Is it possible to do an upgrade like process regardless of version number?

[jonathan.reyes1]

Advanced Installer uses the version number to be able to determine if it can perform an upgrade.
During the upgrade we can let it automatically uninstall the old then install the new.
But is there a way for it to do the same operation regardless of version?

Uninstall the existing app then install the "to be installed" app, regardless of their versions. I will be able to remove and install old applications with ease.

[Dan]

Hello,

Advanced Installer uses the version number to be able to determine if it can perform an upgrade.

Please note this is the Windows Installer standard behaviour. Windows Installer will upgrade the old installed version if the new one has a different ProductCode and a higher ProductVersion. Of course, a set of different versions of your application will have the same UpgradeCode.

But is there a way for it to do the same operation regardless of version?

In order to overcome the above limitation, please follow these steps:

• Go to the Upgrades page and enable the Customize Advanced Installer upgrade rules option;
• Double-click on the Advanced Installer rule that is related to the [OLDPRODUCTS] property;
• In the Product Info tab, enable the Include maximum version in range;
• In the Max.Version: field, please use the following version: 255.255.6555.6555;

Please note that you may need to generate manually a new ProductCode in the Product IDs Tab from the Product Details page.

Please let me know if you have other questions.

Best regards,
Dan

[jonathan.reyes1]

Hi Dan,

Tried this but was getting, "A more recent version of **** is already installed on this computer."
Makes sense since the settings does not seem to allow old versions to be installed when a newer version already exist.

Did I do something wrong/left something out? Are the settings incomplete?

Thank you very much in advance!

Best regards,

Jonathan

[jonathan.reyes1]

Hi Dan,

I was able to get the behavior that I want - being able to install any version of the app even when an existing one is installed - by adding "Allow side by side installs of different product versions" together with your suggestions.
It works in the case where the user always use the default install directory. Haven't tried it but I am guessing it will install side by side when a different install directory is chosen.

Although I got the behavior I want, I may not know the full extent of the installer's behavior if I did this. I don't want any surprises. Could you think of anything that may go wrong?

Best regards,

Jonathan

[jonathan.reyes1]

Hi Dan,

Sorry for the multiple post. After checking all the installed items, it seems that it wasn't exactly what I needed after all. Some items are missing when moving from a new version to an old version.
I'd appreciate it if you can give more suggestions. I am on 11.7.1 by the way, if ever that helps.

Best regards,

Jonathan

[jonathan.reyes1]

Here is what worked for me.

[*]Go to the Upgrades page and enable the Customize Advanced Installer upgrade rules option;
[*]Double-click on the Advanced Installer rule that is related to the [OLDPRODUCTS] property;
[*]In the Product Info tab, enable the Include maximum version in range;
[*]In the Max.Version: field, please use the following version: 255.255.6555.6555;
[*]Double-click on the Advanced Installer rule that is related to the [AI_NEWERPRODUCTFOUND] property;
[*]In the Min.Version: field, please use the following version: 255.255.6555.6555;

[Dan]

Hi Jonathan,

I'm glad you got this working.

Please let me know if you need any help.

Best regards,
Dan

[jonathan.reyes1]

Unfortunately, we have discovered some cases that this will not work. Some binaries will be not installed when the version is older.
It seems that its not possible to workaround this issue using the aforementioned methods.

[Dan]

Hello Jonathan,

In order to overcome this behaviour, you can enable the Always overwrite existing file option from the File Operations Tab. If this option is enabled, the file from your package will overwrite any similar file already present on the target computer. This can be used when performing a downgrade (install a file older than the one already installed) or for non-versioned files which don't overwrite the existing files.

Please let me know if the behaviour still persist.

Best regards,
Dan