Tips Archives - Page 7 of 14 - SamLogic Software Blog

2017-07-252020-11-13

Visual Installer: How to block a license key

In Visual Installer it is possible to block specific license keys from be accepted during an installation. This is useful when using prime number based license keys because they are created and verified mathematically. So if the license key is evaluated correctly, it will be accepted.

In Visual Installer you can create a block list with prime number based license keys that should not be accepted, although they are mathematically correct. This is done via the Block List dialog box in Visual Installer:

The 'Block List' dialog box in Visual Installer

In this dialog box you can enter a list with license keys that should not be accepted by Visual Installer during an installation. The block list is stored per installation project and is saved with the .VIP project file. So it is not a global block list. It only adds the block list to the specific installation project.

Where to find the ‘Block List’ dialog box?
You can open the Block List dialog box by following these steps:

1. Open the Dialog boxes tab in Visual Installer’s editor.
2. Click on the “…” button to the right of the License key option.
3. Click on the More options button.
4. Click on the Block List button.

In the Block List dialog box that is now opened you can enter a list with license keys to block. One license key per row. You can also specify an information message that is shown to the user if he/she enters a blocked license key. If no text is specified, a default text is used.

Note
Both prime number based license keys and static license keys can be blocked with this method, although this function is most useful when used with prime number based license keys.

2017-07-102019-07-07

Visual Installer: How to run a program with administrator rights

Sometimes an installed program must be run with administrator rights when it is started. This gives the program more privileges, which sometimes is necessary to make a program function as expected. In Visual Installer you can set an installed program to run with administrator privileges in an easy way.

To make an installed program to run with administrator rights you can right-click on the program file in Visual Installer’s file list and choose the Run as administrator menu item in the menu that is shown. Thereafter you can select the Run program as administrator option in the dialog box that appears and press OK (see picture below).

Run program as administrator

After installation, the installed program will be run with administrator rights when it is started. If the UAC is activated in the Windows, the system will ask the end-user for permission before it elevates the privileges.

2017-06-302019-07-07

USB AutoRun Creator: The AutoRun driver can be downloaded from the Internet

Before AutoRun can work with USB flash drives in a computer, our AutoRun driver must be installed in the computer. You can distribute the AutoRun driver with your USB stick or you can let the user download and install it from the Internet.

In some situations using the Internet can be the preferable way because you can email your customers in advance and let them download and install the driver from your web site. And thereafter, when they receive your USB stick, AutoRun will work immediately when they plug the USB stick into the USB port.

When you install USB AutoRun Creator, the product is installed in this folder on your hard drive as default:

C:\Program Files (x86)\SamLogic\USB AutoRun Creator

If you look in this folder, you will find the following file there:

SETUP-USB-Supervisor-Internet.exe

You can upload this file to your web server and let the user download it, when needed.

The SETUP-USB-Supervisor-Internet.exe file is a small installation package, and the installation is very simple. The following two steps-wizard is shown to the user:

Step 1:
Installation of the AutoRun driver - Step 1
Step 2:

So the installation of the AutoRun driver is done in seconds.

2017-05-312019-07-07

CD-Menu Creator: Using wildcard characters in a file path

Normally you create a link between a menu button and a specific file on the disc or USB stick by specifying a file path to the file. For example: ‘Files\Button1\MyDoc.doc‘. When a user clicks on the button, the file (in this case ‘Files\Button1\MyDoc.doc‘) will be opened.

If the filename must be changed, for any reason, the whole menu must be created again when this technique is used. Otherwise the file will not be found when the user clicks on the button.

But starting with version 8.5.3 of CD-Menu Creator, an alternative method can be used. Instead of specifying a file path to one specific file, for example ‘Files\Button1\MyDoc.doc‘, you can use a wildcard character (an asterisk: *) and specify a file path to the first occurrence of a file in a folder with a specified filename extension, for example ‘Files\Button1\*.doc‘. In this case the first file in the ‘Files\Button1‘ folder that has a ‘.doc‘ filename extension in its filename will be opened.

This technique allows you to change the filename of the file in the folder without re-creating the whole menu. The filename extension must be the same, but the rest of the filename can be changed freely on the CD/DVD/USB stick.

Works with documents and programs
This technique with a wildcard character can be used with the following three button commands:

Run Program
Run Program & Close
Show Document

Filename examples
Below are some examples of how filenames can be built when using this technique:

‘MyDoc1.doc‘
‘MyDoc2.doc‘
‘LatestNews-20170528.doc‘
‘LatestNews-20170529.doc‘
‘Journal-John-Smith.doc‘
‘Journal-Sam-Johnson.doc‘

File path examples
Below are some examples of how the file path can be built:

‘Files\Button1\*.doc‘
‘Files\Button2\*.xls‘
‘Files\Button3\*.exe‘

‘Files\Button4\journal*.doc‘
‘Files\Button5\app*.exe‘

An asterisk (*) is the only supported wildcard character. The asterisk must always be to the left of the dot that starts the filename extension.

Tip
When you create your menu for the first time, it can be a good idea to first select a source file and specify a complete file path to this file (do not use wildcards yet). After you have created your menu and everything works as expected with the selected file, you can change the file path to a file path that contains a wildcard character. Then you create your menu again. Henceforth you can change the filename of the file freely directly in the folder on disc or USB stick. You don’t need to create the menu again.

2017-05-252019-07-07

How to install a font with Visual Installer

True Type font logo Sometimes the fonts that are included in Windows are not enough, and you need to distribute your own font(s) with your software. But before they can be used in another computer, they must be installed in the right system folder and registered in the system.

Luckily Visual Installer supports installation and registration of fonts. So it is easy to add a font to your installation and have it installed and registered in another computer. In the tip below we will show how to add a font file to an installation project and how to make sure it will be registered in the system during the installation.

How to install and register a font with Visual Installer

1. Open your project or create a new project.

2. Choose the menu item List – Add – Add files.

3. Browse and select your font file (must be a file with the filename extension .ttf).

(If you want to add a font file that is located in C:\Windows\Fonts, you can first copy the font file to another folder that you create, for example C:\MyFonts. Thereafter you add the font file to Visual Installer´s file list from C:\MyFonts. Adding the font directly from C:\Windows\Fonts may not always work because it is a special folder.)

4. Click Open in the Add files dialog box.

5. In the next dialog box that is shown, make sure that the destination folder is %FONTDIR.

6. Click OK to close the Destination folder dialog box.

7. Now select the font file in the file list.

8. Choose the menu item List – Register font.

9. Enter a font name in the Font name text box in the Register font dialog box.

10. Make sure that the Register this font after installation option is selected.

11. Click OK.

You have now added a font file to your installation project and it will be installed in Windows font folder, and registered in a proper way, during the installation.

2017-04-032019-07-07

How to check that a file is dual code signed

In Visual Installer 2015 we added a new function that makes it possible to dual code sign setup files. You can read about the new function in the following blog post:

> Visual Installer now supports SHA-2 and dual code signing

Before you distribute your installation package it can be a good idea to check that the dual sign process succeeded. You can do it easily by following the steps below:

1. Create your setup package from Visual Installer.
2. Locate the setup package file via Windows Explorer.
3. Right-click on the file.
4. Choose the Properties menu item in the local menu that is opened.
5. Open the Digital Signatures tab.

If the file has been successfully dual signed, there should be two rows in the signature list:

Windows Properties window

The digest algorithms should be sha1 and sha256, as shown in the picture above. If there is only one row in the signature list, the dual code sign process failed or you have not set Visual Installer to dual code sign setup packages. Read this tip to get more information about how to change code sign settings in Visual Installer.

2016-11-282019-07-07

How to create a video clip gallery in CD-Menu Creator

There is a picture gallery function available in CD-Menu Creator that can be used to create a gallery with pictures. This function is very versatile and can also be used to create a gallery with video clips. In this new tip on our website we show how:

> Tip: How to use the Picture Gallery to show video clips

2016-08-242019-07-08

The %REG1 to %REG5 variables in Visual Installer

In this blog post we explained how to use variables in Visual Installer. Many variables get their values automatically from known locations in Windows Registry, but there are also some variables in Visual Installer that can obtain their values from locations in Windows Registry that you specify.

The %REG1 to %REG5 variables
There are five variables in Visual Installer that can obtain their values from keys and value names in the Windows Registry that you specify. They have the following names: %REG1, %REG2, %REG3, %REG4, and %REG5.

How to specify a location in Registry to read
To specify a key and value name in the Registry for any of these variables, you must first open the Variables dialog box in Visual Installer’s editor. You can do this by first opening the Registry or INI files tab in Visual Installer’s editor, and then click on the Variables button, that is located at the bottom right of the editor:

The following dialog box will be opened if you click on the button:

List with variables

If you scroll to the bottom of the list, you will find the User variables section:

List with variables - The User variables section

As default, these variables are empty but you can specify a key and value name for them by clicking on the Change values button (in the bottom left), and then specify the information in the Change contents for variables dialog box that is opened:

The 'Change contents for variables' dialog box

To specify a key and value for example for the %REG1 variable, you need to enter the information at the %REG1 text box in the User variables section. For example like this:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SamLogic\Visual Installer\10.5 :: Path

“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SamLogic\Visual Installer\10.5” is the key and “Path” is the value name. You can read more about this format in Visual Installer’s User Guide.

In the picture below we have specified keys and values for both the %REG1 variable and the %REG2 variable:

A key and value name has been specified for the REG1 and REG2 variables

You can click OK to save the keys and value names. In the Variables dialog box you will now see the information that you entered in the previous dialog box in the Contents column of the variable list. You can also see the current value for the variable (that is read from the Registry) by hovering the mouse pointer over the variable name, as shown in the picture below:

Shows the tip text function

During the installation, the %REG1 to %REG5 variables will read its contents from the end-users Registry. If no contents is available, the variables will be empty.

2016-08-242019-07-07

Your project’s bitness affects where the %REG1 to %REG5 variables get their values

As explained in this blog post, the %REG1 to %REG5 variables in Visual Installer get their values from the Windows Registry. But you should be aware of that there are two Registry in Windows – a 32 bit Registry and a 64 bit Registry – and your project settings will decide which of these Registry to use.

If you start Visual Installer’s editor and open the Setup options dialog box and the 32/64 bit tab, and look in the Bitness (32 or 64 bit) frame, you will see that there are two options that decide if the installation project is a 32 bit project or a 64 bit project (see the picture below):

The Setup options dialog box

If you install 32 bit files you should select the first option (The program that will be installed is 32 bit) and if you install 64 bit files you should select the second option (The program that will be installed is 64 bit). The first option is always selected as default.

These options will also affect where the %REG1 to %REG5 variables get their values. If you have selected The program that will be installed is 32 bit, the variables will get their values from the 32 bit Registry and if you select The program that will be installed is 64 bit, the variables will get their values from 64 bit Registry.

There are two Registry editors in Windows
You should also be aware of that there exist two Registry editors in Windows. One of them handles the 32 bit Registry and one of them handles the 64 bit Registry. The filename of the Registry editor is always the same, regedt32.exe, but you can launch the different versions from different folders in Windows:

32 bit version: C:\Windows\SysWOW64
64 bit version: C:\Windows\System32

2016-08-082019-07-07

Which video formats does CD-Menu Creator support?

In CD-Menu Creator you can add a video clip or a movie to a menu interface. You can show the video directly in a menu window, or you can show the video in a separate window that is opened when the end-user clicks on a menu button.

Supported video formats
Using a video in a menu interface may improve the end-user´s first impression of your product, but when you select a video to a menu you should be aware of the following two things:

– Not all video formats are supported by CD-Menu Creator
– Not all CODECs are supported by default in Windows

We recommend you to choose a video that is saved in the MPEG or WMV format. Or an AVI video that you know uses a basic CODEC (coder-decoder) that all Windows support. Be aware of that many AVI videos has been created with a CODEC that not all end-user´s Windows support by default. The end-user must have same CODEC installed in the computer that was used when the video was created, otherwise the video can not be shown.

Avoid MPEG-4
Today many create videos in the MPEG-4 (MP4) format, but it is not recommended to select a MPEG-4 video to a menu created with CD-Menu Creator. Although many end-users will have a media player that can play the MPEG-4 video, the necessary CODEC is often not available for other software without a separate installation of the CODEC. So therefore, to reduce the risk for problem, we recommend you to avoid MPEG-4 files with CD-Menu Creator.

We recommend you to test the menu in an empty Window
To be sure that the video you added to a menu will be played without any problem, we recommend you to test the menu in a computer with an empty Windows (a computer where only Windows but no other software has been installed). It can be a virtual computer or physical computer.

By testing the menu and the video in a computer with an empty Windows, you will discover if the video is dependent of a CODEC that is not installed by default in Windows.

Summary – Supported video formats / filename extensions
When you select a video file to a CD-Menu Creator menu, you should select a file with one of the following filename extensions:

.MPG or .MPEG : (MPEG) Recommended format, works almost always.
.WMV : (WMV) Recommended format, works almost always.
.AVI : (AVI) Works if a proper CODEC has been chosen to the video.

If you have a video file with the .MP4 filename extension, we recommend you to convert it to one of the video formats above. There are many conversation programs that can be downloaded from the Internet that makes the conversion. Or even better, if it is possible, contact the source and try to get the same video in one of the video formats mentioned above.