Version is outdated prompt during silent installation

[jsichak]

I was wondering, with the silent switch, is there any way that we can suppress the "Version is outdated" prompt?  I've gone through the INF file, and have gone through the strings of setup.exe, but cannot for the life of me figure out how to suppress that prompt.

[td]

When the  setup program detects an outdated version, it turns the silent install off.  There is a technique to permit skipping the a out-of-date message but it can't be used with the silent install command line switch.

[jsichak]

Thanks for the information TD.  This behavior makes automated installations of Winbatch, when deploying through Configuration Manager 2012, fairly difficult.  I'm assuming a recommendation would be to insert logic into our script to try to account for these popups, and send keystrokes to the window?

Is this behavior something that can/will be changed in future releases?

Thanks again.

Jeremy

[td]

The recommendation is to upgrade to a newer version of WinBatch.

[jsichak]

Due to my teams current workload, upgrading to a newer version of Winbatch is not an option.  We may look at upgrading to a newer version within the next six months, but that would probably be the earliest we could upgrade.

I understand that the intention of the prompt is to let us know that new version is available.  For those of us that are licensing the product, we already know when a new version is available, and make the determination as to when we're going to upgrade our systems to the newer version.  In the future, it would be nice to have an option to suppress all such notifications during the installation of WinBatch.

Best Regards,
Jeremy

[td]

Unless you are using a version of WinBatch more than about 7 years old, upgrading to a new version will likely not take any longer than it would to distribute your old version.   We make every effort to avoid backward compatibility issues.

The real reason for not upgrading usually has something to do with money and we understand.  But also keep in mind that it is this same money keeps the lights on, and this forum's and the Tech Database's servers running.

[jsichak]

Upgrading from one version of WinBatch to another, in our environment, takes longer than you would think.  The main issue here is that, with CM 2012, trying to make a package (yes, Microsoft now calls them Applications), that allows for user intervention, is extremely tricky.  When we create a package, and deploy it, we expect that there will be no user intervention needed.

Regardless of you whether or not you try to avoid any backward compatibility issues, we still like to make sure that there will not be any issues with our script, and function library.

As for keeping the lights on.  Money is not the issue in this instance, as we have already renewed our 40+ seat license.  We renew our license every year, regardless of whether we upgrade or not.  This all comes down to the ease of deploying your product.

Maybe I should call and talk to you or Deana regarding the issues with the installation, as it seems that we're not getting anywhere with this conversation.  I was hoping that there would be an easier solution than rewriting your installer, or by setting the system time back a year while the install occurs, but it's starting to sound like that is what we'll have to do with future releases of WinBatch in our environment.

Thanks for your time.

[td]

You would have to upgrade to the latest version even if we decided to change the setup program so you would not gain anything by the modification.  You would still need to either install the latest version or figure out some way to automate an interactive install. 

Since you have a current maintenance plan, the former choice seems the better option.  You can look at the release notes on our Web site and also  provided with the installation to view a full list of fixes and enhancements since your current version.  The 'Read Me Now.txt' file contains a list of compatibility issues.  The last potentially breaking change came in version 2013A and you only need to worry about that version if you use the 'MousePlay' function.  The previous breaking change came with version 2010b and only involved IntControl 31.  Note that several recent changes make silent installs more silent (2014B)  and lowering the frequency of post install reboots (2014B, 2015A).

[JTaylor]

At the risk of showing my ignorance and being annoying....  :)

Rather than doing an "Install" can you easily copy files and update the registry?   Maybe just copy the WinBatch files and make the appropriate registry change?   Nothing else happens during an install, does it?  Maybe replacing the menu files, if that matters???  I know I have a script that allows me to run WinBatch from a thumb drive and it simply updates the registry and when finished there was a script to remove the registry settings so it was uninstalled.

Just a thought.

Jim

[td]

Not a bad idea if done properly.

[td]

Should mention that WinBatch has a fairly significant registry footprint.  FileMenu and the 64-bit debugger both require there own registry settings to work properly.  Then there are the AppPath values and file associations to setup.  The standard installation settings need to be made for clean uninstalls but that wouldn't work unless you also created an install log.   Shortcuts also need to be generated for the start menu.  Wait there's more...

[Oliver]

Today i am having the same issue - again. And i too can not understand why These prompts show up. I know which version of Winbatch i am installing and i do not wish to change it right now. So please make them go away  ;D.

You could add another Switch (/noupdatecheck) for those who really want a silent Setup and do not want to get prompted that a new Version "might" be available.

Thank you very much!

[td]

"You would have to upgrade to the latest version even if we decided to change the setup program so you would not gain anything by the modification."