Mapped directories and Windows 8

[alibaba]

Hello,

a customer told me that it is not possible to select a mappings as target in the setup. The mapped folders are not displayed. You have to change a registry value to be able to install into such a drive.

in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
create a DWORD entry: "EnableLinkedConnections" with value 1(Hex)

Does somebody know anything about it and is IA possible to fix this, that you are able by default to select mapping as Targetdir?

[FrancescoT]

Dear Alibaba,

I really suppose that is not possible and even not recommended.
Also, what happens if the user removes the mapped folder from the system?

Regards

[alibaba]

Thank you Francesco...The point is that this was possible till Windows 7 and is not possible anymore starting with Windows 8. So the problem is not new. Few customers used mapped drives to install and will do so in Windows 8. What can I tell them?

[FrancescoT]

Dear Alibaba,

Honestly, I really suppose it is not an InstallAware limitation, but it is caused by the new WIN 8 OS settings, that doesn't allow by default the mapped drives to be visible.

Searching for similar issues over the web I found the following post;
http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/766730/vs2012-and-windows-8-enterprise-cannot-see-mapped-network-drives-when-run-as-administrator
... for what I understand, seems this is by design with WIN 8.

Let me investigate further.

Regards

[alibaba]

As I mentioned in my first post I think the only solution for this issue is to set the following registry entry to be able to install within a mapped network drive:

in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
"EnableLinkedConnections" with value 1(Hex)

We have a client/server application. In the client installation you have to select the server (mapped network drive). How can I realize it with InstallAware to set the required registry key before the folder is selected in the user inerview.

Is it possible for IA to give me a change to set this registry key at the beginning of the installation that it is already available for the installation?

This is not possible at the moment, neither with IA (purple commands do not help) nor with any Plugin (WriteRegPersist does not write DWORD entries). Anybody can help me? maybe advise me how to use Windows Api. Also I think I have to restart the computer after setting the correct registry entry, maybe with "resume setup"...

[FrancescoT]

Dear Alibaba,

have you tried to execute the "Write Registry" command at the very beginning of your main script enabling InstallAware NATIVE ENGINE(to execute the command immediately)?

If not, can you verify what happens using the following sample code snippet?

Code: Select all

~InstallAware Clipboard Data~
~End~
~{3E99DB0B-1BB8-49A2-A955-3910B62EFCF0}~
~Reboot and Resume~
~{CBFA2327-CDED-4384-8E61-C26B1956946C}~
~Set Variable~
~{A7DF6D44-DE58-440B-BB1C-A45E36D6213B}~
~NATIVE_ENGINE$MYAH$MYAH$FALSE~
~FALSE~
~Write Registry~
~{B1959AEB-C871-4B3B-BE5F-A093D235E1A4}~
~0~
~2~
~Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System~
~EnableLinkedConnections~
~1~
~FALSE~
~TRUE~
~Set Variable~
~{ADCE1F87-0E81-4767-B084-176D5594032F}~
~NATIVE_ENGINE$MYAH$MYAH$FALSE~
~TRUE~
~If~
~{A0946196-1637-4367-811C-2D9DD7DFA6D6}~
~MAPPED_ENABLED~
~0~
~1~
~TRUE~
~Read Registry~
~{6C390678-73F2-49A1-BC6E-1E8800AC42B1}~
~MAPPED_ENABLED~
~2~
~Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System~
~EnableLinkedConnections~
~Set Variable~
~{B5E96CE3-3EE3-4D9F-BFC1-0B12A284207B}~
~MAPPED_ENABLED$MYAH$MYAH$FALSE~
~~


With the above code, the system is forcedly rebooted if the REGISTRY KEY is updated.

Let me know.

Regards

[alibaba]

Thank you Francesco, your code snipped is working partially. The registry key is set correct and the mapped drives are available in the installation after a restart.

The only problem is that the setup is not resuming automatically on my Windows 8 test system.

[FrancescoT]

Dear Alibaba,

just tested and my setup package restarts correctly after WIN 8 reboot.

Regards