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SSE Setup Version Changes
Note: This is just a summary of the most important latest changes. It does not cover all of them and does not provide full info on them. For detailed info on all changes, see the Version Changes section of the help file after installing the new version! For information how to update to any of these versions, see the Update info page!
Version 6.4
- Bug Fix: Potential crash on domain-connected computers with v6.3
Version 6.3
- Bug Fix: Random uninstaller and Setup crashes on Win 7. Both the uninstaller and Setup occasionally randomly crashed under Windows 7/2008 R2. It strongly appears that it was actually due to a random Windows 7 memory management bug with a specific memory management API call that SSE Setup was using, rather than a bug in SSE Setup itself.
- Bug Fix: Upgraded files might have been deleted if the upgrade failed or was cancelled.
- New Change: Japanese translation has been further improved.
Version 6.2
- Bug Fix: Fixes relating to the Patch Stub. (1) Starting with v6.1, when using the Patch Stub, sometimes your resulting patch distributions were invalid (received error message about missing SSEset.dat when trying to run) - this only occured sometimes. (2) a long standing issue where sometimes trying to run an EXE patch distribution would result in an "elevation required" type of message on Vista/2008/7 OS's.
- Bug Fix: Some externally run MSI installs (including some .NET Framework prerequisite installs) would not install.
- New Change: EXE distributions now load Setup a bit quicker.
- New Change: Japanese translation has been improved. Still in progress, but much better than it was.
Version 6.1
- Bug Fix: Program Compatibility Assistant dialogs appearing on Windows 7 for cancelled installs/uninstalls. Only occurred if Setup/Uninstall didn't complete successfully, such as if the user cancelled.
- Bug Fix: Installing files to folders directly under the ROOT DRIVE might have blocked install incorrectly for non-admin users.
- Bug Fix: Clicking "Restore Defaults" button on the Classic user interface produced an error. Introduced with v5.2.
- Bug Fix (Booster): Some FTP servers could not be connected to in Booster for publishing, etc.
- New Change: SSEset.dat file no longer appears in final distributions. This file is now packaged inside of Setup (in an encrypted state). When Setup is run, it will read this file from within itself in memory.
- New Change (Booster): OS related changes on Prerequisite page. Including "Windows 7" and "Server 2008 R2" distinction, and 9X/ME consolidation.
- New Change (Booster): Added .NET Framework 4.0 (either full or client) as a pre-set prerequisite you can choose.
- New Change: SSE Setup downloadable package is digitally signed.
Version 6.0
Intro to the 6.x series
SSE Setup 6.x is mostly just a continuation of the development methodologies of the 5.x line. v5.2 made significant changes but I chose to keep the release as a 5.2 at the time, although it really should have been bumped up to 6.0 due to the major underlying changes. Originally a 5.3 was slated to follow, however due to the continuing growth of the development, I decided that the new development combined with the already extensive changes in 5.2 now definitely warranted a new major version number. Thus, the 6.x series is really an outgrowth of the 5.x series and will continue introducing new features and changes.
- Bug Fix: Various upgrade and uninstall related bugs.
- Bug Fix: Some 9x/ME installs might not have worked correctly starting with v5.0. The revised file/folder handling code implemented in 5.0 used an API call that may or may not be present on 9x/ME systems, and if not present, might have led to odd file/folder processing during installation.
- Bug Fix: Potential crash/installation-freeze when a .manifest file was used.
- Bug Fix: Links/Shortcuts created under Programs menu during patch installs might have gone to an unexpected location.
- Bug Fix (Internet Update Module): The Internet Update Module did not work correctly with some servers.
- Bug Fix (Booster): The checkbox in Booster to use the real Setup for patch projects worked opposite to the way it should have in v5.2.
- Bug Fix (Booster): When using Test, some obsolete files may have still been installed.
- New Feature: You can now easily require any prerequisite you want and even allow the user to download and install it if they don't have. Previously only defined prerequisites (such as .NET Framework) were easy to require. To require any other custom prerequisite, you had to create your own checking program and interface it with SSE Setup. Now you don't have to do this and can instead easily create your own requirements, complete with the ability for users to download and install missing components!
- New Feature: Ability to open a URL in the user's Internet browser at the end of either install or uninstall. A practical example of where you might find this useful is you could have a survey page on your website asking people why they uninstalled the program. You could have it so that after a user uninstalls your program, they will be taken to this webpage where they can tell you why they uninstalled, etc.
- New Change: DOTNETVERSION, DOTNETDOWNLOAD, DOTNETEXACTMATCH, IEVERSION, FLASHOCXVERSION, and RUNCHECKEXE settings no longer exist. The functionality that used to exist in these settings has been integrated with the new custom prerequisite checking system. If you've used these in past projects, they will be automatically converted to the new structure upon project save in Booster.
- New Change: Your SSE Setup Projects are now stored in a new user-specific location. In the past, all of your projects were stored in a "\Projects" subfolder where SSE Setup was installed (usually something like C:\Program Files\SSE Setup x.x\Projects). Now, your projects are stored per-user in a "\SSE Setup Projects" subfolder in your documents folder ("My Documents", etc.)
- New Change (Launchpad): Changing your SSE Setup Projects folder to a new empty location will move your projects.
- New Change: The uninstaller now can prompt the user to remove extra files (user data) that may exist in folders that were created during Setup outside of the actual program folder.
- New Change: RAM greater than 4GB's can now be detected and required on applicable OS's.
- New Change: Folder attributes are now retained on installed folders.
- New Change: Windows 7, Vista SP2, 2008 SP2 support added for OS blocking.
- New Change: Using a prerequisite that requires the Internet Update Module to download/install the prerequisite will no longer force the Internet Updater to also be installed to your program folder.
- New Change: Better management of patches that really are more "optional components" then a hotfix, in relation to the Internet Update Module.
- New Change: French translation has been improved.
- New Change (Booster): Booster enhancements.
Version 5.2
- Bug Fix: Unusual error messages in v5.0/5.1 appearing if you tried to install to a folder that already had files with the same name in it.
- Bug Fix: Patch Installs using the Patch Setup Stub (instead of the real Setup) would not have worked when launched from a non-writeable location (such as CD or DVD).
- Bug Fix: When running from a CD/DVD using v5.0/5.1, files might have been installed with a read-only attribute.
- Bug Fix: Random uninstaller crashes. I never figured out what caused it, but the v5.0 and v5.1 uninstaller occasionally crashed, primarily on XP. The structural changes introduced with this version seems to have solved the problem.
- Bug Fix: A RUNPROGRAMS line that was running a program from the local install folder might have failed or caused problems occasionally.
- Bug Fix: A system file that had any part of its fileversion greater than 32767 would not have worked right for comparison purposes.
- Bug Fix: A computer with greater than 4GB's of RAM might have failed the prerequisites RAM check even though it shouldn't have.
- Bug Fix: A URL link/shortcut might have shown with a wrong or invalid icon.
- Bug Fix: A program may not have been started with its working directory used, when starting a program at the end of install on Vista on SSE Setup development machines (but not for machines where SSE Setup itself was not installed).
- Bug Fix: A few lesser-used / less-well-known virus scanners complained with your distribution/Setup/ZSet1.exe files and Norton Internet Security 9.0's SONAR (unknown threat) detector incorrectly flagged the Internet Update Module when it was run silently.
- Bug Fix: Blocking install by OS Service Pack might not have worked correctly for users in some non-English locales.
- Bug Fix: Internet Update Module not correctly showing all install failures.
- New Feature: Ability to easily sign your install/uninstall with a digital code signing certificate!
- New Feature (Booster): Burn CD/DVD distribution packages to CD or DVD from within Booster for XP/Vista users.
- New Change: Major structural changes in the whole structure of Setup and Uninstall. Numerous benefits from this. See the Version Changes section of the help file for more info.
- New Change: SSEInternetUpdater.exe (Internet Update Module) is no longer manually handled and you won't see it in your project folder.
- New Change: SSEAnimSupport.exe is no longer manually handled and you won't see it in your project folder.
- New Change: Manual Editors can no longer use an external text editor to edit a project's SSEset.dat file and must use the built-in editor. This is a side-effect of the major structural changes as from a technical standpoint I could no longer support this.
- New Change: Manual Editors will no longer see any header info in the SSEset.dat files.
- New Change: An Explorer window no longer also opens when you open a project in the Launchpad for manual editing. I changed this because some people found it annoying. You can still open the window manually by using the dropdown option in the Launchpad.
- New Change: You now have much more freedom when blocking install by OS. You can now easily block for any service packs you want, etc.
- New Change: The blue update links no longer appear in the Launchpad to upgrade each project to the latest SSE Setup version. Now your projects will automatically be updated to the new version as soon as they are saved.
- New Change: Increased the width of the progress bar indicator when the wizard interfaces are scaled.
- New Change: Italian translation has been improved.
- New Change: French translation has been improved. It is better than it was, but still could likely be improved. If you read/write French fluently and can help with this, please let me know.
- New Change: Upgrade programs are now processed BEFORE any other Run Program items.
- New Change (Booster): Numerous Booster enhancements. This includes better and quicker filehandling, multiple project backups, improved graphics & layout, ability to set file attributes for installed files, and much much more!
Version 5.1
v5.1 is primarily just an update to help "work around" some problems with a few (very few) virus scanners incorrectly finding viruses/causing problems with v5.0. If you are new to the 5.x series, make sure you read all the notes below related to v5.0.
Version 5.0
Intro to the 5.x series
SSE Setup 5.x, which has been over a year in the making, makes a major departure from all previous versions. Besides numerous new features and changes, the main difference is the method in which one actually creates an install.
In all previous SSE Setup versions, one would manually edit a SSEset.dat file to create an install. While this was extremely easy with v1.0 of SSE Setup, as SSE Setup continued to grow in features and complexity, by the time I was in the 3.x/4.x series, it was starting to get a little too difficult for those just starting out with it. The documentation grew by leaps and bounds to match with all the new features and it just became a little too overwhelming to many new SSE Setup users. I had always claimed that SSE Setup's strength lie in the fact that it wasn't a scripting language and that it didn't use a clunky GUI program either. It was different because it just required some simple editing and wasn't in a scripting format. However, even in v.4.4 (the last 4.x version), while it was still basically just "simple editing", the problem was that some new users had trouble even figuring out what they were to do just because all of the documentation and everything seemed overwhelming.
I had originally begun work on a unique, easy-to-use (not clunky) GUI install creator which was originally going to be released for 4.x and then got pushed to 5.x. However, before I got too far along with it, I was approached by a developer, André Beuving, who had ALREADY been working on a similar program for SSE Setup (he recognized the need too) and was much farther along then I was. After evaluating his approach, I lent him my full support and cooperation, and after rigorous development and testing, the new SSE Setup Booster GUI Install Creator ('SSE Setup Booster' or just 'Booster' for short) was ready!
By default, all projects opened or started in the Launchpad will now open with SSE Setup Booster for project editing. If you decide you do not want to use Booster, you can still edit all your projects manually just as with all previous versions - simply select the "Settings" link in the Launchpad to choose!
I am pleased to say that thanks to the fine work (and long hours) of André Beuving, the Booster program is GREAT, and offers very robust integration with SSE Setup!
Booster can edit a project, create the distribution and publish it on the Internet. It greatly simplifies using the SSE Setup Internet Updater with your projects as well. With the addition of Booster to SSE Setup, you now have a full easy solution for quickly managing an application's install, patches (hotfixes) or upgrades to the application, and publishing patches or upgrades on the Internet where your installed program can automatically download and install them!!
In true SSE Setup style, Booster is very easy - everything is arranged in an index style, where you can easily jump to the settings you want to modify, and just like before, you can still TEST your install/uninstall at any time with the current settings, without actually having to save or create a distribution! And it was created in the SSE Setup tradition of "you only need to modify what you want, everything else goes to standard defaults".
After giving it a try, I believe you will agree with me that SSE Setup just got a whole lot Simpler, Smarter, and Easier then ever before!
Chris Long,
Changes Made
- Bug Fix: Patch installs (TYPE:PATCH) had trouble with language specific disclaimer files.
- Bug Fix: The RUNCHECKEXE setting in PREREQUISITES would not have worked right under most non-admin installs.
- Bug Fix: The Prerequisites CPU check incorrectly handled multiple processors/cores. Wasn't really a major problem, but it didn't handle these quite right.
- Bug Fix: Assorted Display/Operational problems with HD/RAM/CPU Prerequisites checks in various locales.
- Bug Fix: "Elevation required" error message when running a Setup that included the VB Runtime files on a Standard User Account in Vista.
- Bug Fix: Some programs may have exhibited inconsistencies on Vista between a program run at the end of install (either by Setup or the Internet Updater) and when a user manually started the program.
- Bug Fix: Uninstall of "non Vista Aware" programs (those not marked with a manifest specifying a requestedExecutionLevel) would not have taken into account the Virtualized program folder and an upgrade install could not upgrade files from the Virtualized program folder.
- Bug Fix: Problems with upgrading and uninstalling 64-bit programs on 64-bit OS's. SSE Setup had trouble closing open 64-bit processes that should have been closed for upgrade or uninstall.
- Bug Fix: Hidden folders produced various problems/were not correctly seen.
- Bug Fix: Items in the Uninstaller's Remaining files list might have been cut off if they had a long path.
- Bug Fix: Error messages when using SHOWWELCOME:1 with Patch installs (TYPE:PATCH).
- Bug Fix: A few mostly minor multi-language related problems.
- Bug Fix (Internet Update Module): .NET runtime downloads might have failed with "unknown error" #6 message. This didn't start occurring until sometime in late Summer 2007. However, if the user tried to run Setup again, it would then have worked fine. I fixed this issue, effective retroactively, in November. This means this is no longer an issue with any SSE Setup version.
- Bug Fix: Rare "Error 5" error when running Setup from a UNC path.
- New Feature: GUI install creation! See the "Intro to the 5.x Series" note above. This is the default, however you can still edit your projects the "old way" if you prefer.
- New Feature: New distribution related options, including custom ZIP/EXE filenames, and the ability to change the file attributes for an EXE.
- New Feature: Your distribution settings for each project are remembered.
- New Feature: You can manually set the icon that displays for your program in Add/Remove Programs.
- New Feature: You can set Publisher information for display in Add/Remove Programs.
- New Feature: Wizard scaling on higher screen resolutions.
- New Feature: An admin user can choose to install links for just themself or all users.
- New Feature: New ROOTDRIVE keyword. This can be used anywhere in the SSEset.dat (such as the INSTALL section) to specify the root drive.
- New Feature: A system restore point is automatically created on XP/Vista before a program is installed. This can be disabled if desired.
- New Feature: CreateDist can be run from the command line.
- New Change: The "?" About button only shows on unlicensed installs, only about 5% of the time, and only on a computer where SSE Setup itself is not installed.
- New Change: You now can specify a file for the default disclaimer (license) text.
- New Change: A program run via the RUNCHECKEXE setting in PREREQUISITES now must write its file to the user's temp folder.
- New Change: All SSEset.dat's in final distributions are encrypted; the "Encrypt SSEset.dat" option no longer appears.
- New Change: Each time you create a distribution, all already existing distributions are deleted.
- New Change: You can now allow the default suggested install folder to be anything you want. I got sick of getting asked for this. :)
- New Change: Launchpad's Start New Project window is different and automates some SSEset.dat settings.
- New Change: You can use a custom icon for uninstaller links.
- New Change: Updated the "Browse Folder" window in WIZARD UI's to look better.
- New Change: Patch Changes. Structural patch changes in the Launchpad. If you've ever created a patch with previous versions, make *SURE* you read the Patch Changes note in the Version Changes part of the v5.0 help file!
- New Change: The Uninstaller will automatically remove all .GID, .CHW, .FTS, and Thumbs.db files in your program folder or any subfolders in your program folder.
- New Change: Easy Internet Update Information file creation and uploading. The new Booster program allows you to create the Internet Update Information file much easier than before where you had to manually type it and upload, etc.
- New Change: Program names/versions up to 36 characters can show on the Welcome screen without cropping.
- New Change: Files to be upgraded during an upgrade install, as specified in UPGRADEFILES, can now be located in any folder and transferred to any folder. Previously, SSE Setup assumed that the files were located in (or under) the old version's folder and would then only transfer them to (or under) the new version's folder.
- New Change: Number of files that can be installed has increased. Previously, there was a limit of about 15,000 files. Now you can install/uninstall up to 50,000 files.
- New Change: All files are installed with their file attributes.
- New Change: SSEAudioSupport.exe is no longer used to provide audio support during install. Its functionality now resides directly in Setup (no overhead increase).
- New Change (Launchpad): Several Launchpad enhancements to allow for easier project manipulation.
New Change (Internet Update Module): The Internet Update Module has been completely reworked "under the hood" and has many changes. A main benefit of this is that non-admin users can now use the updater without having to have MSINET.OCX preinstalled.
New Change: The actual creating of distributions is as much as 30% faster.
- New Change: The .NET Framework v3.5 is fully supported for use with DOTNETVERSION in PREREQUISITES.
- New Change: Only a project using SSE Setup 2.0 or greater can be updated to 5.x or greater by the Launchpad. Also, if you open and save a project in Booster, it will automatically be updated to the installed version.
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