Information - Products Archives - Page 7 of 11

2014-05-312019-07-07

Visual Installer: New conditions in the scripting language

We have added two new conditions to Visual Installer 2014’s scripting language. One condition can be used to check if the operating system where the setup package is run is 32 bit or 64 bit. Another condition can be used to check if an application or library already has been installed in a computer or not. The later condition is very useful when it is combined with the MSIEXEC script command because it gives you the possibility to only start an MSI installation if the software has not been installed before. This will speed up the installation process in many computers.

Read more
You can click on the links below to read more about the two new conditions in Visual Installer’s scripting language:

> Check if a product already is installed
> Check if the operating system is 32 bit or 64 bit

2014-05-172019-07-07

How to download the latest version of a program

If you also ordered a 12 months maintenance plan when you ordered a software from us, you will have access to a download page on our website from where you can download the latest version of the software, whenever you want. You will have access to the download page for 12 months.

The download page is password protected, but if you bought a 12 months maintenance plan we have sent to you a username and a password that you can use to login to the download page.

If you don’t have a 12 months maintenance plan and don’t have a username and password, but want to have access to the latest product versions, you can read this page to get more information about how to get access to the download page:

> How to download latest product version

2014-05-172019-07-07

How to download an old version of a program

We recommend you to always use the latest version of a product from us, to make sure it works as smoothly as possible in new operating systems. Microsoft updates Windows constantly and release new versions of Windows more frequently than before, and we update our software often to make sure it works as expected also in new Windows versions.

However, it is possible to get a download link to an older version of a software if you need that for some reason. We have a download page on our website that contains all product versions that we have released the last years. If you have bought earlier a license for a specific product version, that now is outdated, you can still download it from the download page. You can click on the link below to read more:

> How to download an old product version

2014-04-172019-07-07

How to create an AutoRun menu for portable applications

What is a portable application?
Portable applications A portable application (portable app) is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use it on any computer. It does not require any installation, you simply plug your USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod, iPad or other removable drive into the computer and run the program. A portable application can be a game, or a utility program such as a text editor, email client, web browser, antivirus software, backup tool etc. or similar.

A portable application gives you access to your software and personal data just as you would have on your own PC. However, all the portable application settings and data are stored on your external drive so when you unplug it, none of your personal data is left behind. Furthermore, the computer you run your portable application on does not get affected as all data is saved on the drive from where you run your application.

A portable menu will give an easy access to the portable applications
A portable menu will provide you with a simple way to access your portable applications. You only have to plug in the device and open the menu interface, and thereafter all applications are just one click away. You don’t need to browse the drive and its folders using Windows Explorer (or similar software) to find a particular application.

An AutoRun menu will make it even simpler
An AutoRun menu will take this one step further. You don’t need to open the portable menu manually – the menu interface will be opened automatically when your portable device (for example a USB stick) is plugged into the computer. And thereafter you can launch one of the portable applications with just one mouse click.

Create an AutoRun menu with USB Menu Creator
SamLogic provides you with an easy solution to create an AutoRun menu for your portable applications: USB Menu Creator. USB Menu Creator gives you the possibility to create an AutoRun menu for USB sticks / flash drives. That means that your created menu will be shown automatically on the screen after plugging your USB stick into the computer’s USB port. All you need to do is to choose the application you want to run.

With USB Menu Creator you can easily design and personalize your portable application’s menu interface so it fits your needs and desires. USB Menu Creator offers you a wide range of effects such as shadows, glass effects, 3D effects, a large palette of graphical button styles, it allows you to place hyperlinks, hotspots, images or videos in your menu and even add different music and sound effects. The picture below shows an example of how an AutoRun menu interface created with USB Menu Creator may look like:

When you want to start an application, just click on one of the buttons in the menu interface.

Wait a minute; doesn’t Microsoft removed AutoRun support for USB sticks?
That is correct. Window’s AutoRun function does not work with USB sticks anymore. So if you plug your current USB stick into a random computer, nothing will be run automatically. But we have developed an alternative system that gives back Autorun to USB sticks. If you use our USB Menu Creator software to add menu interfaces to USB sticks, they will support AutoRun.

Compatible with Windows 8, and Windows XP / Vista / 7
USB Menu Creator can create menu interfaces for portable applications that are compatible with all modern Windows operating systems, including Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows XP and Windows Vista. The menu interface picture above shows an AutoRun menu, created with USB Menu Creator, that is run in Windows 8.

More information
More information about USB Menu Creator is available on the tool’s product page:
> SamLogic USB Menu Creator – Product Page

2014-03-272019-07-07

What is the difference between the Standard and Professional version of Visual Installer?

SamLogic Visual Installer is an easy-to-use installation tool that can be used to install software, documents, Excel sheets, videos, etc, and there exist two versions of the tool: Standard and Professional. In this blog post we will describe the difference between these two versions.

Visual Installer / Standard
The Standard version of Visual Installer is designed to handle smaller setup projects. It is also very suitable if you want to install documents, Excel sheets and videos, and other file types that are not software. The Standard version is very easy to use and no programming is ever needed.

Visual Installer / Professional
The Professional version of Visual Installer is designed to handle larger setup projects and it is specialized to install software. It is also more flexible than the Standard version of Visual Installer thanks to the powerful scripting language that is included in Professional. The scripting language will give you a great control over the installation and can be used to handle all special cases that may happen when dealing with complex installations. It is not necessary to use the scripting for most tasks, but if the normal settings are not enough for your installation project, you can always include powerful script commands that will handle these circumstances.

The Professional version is also necessary if you need to handle prerequisites during an installation. From Visual Installer / Professional you can run other installations during the installation process in a controlled manner. If you need to install 64 bit applications, you must also use the Professional version. The Standard version only support installation of 32 bit applications.

Summary – Major functions that are included only in Visual Installer / Professional
Below is a list with some major functions that are only included in Visual Installer / Professional:

– A script language that can be used for advanced installations.
– A project manager that keeps track of your created project files.
– Functionality to create multiple levels of menus with shortcuts in Windows.
– Functionality to install 64-bit applications.
– Functionality to handle prime number based license keys.
– Functionality to send messages to Twitter.
– A special tool, SamLogic Selector, which can create system dependent program starts.

2014-02-192019-07-07

Is it possible to create an online installer with Visual Installer?

The answer is: Yes, it is possible.

With the installation tool SamLogic Visual Installer you can create a simple installer with no or very little user interaction. You can turn off all setup dialog boxes, or maybe leave one information dialog box visible that informs the user that this is an installation. The rest of the installation can be run silently, with no dialog boxes and no user interaction. If the user chooses to run the installation directly on the webpage instead of saving it, the installation will be made very smoothly. By creating a self-extracting setup file (one single compressed EXE file) the user only need to download one file, and only click on one file, to start the installation.

Visual Installer

Code sign your setup package
Sometimes the installation needs administrator privileges to install some files, and Windows will ask the user for permissions to install, but if you code sign your setup package also this will be a smooth process. Read more in these two web pages:
> What is Code Signing / Digital Signature / Digital Certificate? (Q&A)
> Visual Installer – Can create a code signed setup package

More information
> Tip: How to create a silent installation
> Tip: How to create a self-extracting setup

2014-02-172019-07-07

Visual Installer: New script command that handles MSI installations

We have added a new script command to Visual Installer’s scripting language that handles MSI installations (Windows Installer installations). The name of the new script command is MSIEXEC and it is very flexible in its use. Via this script command you can for example start a silent or visible MSI installation, and you can choose whether Visual Installer should pause it’s own installation until the MSI installation is completed, or if the MSI installation and Visual Installer’s installation should be run in the same time (a parallel installation). And by combining the new script command with conditions, you can make Visual Installer run different MSI setup packages depending of the operating system.

MSIEXEC

We have added a tip page to the tips & tricks section of our website that explains in detail how to use the new script command. You can open the tip page by clicking on the link below:
> Tip: Run MSI installation from script

To use this script command, you must have Visual Installer 2014 / Professional version 10.0.15 or later installed in your computer.

2014-02-102019-07-07

Visual Installer: Images for the setup dialog boxes

There are many ready-to-use images included in our installation tool SamLogic Visual Installer that can be used together with the setup dialog boxes (the setup wizard) that are shown for the end-user when he/she runs an installation. This video on YouTube shows some samples of dialog box images that follows Visual Installer.

More information about the built-in setup dialog box images in Visual Installer is available on this web page:
> Visual Installer: New setup dialog box pictures has been included

2014-01-312019-07-07

SamLogic’s tools adapted to Windows 8.1

All of SamLogic’s programs, and other tools, are now adapted to the new Microsoft Windows 8.1. But the software also work fine with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and some other older operating systems. If you want more information about a specific product, you can click on a link below:

Programs
> CD-Menu Creator – AutoRun menu designer program.
> USB AutoRun Creator – AutoRun USB stick creator.
> Visual Installer – Installation software / setup tool.
> MultiMailer – Newsletter / e-mail marketing software.

Product suites / Bundles
> Media Tools – Program bundle with 5 tools.
> USB Menu Creator – Program bundle with 3 tools.

We have also tested our component libraries in Windows 8.1, and they are fully compatible. If you want to test a program you can visit the web page below:
> Download a Demo / Free Trial

2013-11-212019-07-07

How to use SamLogic’s Windows applications on a Mac

We are often asked about if our programs are available in Mac versions. Even though we have no dedicated Mac versions of our programs, you can still easily use them on a Mac (Macintosh) computer. All you have to do is to install a virtualization software on your Mac that allows you to install and run Windows on it. With help of such virtualization software you can use our programs on a Mac just as you would do it on a PC with Windows. The virtualization software lets you run Windows and Mac OS X on your computer at the same time. This has several other advantages, such as allowing you to copy data between programs running on different operating systems.
SamLogic's Windows applications can also be used on a Mac
There are several available virtualization programs that you can use. Among the best ones are VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop and Oracle VirtualBox.

Apple has developed its own product called Boot Camp that allows running Windows operating system on a Mac. However, Apple’s Boot Camp requires to reboot your computer when switching between Windows and Mac OS X which it is not very smooth. Boot Camp is included in Mac OS X version 10.5 and later.

To read more about Apple’s Boot Camp and how it is used, click here:
> Using Windows on Mac via Boot Camp