Well behaved installers #2110

denelon · 2022-04-20T18:11:43Z

denelon
Apr 20, 2022
Maintainer

We've run into several issues with installers not writing entries into Windows Apps & Features, not writing appropriate registry values, and putting values in inappropriate locations in the registry.

If we could put some "best practices" together for installers, this could help drive better behaviors on the part of ISVs. If we can automate scoring these with our validation, this would also become a gold mine of information about installers in the wild and give us a few targeted areas to improve.

As there are many different installer technologies, I don't think we're going to be able to solve all of our problems quickly, but we should be able to make generic recommendations. I'd like to get a list together of "well behaved installers do 'x'" so we could start writing these best practices.

denelon · 2022-04-20T18:12:34Z

denelon
Apr 20, 2022
Maintainer Author

Do write a well-formed registry key to Add Remove Programs (ARP)
Don’t put the version into the Name; use one of the supported version fields.
Do write to the x86/x64 registry appropriate to the actual files being installed, not the one that your installer happens to be.
Do store the localized name of the program in ARP; the same name you would use in the Microsoft Store.
Only request elevation (User Access Control (UAC) if needed.