473,287 Members | 1,555 Online
Bytes | Software Development & Data Engineering Community
Post Job

Home Posts Topics Members FAQ

Join Bytes to post your question to a community of 473,287 software developers and data experts.

Installation and Deployment Problems of Web Application

3f
Hello;

We have made a web application that people can download from our web site
and installed on:

Windows XP
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 2003 Server
Windows 2000 Server

Provided that the target machine has IIS 5.0 or above installed.

The installation files are created with Install Shield and we let Install
Shield do a lot of the work i.e. create the virtual directory, installing
MSDE, registering components, assigns security to the folder
(IUSR_ComputerName) and things of that nature. We use windows scripting host
to check if ASP is installed in Windows 2003.

Our goal is simple, we want people to be able to download and install our
software with the same amount of problems one could expect form installing a
normal application which basically means that the installation is successful
9 out of 10 times. At the moment we think that we have a rate which is more
like 1 or 2 out 10 installations are successful.

When we install in our company on any of the above OS’s we never have any
problems, it runs each time.

Know problems faced by our customers:

- Script blocking enabled (as is usually the case if they have Mcafee or
Norton antivirus installed). And since most people properly download and try
the web application on their XP Professional before installing on a corporate
server this is a major problem.
- Special configurations on the IIS that somehow gives our installation
problems

As a general rule if a customer contacts us with installation problems we
are always able to solve it, however most people do not contact us, hence a
potential sale is lost, and this even before they have seen our application.
Big problem.

Questions:

1. Are there anyone here who make and distribute web based applications that
people can download from the Internet and install without first having
contact with the vendor (you)?
2. If yes to the above, how do you tackle installation problems?
3. Would the best way for the installation be to create a batch file system
that installs the application and then completely circumvent Install shield?
4. Would a combination of scripting and active directory as seen here
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/articles/20010609.asp be a more safe way to go?

Hoping to hear something, maybe somebody here have an idea. We will be quit
willing to share our knowledge!

Jul 22 '05 #1
1 3012
If they've got script blockers enabled then they should already know to
disable them first if you've made it clear on the products download page,
that this is required.

Unfortunately, as far as varying IIS config's go, the best you can do IMHO,
is provide info on the products home/download page that explains what is
required, and how to configure it (a little help goes along way in my
experience).

As for your questions.......;
1. Are there anyone here who make and distribute web based applications that people can download from the Internet and install without first having
contact with the vendor (you)?
Make them as generic as possible (i.e. pretty much stand-alone, with
instructions on config'ing the server)
2. If yes to the above, how do you tackle installation problems?
Provide instructions for manual configuration
3. Would the best way for the installation be to create a batch file system that installs the application and then completely circumvent Install shield?

Would that not be basically the same as using IS?
4. Would a combination of scripting and active directory as seen here
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/articles/20010609.asp be a more safe way to go?
Probably, but that also assumes the user is running in admin mode (not a
problem if you've explained how to run it in "RunAs" mode).

--
Regards

Steven Burn
Ur I.T. Mate Group
www.it-mate.co.uk

Keeping it FREE!

"3f" <3f@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C8**********************************@microsof t.com... Hello;

We have made a web application that people can download from our web site
and installed on:

Windows XP
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 2003 Server
Windows 2000 Server

Provided that the target machine has IIS 5.0 or above installed.

The installation files are created with Install Shield and we let Install
Shield do a lot of the work i.e. create the virtual directory, installing
MSDE, registering components, assigns security to the folder
(IUSR_ComputerName) and things of that nature. We use windows scripting host to check if ASP is installed in Windows 2003.

Our goal is simple, we want people to be able to download and install our
software with the same amount of problems one could expect form installing a normal application which basically means that the installation is successful 9 out of 10 times. At the moment we think that we have a rate which is more like 1 or 2 out 10 installations are successful.

When we install in our company on any of the above OS's we never have any
problems, it runs each time.

Know problems faced by our customers:

- Script blocking enabled (as is usually the case if they have Mcafee or
Norton antivirus installed). And since most people properly download and try the web application on their XP Professional before installing on a corporate server this is a major problem.
- Special configurations on the IIS that somehow gives our installation
problems

As a general rule if a customer contacts us with installation problems we
are always able to solve it, however most people do not contact us, hence a potential sale is lost, and this even before they have seen our application. Big problem.

Questions:

1. Are there anyone here who make and distribute web based applications that people can download from the Internet and install without first having
contact with the vendor (you)?
2. If yes to the above, how do you tackle installation problems?
3. Would the best way for the installation be to create a batch file system that installs the application and then completely circumvent Install shield? 4. Would a combination of scripting and active directory as seen here
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/articles/20010609.asp be a more safe way to go?

Hoping to hear something, maybe somebody here have an idea. We will be quit willing to share our knowledge!

Jul 22 '05 #2

This thread has been closed and replies have been disabled. Please start a new discussion.

Similar topics

5
by: Sue | last post by:
How do I launch an executable at the end of an installation created by Microsoft Visual Studio setup and deployment project?
5
by: InstallAware | last post by:
For Press Inquiries: Sinan Karaca InstallAware Software Corporation 336 Guerrero Street, San Francisco CA 94103 415 358 4094 (voice/fax) sinank@installaware.com http://www.installaware.com/ ...
4
by: James | last post by:
I have a VB windows forms application that accesses a Microsoft Access database that has been secured using user-level security. The application is being deployed using No-Touch deployment. The...
0
by: James | last post by:
I have a VB windows forms application that accesses a Microsoft Access database that has been secured using user-level security. The application is being deployed using No-Touch deployment. The...
0
by: processendnow | last post by:
I have a vb.net form application, it works inside Visual Baisc Express Debugger, packages without errors or warning, and is publishable. Click on the setup.exe to install and it installs, but it...
6
by: Josef Brunner | last post by:
Hi, I published my application (VS 2005) and am now trying to install it when I get this error message. It worked before...even on a different machine. Here is the detailed description: ...
6
by: Black Wolf Standing | last post by:
....is not being recognized by applications on my system. I use Windows XP Home Edition SP2 with all patches and updates. I have .NET 1.1 on my system and applications for .NET 1.1 work great. Just...
1
by: ImageAnalyst | last post by:
Yay!!! They fixed this for VS2005. You can now set the default installation to be "Everyone" instead of "Just Me" and you can control whether you even want those radio button installed in your...
20
by: piggy | last post by:
I have developed an application using C# under .NET 2.0 framework. It is almost done and it is time for me to think about deploymnet to all users. I don't have any background about this and would...
0
by: DolphinDB | last post by:
The formulas of 101 quantitative trading alphas used by WorldQuant were presented in the paper 101 Formulaic Alphas. However, some formulas are complex, leading to challenges in calculation. Take...
0
by: DolphinDB | last post by:
Tired of spending countless mintues downsampling your data? Look no further! In this article, you’ll learn how to efficiently downsample 6.48 billion high-frequency records to 61 million...
0
by: Aftab Ahmad | last post by:
Hello Experts! I have written a code in MS Access for a cmd called "WhatsApp Message" to open WhatsApp using that very code but the problem is that it gives a popup message everytime I clicked on...
0
by: Aftab Ahmad | last post by:
So, I have written a code for a cmd called "Send WhatsApp Message" to open and send WhatsApp messaage. The code is given below. Dim IE As Object Set IE =...
0
by: ryjfgjl | last post by:
ExcelToDatabase: batch import excel into database automatically...
0
by: marcoviolo | last post by:
Dear all, I would like to implement on my worksheet an vlookup dynamic , that consider a change of pivot excel via win32com, from an external excel (without open it) and save the new file into a...
1
isladogs
by: isladogs | last post by:
The next Access Europe meeting will be on Wednesday 6 Mar 2024 starting at 18:00 UK time (6PM UTC) and finishing at about 19:15 (7.15PM). In this month's session, we are pleased to welcome back...
0
by: jfyes | last post by:
As a hardware engineer, after seeing that CEIWEI recently released a new tool for Modbus RTU Over TCP/UDP filtering and monitoring, I actively went to its official website to take a look. It turned...
1
by: PapaRatzi | last post by:
Hello, I am teaching myself MS Access forms design and Visual Basic. I've created a table to capture a list of Top 30 singles and forms to capture new entries. The final step is a form (unbound)...

By using Bytes.com and it's services, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

To disable or enable advertisements and analytics tracking please visit the manage ads & tracking page.