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

Location of "per user" installs

Thu Jun 24, 2021 1:40 pm

Hi,

If I build an installer and choose "per machine if user is administrator, per user otherwise" the application folder in Advanced installer is "[AI_UserProgramFiles][Manufacturer]\[ProductName]". If the user chooses to install per user then the application is installed to "C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Programs\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]".

However if I build an installer and choose the "per user only" option, the application folder in Advanced installer is "[AppDataFolder][Manufacturer]\[ProductName]" and the application is installed to "C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Roaming\Manufacturer]\[ProductName]".

So my questions are:

Why does a "per user" install go to AppData\Local\Programs for an installer where it is optional but go to AppData\Roaming for "per user" only installs? Is this an just a historical Advanced Installer thing, or is there a genuine reason?

I have multiple installers, some of which are "per user" and some of which are "per user OR all users" and ideally I want all my "per user" install locations to be consistent. I tried using [AI_UserProgramFiles] in a "per user" only install but it doesn't work. I got it working by using "[LocalAppDataFolder]\Programs\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]" which then does go to AppData\Local\Programs. Is this the correct thing to do, or is there another way of achieving this?

Thanks,
LJ

Catalin
Posts: 6538
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:49 am

Re: Location of "per user" installs

Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:33 pm

Hello Lj,

I have tested this jsut now and I can indeed confirm the behavior.

Unfortunately, I can not really say why this is happening.

I will discuss this with our development team and will follow you up on this thread as soon as I have more information about this.

Best regards,
Catalin
Catalin Gheorghe - Advanced Installer Team
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