The Windows Installer SDK contains the most complete and current descriptions of the application programming interface (API) and the elements of the Installer database. It is the primary source of developer reference material for the Windows Installer.

The following supplemental information sources may also be helpful to software developers and IT professionals who use the Windows Installer.

Windows Developer Center

You can check the Windows Developer Center for information about using Windows Installer when building applications for Windows.

• Windows Developer Center

Windows Installer Newsgroups

You can read and post to a newsgroup that discusses the Windows Installer. Past newsgroup messages can be searched.

Microsoft Technical Communities provides access to public newsgroups about Windows Installer:

• Microsoft Public Newsgroups

  You can search the available public newsgroups for Windows developer discussions about the Windows SDK and MSI.

Windows Installer Team Blog

You can read commentary by Microsoft Bloggers on the MSDN blog site.

Read blogs by developers about the Windows Installer.

• Windows Installer Team Blog

Windows Installer Technical Chats

You can participate in live MSDN technical chat sessions about the Windows Installer:

• Technical Chats

  Experts from the Windows Installer team at Microsoft answer questions you ask about Windows Installer.

• Archive of MSDN Windows Installer Chats

  Transcripts of previous chats about the Windows Installer are archived for you to read at any time.

TechNet Articles and Newsgroups

You can search Technet for articles and newsgroups about the Windows Installer:

• Search TechNet Site

Knowledge Base Articles

You can search the Knowledge Base (KB) for articles about the Windows Installer:

• Search the Knowledge Base

  Search for both Windows Installer and MSI.

White Papers

You can read white papers that describe the Windows Installer:

• Windows Installer: Benefits and Implementation for System Administrators
• New Features and Design Changes in Windows Installer 2.0
• Using Software Restriction Policies to Protect Against Unauthorized Software
• Patch Sequencing in Windows Installer version 3.0
• Software Installation and Maintenance
• Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Windows Installer Packages and Repackaging Software for the Windows Installer
• Standardizing the Patch Experience
• Delta Compression Application Programming Interface

Online Windows Installer SDK

You can read about Windows Installer online:

• Windows Installer SDK

  Note  You need to download and install the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) to obtain the development tools described in the Windows Installer Development Tools section of the documentation.

Orca Documentation

Orca is a GUI .msi file editor that is provided with the Windows Installer SDK. It provides full access to the Windows Installer database tables.

A set of Help files are provided with Orca. To obtain the orca.exe and Orca documentation you must download and install the Windows Installer SDK, which is provided as an Orca.msi file. After you install the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK), double click the Orca.msi file to install Orca.

Note  It is not possible to download Orca separately.

Although Orca provides access to all features of the Windows Installer, it is not intended to replace a fully featured package-authoring environment. In many cases, it is easier to create a Windows Installer installation for an application by using one of the commercial package-creation tools available from independent software vendors.

Windows Installer Software Vendors

You can contact an independent software vendor about tools to create a Windows Installer package for an application. These tools can provide a package authoring environment that may be easier to use than the tools provided in the Windows Installer SDK:

• Wise Solutions
• InstallShield
• InstallAware
• InstallSite also provides a list of Windows Installer tool vendors.

Helpful Windows Installer Sites on the Web

You can visit non-Microsoft Web sites that provide useful information about the Windows Installer. The following list identifies some of those sites:

• InstallSite

  Windows Installer information for developers.

• Desktop Engineer's Junk Drawer and AppDeploy.com

  Windows Installer information for IT professionals.

• Sourceforge.net

  Windows Installer XML (WiX) project on Sourceforge.net.

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Build date: 11/12/2009