User Guide

189
Adding Prerequisites to a Release
Adding Prerequisites to a Release
On the Prerequisites page, you select the Windows Installer and .NET Framework
runtimes to pre-install, and you add prerequisite files to run before the main installation.
Prerequisite files are usually .EXE or .MSI files, but there is no restriction on their type.
Note
The options on the Prerequisites page are disabled if Do not create an .EXE file is selected
from .EXE Options on the Build Options page. See Setting Build Options for a Release on
page 187.
1. Select Installation Expert > Prerequisites page.
2. From Current Release, select a release.
3. Select the runtimes to pre-install.
• Windows Installer Runtime Version
Select the Windows Installer runtime version to pre-install for each set of
operating systems: Windows 9x, NT, and 2000/XP/2003. This adds a file to the
installation that pre-installs Windows Installer if it is not on the destination
computer.
# If you know that a particular operating system is not used on any destination
computers, select None for that operating system.
# Select Latest to add the latest runtime that you have downloaded and that
works with that operating system.
Example: If the latest runtime that you have downloaded is 2.0 and you
select Latest (NT) and Latest (2000/XP/2003), then 2.0 is added to the
installation. If later you download 3.0, both 2.0 and 3.0 are added. Version
2.0 would be the latest runtime for NT and 3.0 would be the latest for 2000/
XP/2003.
• .NET Framework Runtime Version
Select the .NET Framework runtime version to pre-install. This adds the file
dotnetfx.exe to the installation, which pre-installs the .NET Framework
regardless of the destination computer’s operating system.
Note
Prior to the release of Windows Installer 3.0, the .NET Framework included the
version of the Windows Installer runtime that it required. However, Microsoft does
not distribute Windows Installer 3.0 with the .NET Framework. If your application
requires Windows Installer 3.0, configure the installation to pre-install it.
If you select a runtime for Windows the installation includes
9X InstMsi.exe
NT InstMsiW.exe
2000/XP/2003 (runtime earlier than 3.0) InstMsiW.exe
2000/XP/2003 (runtime 3.0 or later) InstMsi3.exe