How can I include KB2670838 in an installer with InstallShield 2013?

Question

I\'m using InstallShield 2013 to make a Basic MSI installer for an application that requires Windows Platform Update KB2670838.

For .NET frameworks and other require

Answer 1

@Glytzhkof Good point. So how do I get InstallShield to abort and give the user a nice message so they know what to do? – shoelzer 1 hour ago

I will just add a new answer then - too long to write in a comment.

• Locate the file details you need to scan for under "For More Information : File Information" in this kdb article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2670838/en
• Select a few files to scan for and add as file searches in Installshield (see below screenshot). You specify a property for each file (FILE1FOUND, FILE2FOUND, FILE3FOUND, etc...), and if the search matches the file details (version, size, date, etc...) the property is set to the full path of the file. Otherwise the property is undefined or set to a default value (screenshot shows predefined search, and not file search, but you get the idea).
• Finally you add LaunchCondition entries for each file to ensure that all files you have selected to check are the correct version or higher. I guess this is in Prerequisites or similar - I can't recall. Open the compiled MSI and check that it looks like the LaunchConditon table.

For the record: (not part of above suggestion)

Personally I am in favor of coding a single script for complex logic like this to ensure the logic can be inspected as a whole and crucially tested as a whole outside the MSI file. It is also good to add comments to such code to explain what the script is checking, and why (helps corporate deployment). A script can be run through dozens of tests against the machine directly without recompiling the MSI. This can save a lot of time if the logic is complex. If you write a compiled dll you can show a message box and attach the visual studio debugger to the msiexec.exe process (client or server depending on what context your custom action is running in) and step-through the code whilst embedded in the MSI, but this seems out of scope for your scenario. Just want to mention it for other people who might read this. Also check Stefan Kruger's installsite.com for more information on complex setup debugging like this.

It is important to note that scripting is never generally recommended for scenarios where the script makes changes to the system - if there is a built-in MSI way to achieve the same result. The reason for this is that a script that makes changes to a machine will need a separate rollback-operation to be specified for it for the MSI to follow best practice. This can be a spectacular amount of work and complexity to get right. The above script would only check system conditions, so there is no need for rollback support.