Definitive Guide to Windows Installer

Phil Wilson graduated from the University of Aston in Birmingham, U.K. with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, but he preferred computers to test tubes and eventually worked for 15 years on developing operating systems for Burroughs and Unisys mainframes. Phil started programming for Windows in the early 1990s and has developed in MFC, ATL COM, Visual Basic, and C#. He has been involved in installation design and technology for about eight years, and he became a Microsoft "Most Valuable Professional" for Windows Installer in 2003. To get away from computers, he plays and records guitar, and enjoys camping in the California desert.

• at a Glance.- 1 Installations Past, Present, and Future.- 2 Building an MSI File: Visual Studio and Orca.- 3 COM in the Windows Installer World.- 4 Searches and Conditions.- 5 Sequences of Events and Custom Actions.- 6 How Do You Fix It?.- 7 ASP.NET Setups.- 8 Installing.NET Assemblies.- 9 Installation Design.- 10 Windows Services.- 11 The GAC and Updating Assemblies.- 12 Updates Using Patches.- 13 Installation Environments.- 14 How-Tos, Tips, and Gotchas.- 15 Exploring the Installer APIs.- 16 Tools and Futures.