TXTechie

Hi orbs, You might be interested in this comparison review by one of my trusted techie resources: Best Free Screen Capture Tool (Updated July 4, 2014) [Gizmo's Freeware] I, personally, use the free edition of Screenpresso. TX Techie

I thought those of you who know some other modern programming languages (Java, C#, Python, Ruby, etc.) might be interested in Apple's new Swift programming language, and this article about it: Apple's new Swift programming language takes flight with Getty Images, American Airlines, LinkedIn, and Duolingo (February 06, 2015) [AppleInsider] TX Techie

VBScript is still heavily used by Microsoft in MDT & WAIK solutions for Windows deployments, among others things.

One of my trusted techie resources for such things is Gimzo's Freeware, you might be interested in the following comparison reviews - both have been recently updated: Best Free Screen Session Recorder [Gizmo's Freeware] Best Free Video Editing Program [Gizmo's Freeware] You might also be interested in this comparison review: Best Free Audio-Video Format Conversion Program [Gizmo's Freeware] TXTechie

The .iss files are used with legacy InstallShield .exe installations. Once you have the .msi file, there are a ton of command-line options that you can utilize.

Correct.

In Srex's particular case, this is probably the better solution.

This is one of the many great advantages of using AutoIt, you can include all of the required files that your script will need at runtime and you only need to deploy a single .exe file.

Why not just include both of the .reg files with your script (if compiling it to an executable) and put them wherever you want to put them when your script runs (at runtime) via the built-in FileInstall function?

Alternatively, you can use the free (or paid Plus edition) InstEd msi editor instead of Orca, as I prefer to use.

You might also want to check out psyCodez's >Collect Uninstall Keys (App), it is very impressive! I love to use it against remote PCs.

Mbee, Basically, if 64-bit software (or a 64-bit process) is what wrote the registry keys/values, then they'll be under the default HKLM, HKCU, HKU hives on a 64-bit Windows OS. If, however, it was 32-bit software (or a 32-bit process) that wrote the registry keys/values, then they'll be under the WOW64 (32-bit) sub-keys (i.e. HKLMSOFTWAREWow6432Node; HKCUSoftwareWow6432Node; etc.) on a 64-bit Windows OS. In my experience, you'll see this more under the HKLM hive than under the user-level hives (HKCU & HKU). And if you don't know what bitness created/wrote to the registry, you'll just have to look in both places to see where they are located. Worst case, you can always code for both as a catch-all. However, I usually find out where they are actually located and code accordingly. You can read more about this here: Scripting, Migrating and Managing Registry Data In 64-bit Windows, by Darwin Sanoy (March 3, 2011) [CSI-Windows] And, you can find a comprehensive reference of what all is involved (including redirections) here: WOW64 - A Comprehensive Reference, by Darwin Sanoy (November 18, 2013) [CSI-Windows]

I don't think we debated, just stated our views/perspectives. Also, you are obviously not alone in your particular perspective. I used to do repackaging (for all deployed software), but it does have its drawbacks and disadvantages. Even Microsoft doesn't use it for all of their software installations. I highly respect your advice/input/feedback and I'm glad you are an MVP on the AutoIt Forums! I have learned (and I'm sure I'll continue to learn) from you here.

I have worked in the Systems Management field of IT (deploying customized software packages to many PCs) for several years and while I prescribe to the idea that repackaging is a last resort, it will - indeed - allow you to deploy this (or any software installation) silently. Repackaging is an attempt to capture the changes made by a legacy installation and then "repackage" it into a standard Windows Installer (MSI) based installation that provides all of the features of a standard Windows Installer based installation (including all of the command-line switches for installing it quietly or silently). To get an idea of what repackaging can do for you (and it may even provide all you need for this particular job), check out the free AppDeploy Repackager.

Microsoft Office installations are definitely very customizable and they can be installed quietly (with a limited GUI) or completely silently (no GUI or user-interaction). You need to download and use Microsoft's free Office Customization Tool in order to customize the Office installation to your needs. Here's the link for the Office Customization Tool for Office 2010.

JLogan3o13, To be honest, I'm still not sure if it's just me doing something wrong or AutoIt not functioning properly (however, no one has yet suggested an alternative to what I'm using for what I'm trying to do). But, I have had a couple of GUI-related issues with Win8.x Tablets. Can you tell me whether your work with Win8.1 has been with Tablets or Laptops (in all of their current forms) and/or Desktops that include a keyboard and mouse/trackpad?

I agree 100%!

I understand what you are saying JLogan3o13, but the problem that the OP (Tekkion) is experiencing on Win8.x is still very significant. I have a similar problem attempting to use some of the core GUI-manipulation functionality of AutoIt on Win8 Tablets and it's not working (>ControlClick not clicking on button). In my case, I have not been able to find a way to make the non-MSI InstallShield uninstall routine completely silent (which is true of many non-MSI InstallShield uninstalls, based on my experience). I cannot test my particular scenario on other OS's (the software comes pre-installed on our Win8 Tablets), but Tekkion has and he is stating that the basic GUI-manipulation functionality of AutoIt is working fine on WinXP & Win7 (as expected), but it is not working on Win8. I'm becoming more and more concerned about the ability to continue to use the core GUI-manipulation functionality of AutoIt in Win8 (and, potentially, future versions of Windows), as we are getting more Win8 devices in our environment. Whether it is a bug or just simply something different in Win8 that requires AutoIt to be slightly re-tooled in order to be compatible (with respect to GUI-manipulation) to Win8. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to bash AutoIt and the incredible time and effort that its developers have put into developing it and the tools (and the support). I'm just concerned about this particular issue and my ability to provide solutions using AutoIt going forward with newer versions of Windows.

I would also recommend that you check out the >ISN AutoIt Studio, which includes what many (including myself) believe to be a better Form Designer. The ISN AutoIt Studio is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for AutoIt and it is being developed by a member of the AutoIt community using AutoIt.

That's a good point, somdcomputerguy. However, the initial setup.exe apparently spawns another process because the AutoIt script does get to my MsgBox commands and the script then finishes, even though the InstallShield wizard is still running and being displayed. Still, I made the change based on your suggestion, as it is more appropriate to for my need - thank you.

I'm testing on Windows 8.1 Pro (64-bit), I just saw from >this recent post that someone else is having problems with ControlClick on Win8.1. I wanted to use ControlClick because, from other forum posts I learned that it's more robust/reliable. So, I just tried the following with no effect: Send("!n") What else should I use instead?

No, the following didn't work either: ControlClick($hWnd, "", "[ID:7]")

Hi JohnOne, I tried that and a few other differences with no change. Just to be sure, I tried your suggestion (leaving out the "TEXT:&No" parameter) and it still doesn't click on the button.

I've been using AutoIt for a few years now, but this is the first time that I've attempted to automate another GUI - in this case, the InstallShield uninstall wizard of the Dell Backup and Recovery software installed on our Win8.1 tablets. AutoIt successfully launches the uninstall wizard and the MsgBox statements tell me that the window I'm looking for has been found, however it never clicks (via the ControlClick statement) on the "No" button (just for testing right now, I will eventually have it click on the "Yes" button, when put in production). Based on the help and some forum searches, I've come up with the following script: #include <MsgBoxConstants.au3> ShellExecuteWait(@ProgramFilesDir & "\InstallShield Installation Information\{0ED7EE95-6A97-47AA-AD73-152C08A15B04}\setup.exe", "-runfromtemp -l0x0409 -removeonly") ; Wait for up to 45 seconds for the "Dell Backup and Recovery - InstallShield Wizard" window to appear Local $hWnd = WinWait("[CLASS:#32770]", "Do you want to completely remove the selected application and all of its features?", 45) ; Test if the window exists and display the results If WinExists($hWnd, "") Then MsgBox($MB_SYSTEMMODAL, "Found", "Window exists") ; Activate the window WinActivate($hWnd, "") ; Click the 2nd instance of a "Button" control containing the text "&No" ControlClick($hWnd, "", "[CLASS:Button; TEXT:&No; INSTANCE:2]") Else MsgBox($MB_SYSTEMMODAL, "Not Found", "Window does not exist") EndIf Here's the contents of the AU3Info tool: >>>> Window <<<< Title: Dell Backup and Recovery - InstallShield Wizard Class: #32770 Position: 399, 294 Size: 487, 145 Style: 0x94C801C5 ExStyle: 0x00010101 Handle: 0x00000000000204BC >>>> Control <<<< Class: Button Instance: 2 ClassnameNN: Button2 Name: Advanced (Class): [CLASS:Button; INSTANCE:2] ID: 7 Text: &No Position: 385, 79 Size: 88, 26 ControlClick Coords: 36, 15 Style: 0x50010000 ExStyle: 0x00000004 Handle: 0x0000000000030494 >>>> Mouse <<<< Position: 823, 414 Cursor ID: 2 Color: 0xF0F4F9 >>>> StatusBar <<<< >>>> ToolsBar <<<< >>>> Visible Text <<<< &Yes &No Do you want to completely remove the selected application and all of its features? >>>> Hidden Text <<<< I'm sure that I'm missing something very basic. Please help me solve this puzzle.

I generally use the following: #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Comment=Long comments here. #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Description=Shorter description here. #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Fileversion=1.0.0.0 #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Field=ProductVersion|1.0 #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_LegalCopyright=© 2013 and company or author/developer name #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Field=CompanyName|Company name here (if desired) #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Field=Developer|My name here #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Field=ProductName|Short project name here