LaughingJohn
Posts: 39
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:05 pm

Make 32 bit/64 bit registry keys easier.

Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:28 pm

At the moment in order to support 32/64 bit registry keys we have to reference this article and go through a process which is not entirely obvious: http://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-g ... istry.html

I think it could be made easier with Advanced installer having an option on each registry key and then doing the hard work for us. I imagine that the list of options would look something like this:

1. Install on 32 bit OS only.
2. Install on 64 bit OS only.
3. Always install in 32 bit registry area on 32 bit and 64 bit OS.
4. Install in 32 bit registry area for 32 bit OS and in 64 bit registry area for 64 bit OS.
5. Install in 32 bit registry area for 32 bit OS and both 32 bit and 64 bit registry area for 64 bit OS.

Probably the default would be 4. I am not sure whether the bitness of the package would affect this?

Daniel
Posts: 8237
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:11 pm
Contact:  Website

Re: Make 32 bit/64 bit registry keys easier.

Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:08 pm

Hello John,

Thank you for your suggestion. I've added this improvement on our list and hopefully it will be considered in the future. We will notify you when it will be available.
Probably the default would be 4. I am not sure whether the bitness of the package would affect this?
No, the bitness of the package doesn't affect this. The registry path is influenced only by the "64-bit Component" flag of the component including the related registry.

All the best,
Daniel
Daniel Radu - Advanced Installer Team
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Daniel
Posts: 8237
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:11 pm
Contact:  Website

Re: Make 32 bit/64 bit registry keys easier.

Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:35 pm

As an addendum to my previous reply, could you give us more details (maybe a practical example) about the scenarios when you need to install a registry like so:
4. Install in 32 bit registry area for 32 bit OS and in 64 bit registry area for 64 bit OS.
5. Install in 32 bit registry area for 32 bit OS and both 32 bit and 64 bit registry area for 64 bit OS.
Why a 32-bit app would need to access a 64-bit registry? Do you have any explicit scenario for such a requirement? We try to get an as comprehensive as possible view of your install scenarios.

All the best,
Daniel
Daniel Radu - Advanced Installer Team
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LaughingJohn
Posts: 39
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:05 pm

Re: Make 32 bit/64 bit registry keys easier.

Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:11 pm

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for replying. The specific example I'm thinking of is when installing an Office Add-in. In that case the bitness of the OS is actually irrelevant, it''s the bitness of the Office install which is of importance.

In our case we are using add-in express and their installer routine (adxregistrator.exe) to install the add-in as custom actions in our AI package. This I believe installs the relevant registry entries in both the 32 bit and 64 bit portions of the registry.
In addition to this, Microsoft have recently broken our add-in which has required us to put down some additional registry keys with our add-in which needs to support both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Office.
So in this case I want to install to 32 bit only on a 32 bit OS and BOTH 32 bit and 64 bit areas on a 64 bit OS. In other words my Option 5.

To explain the other options:
1. When a registry entry is only relevant to a 32 bit OS - this might be a behaviour change to the OS or another bit of software.
2. As 1 but for 64 bit OS.
3. For a 32 bit application that always runs as 32 bit.
4. For an application that runs as 32 bit on a 32 bit OS and 64 bit on a 64 bit machine (e.g. a .Net program with AnyCPU).

I was just trying to cover all of the possible scenarios.

Thanks,
LJ
Last edited by LaughingJohn on Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

LaughingJohn
Posts: 39
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:05 pm

Re: Make 32 bit/64 bit registry keys easier.

Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:14 pm

Also rather than having the option on each registry key I guess it could be applied at a group level - maybe at the feature level?

Daniel
Posts: 8237
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:11 pm
Contact:  Website

Re: Make 32 bit/64 bit registry keys easier.

Tue Nov 07, 2017 9:21 am

Hello John,

Thank you for your reply and for the detailed feedback. Hopefully your arguments will be strong enough for our development team and your required improvement will be available in the future. As soon as we will have any update on this we will update this thread.

Thank you once again for your feedback.

All the best,
Daniel
Daniel Radu - Advanced Installer Team
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