

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder

Version 3.2.0 is available

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:08:00 GMT

Windows Vista support

MSI Package Builder become Windows Vista compatible. You can perform monitoring, MSI decompilation and all other actions on computers where Windows Vista is installed.

64-bit Windows versions support

A list of supported operation systems was supplemented by 64-bit platforms like Windows Vista x64 and Windows 2003 x64. MSI Package Builder was improved to work under these platforms.

System and user filters split

All filters, which can be configured in Options > Preferences... were split on two categories: system and user.

System filters are preconfigured in MSI Package Builder and consists of known values, which should be specially processed during MSI Package Builder work. System filters set was created as a result of popular installations analysis. System filters content can be changed during MSI Package Builder update in order to provide the most suitable default configuration.

If you want to have the own set of filters you can create it using user filters. These filters will not be updated automatically. Note that MSI Package Builder provides options for flexible filters tuning, so you are able to enable or disable all system and user filters and also enable or disable any particular filter.

Resolved issues

This release contains a set of resolved issues, including most important ones, listed below:

Open file/folder in Windows Explorer and open key in Regedit
Logging during Roll/Unroll operations
Drag&Drop operation

Learn more: EMCO MSI Package Builder