Aaron Stebner's WebLog
Thoughts about setup and deployment issues, WiX, XNA, the .NET Framework and Visual Studio
How to prevent custom actions from running during a Windows Installer major upgrade
I ran into an interesting scenario related to Windows Installer major upgrades recently and I wanted...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/31/2007
Script to set NoImpersonate bit for custom actions in Visual Studio 2005 setup projects
I previously posted a set of steps that can be used to toggle the NoImpersonate bit for custom...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/28/2007
Strong name signing for Media Center application assemblies
I have run into an issue a few times recently while helping folks create installers for their...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/23/2007
Mailbag: Why does my custom action that depends on the VC 8.0 CRT fail on Windows Vista?
Question: I have built an MSI-based setup for my application that includes the merge module for the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/20/2007
How to prevent the Program Compatibility Assistant from appearing on Windows Vista
While researching the root cause of the issue that can cause a Windows XP SP2 block dialog to appear...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/18/2007
Mailbag: How to resolve errors in the WEBCA_SetTARGETSITE custom action on Windows Vista
Question: I am using the Visual Studio 2005 web setup project wizard to create an MSI-based...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/16/2007
Private beta for Big Screen Photos version 2 for Windows Vista Media Center
A little while ago, Niall Ginsbourg posted an introduction and some screenshots for a new version of...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/15/2007
Installing the Media Center SDK on a system with an un-activated VS Express Edition
I recently installed the refreshed version of the Windows Vista Media Center SDK on one of my...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/11/2007
You can now boot an Xbox 360 directly into Media Center
I just noticed blog posts from Michael Creasy and Ian Dixon that I want to make sure everyone...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/11/2007
Links to Microsoft WiX developer blogs
I have been semi-regularly attending the weekly meetings (described by Rob Mensching in this blog...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/09/2007
Why does .NET Framework 3.5 beta 1 setup tell me to install Windows XP SP2 on Vista?
Recently, we have heard from a few customers who have been trying to install the .NET Framework 3.5...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/08/2007
.NET Framework 3.5 beta 1 fails to install on Windows Vista from a path with spaces in it
I have previously posted descriptions of a couple of issues that can cause the .NET Framework 3.5...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/07/2007
Mailbag: How to debug 1935 errors with HRESULT 0x80131047 in an MSI-based setup
Question: I am attempting to create an MSI-based setup for my application. This application needs to...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/07/2007
Link to an article describing how to create an MSI that does not prompt for elevation
As I previously described in this blog post, Windows Installer will prompt users for elevation by...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/04/2007
MIX 07 hands-on lab - Understanding Media Center Markup Language (MCML)
Content for some of the sessions presented at this week's MIX07 conference have been posted on the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/04/2007
.NET Framework 3.5 beta 1 fails to install on pre-release builds of Windows Vista
I heard from a customer last week who could not get Visual Studio codename Orcas beta 1 to install...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/04/2007
Creating a Windows Vista Media Center application using MCML step-by-step
Charlie Owen has posted links to some really useful information in this post on the Media Center...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/03/2007
.NET Framework 3.5 will fail to install if .NET Framework 3.0 beta is installed
A few customers have reported an issue when installing the .NET Framework 3.5 beta 1 or Visual...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/02/2007
Windows Vista Media Center SDK refresh now available for download
A refreshed version of the Windows Vista Media Center SDK has been released for download on the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/01/2007
Viewing MSP files in Orca on Windows Vista
I use Orca from the Windows Installer SDK to view the contents of Windows Installer setup packages...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/30/2007
Standalone installer for .NET Framework 3.5 beta 1 now available for download
Visual Studio codename Orcas beta 1 was recently released, and now a standalone version of the .NET...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/28/2007
Screenshots and video available for Big Screen Photos v2 for Windows Vista Media Center
Niall Ginsbourg (a Media Center community development expert and the developer behind the Big Screen...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/27/2007
Using Microsoft Vista Media Center book has been released
A while back, I posted an item about a book co-authored by Ian Dixon titled Using Microsoft Vista...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/25/2007
Possible cause of Visual Web Designer tools failure during VS Orcas beta 1 setup
As described in this post on S. Somasegar's blog and in other places, Visual Studio codename Orcas...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/25/2007
Standalone VC 8.0 SP1 runtime redistributable packages are available for download
I previously wrote a blog post about updated versions of the Visual C++ 8.0 runtime files that...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/25/2007
April 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista now available for download
There is a new cumulative update package available for download today that applies to Windows Vista...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/24/2007
Link with information about Windows Installer custom action guidelines
Heath Stewart has posted an item on his blog that I wanted to link to here so that hopefully more...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/23/2007
Link to more details about the dangers of managed code custom actions in an MSI
A while back, I wrote a post with my opinion about managed code custom actions -...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/20/2007
Apply to be a beta tester for a future version of Windows Media Center
If you've ever been interested in trying out beta versions of Windows Media Center and providing...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/18/2007
Digital Lifestyle Windows Vista Media Center Developer Blog
Steven Harding has been posting information on a new Windows Media Center developer blog that is...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/15/2007
More specific post categories now available for my blog content
For a while, I've been trying to figure out how to manage the posts on my blog. When I originally...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/13/2007
The Media Center Show #103 with Francis Hogle
Ian Dixon has posted episode #103 of the Media Center Show. You can view a summary transcript and...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/13/2007
Links to product roadmap information for WiX v2.0 and WiX v3.0
Rob Mensching wrote a couple of interesting posts this week regarding upcoming plans for WiX...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/12/2007
Possible problem registering Media Center applications on Windows Vista x64
Recently, I was helping a friend test an installer for a Windows Vista Media Center application and...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/10/2007
NGen service can cause deadlocks during product installation in some scenarios
I was talking recently with Surupa Biswas (a program manager on the NGen team at Microsoft and the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/08/2007
Ask a Microsoft Media Center Team Member forum on the GreenButton.com
I just came across a link to a forum on The Green Button that I wanted to pass on. The forum is...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/06/2007
Link to article describing how to interpret Windows Installer log files
I often get asked questions about how to read, interpret and find error information in verbose...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/04/2007
Mailbag: Clarification about how to build installable layouts for a VS 2005 Express Edition
Question: I have been trying to follow the steps listed in some of your blog posts in order to...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/03/2007
Windows Installer PowerShell extensions project now available on CodePlex
Heath Stewart recently wrote a blog post at...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/31/2007
New Windows Vista Media Center application - Showtime Interactive
As Niall and Ian noted in their blogs earlier this week, there is a new Windows Vista Media Center...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/30/2007
How to manually reset Digital Rights Management (DRM) in Windows Vista
Question: I have a system with Windows Vista and have been using Media Center to watch DRM-protected...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/29/2007
Mailbag: How to perform silent installs of Visual Studio hotfixes and service packs
Question: I am trying to create a script that will install Visual Studio 2005 SP1 in silent mode. I...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/27/2007
How to repair the .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0 on Windows Vista
NOTE - this blog post was originally written for the .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0 on Windows Vista....
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/26/2007
Article about how to use McmlPad during UI development
Charlie Owen has posted an in-depth article over on the Media Center Sandbox site that I wanted to...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/24/2007
MSDN community content sites now available in several languages
The online MSDN documentation library has introduced a feature called MSDN Community Content. This...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/23/2007
Congratulations to Ian Dixon on his 100th episode of the Media Center Show
Yesterday, Ian Dixon posted his 100th episode of the Media Center Show. You can view a summary...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/22/2007
MSDN Magazine article describing how to integrate WiX v2.0 with MSBuild
The March 2007 edition of MSDN Magazine contains an in-depth article describing how to use WiX v2.0...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/21/2007
Updated sample code to detect the .NET Framework 3.0
I've received a few questions recently about how to programmatically detect whether or not the .NET...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/21/2007