Add Registry key for all users, not just future

[Jordan]

I have a few machines that a lot of users have logged onto already. I have a HKCU registry key that I would like to change when I do my next install with Advance Installer but I want to also change the existing users' profile keys as well. Is there a way to do this with Advanced Installer's Registry settings.

The key I want to add for each profile is:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Access\Security

It seems if I change:

HKEY_USER\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Access\Security

I can get new users to have the the key, but not existing.

[Cata]

Custom Action?

Cata

[Guest]

Actually, adding missing registry keys and values for new users is a feature included in the Visual Studio .NET installer-maker. When a new user launches an app shortcut, MSIEXEC launches and you see "Preparing to install..." when a new user uses an app for the first time.

You see this with all MS Office apps 2000 and later, actually.

A feature like this would solve the missing Registry settings problem the original poster described.

[Cata]

That is achieved by using Advertised Shortcuts. We will support them soon, too, although they sport other issues - like missing an icon before the first run when installed on the desktop.

Cata

[gordonf]

That is achieved by using Advertised Shortcuts. We will support them soon, too, although they sport other issues - like missing an icon before the first run when installed on the desktop.

Is *that* what they're called? I was wondering why it wasn't possible to change the properties for those shortcuts (ie: parameters, Run As, etc)

The most significant problem I see with advertised shortcuts (now that I know what to call them!) is, on a first-run for a new user, they go search for the MSI file that was originally installed. No problem for an administrator if the MSI is located in another admin's temp or My Documents folder, but limited users can't access those.

Some installers fix that by copying the MSI into either [installdir] or [commonfilesfolder] and running the MSI from there. Limited users have read access to those locations, so it works for them. MSN Messenger does this, for example.

Others require you to insert the installation CD-ROM, but limited users (for some reason or another) can't read MSIs from CDs in this case. This latter problem was a big one for Microsoft Office 2000 apps, which they worked around by keeping an installation cache (%systemdrive%\msocache).

Other installers manage to put desktop shortcuts up without trouble, so I'm sure you'll be able to work around that and other problems.

[Cata]

That's right.

Although the MSIs are actually cached by WI. I suspect what the system is looking for are the files - these aren't cached.

Even worse, the registry entries installed per user are not Uninstalled (except for the user actually doing the uninstall).

That is why I advise against installing anything "per user". Instead install everything per machine and create "per user" entries as needed (for customizing the "per machine" settings).

A work around until Advertised Shortcuts are available is to launch the "check for repair" process from the application, every time it is started. That is what Advertised Shortcuts also do.

Regards,
Cata

[gordonf]

Even worse, the registry entries installed per user are not Uninstalled (except for the user actually doing the uninstall). That is why I advise against installing anything "per user".

This is a problem with applications that are supposed to work in locked down environments with Limited user accounts. The user has write access to HKCU and their own user profile only.

I would rather have a few left-over Registry entries after an uninstall than have an application break just because it wasn't tested with Limited User and Restricted User accounts.

As a short-term fix, I wonder how practical it would be to hack the MSI afterward, to change the shortcuts from standard shortcuts to advertised shortcuts using Orca.