Installation package modification

[eelisdotnet]

Hi

Im having an installation package created with VS.NET.
currently it has only the standard user interface dialogs.

I would like to have another dialog during the installation (on the Start section) where the client can type the product license number. Then the installation should call a webservice to verify the validity of the license. in case the license is not valid, the user might have 2 more attempts to submit a valid license. After 3 failures the installation should cancel.

I read sth about the Orca tool, but don't know much how to work with it.

Thanks for any advice...

 

[jubble]

From what I've heard the Orca tool can just about handle any installation scenario but does take some time to get comfortable with (then again so does Installshield when things get complicated)

Another tool you may not have heard of is dotnetInstaller which is open source.

http://www.devage.com/dotNetInstaller/dotNetInstaller.html

This is primarily used for prerequisites (IE6, MDAC, Framework, Service Packs etc), but can also handle a variety of other installation processes.
The beauty of this installer is once it's run then you can guarantee the platform you're installing on has at least the Framework and MDAC.
So then you can run a little .Net application that oversees the remaining installation. This application could be the one that asks for a serial/key and then contacts the internet. If all is well it will then kick start the main product installation.

The problem with this method is a rollback takes a bit more work, but it does give a bit more flexibility than some of the big name packages.

We ended up going this way with our MSDE deployment which is one of the most will-to-live-sapping installation processes imaginable, and couldn't be handled properly by any of the big name installers.