We use AdminStudio as well. Yes, it’s pricey. It does come with InstallShield as well which is nice, you can do some additional work with that app.
Mark Kent (MCP) Sr. Desktop Systems Engineer Computing & Technology Services - SUNY Buffalo State From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Marcum, John Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 2:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [mssms] MSI/Transform Manipulator Tools Oh yes, I own that one too. LOL From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dwayne Allen Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 1:16 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [mssms] MSI/Transform Manipulator Tools The licensing for Advanced Installer is much, much cheaper than AdminStudio. We are evaluating it right now to see if we can replace some or all of our AdminStudio licenses with Advanced Installer. I think our packagers have run into a few compatibility issues with old transforms created with AdminStudio, but if I was just starting up that would be my first look. ----- Dwayne Allen [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> (479) 310-0027 On Wed, Jul 1, 2015 at 12:57 PM, Marcum, John <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: The bigger question for me is… How often do you find that you actually need to use one of those tools? AdminStudio is just so dang expensive, I own 3 or 4 licenses for it and I haven’t used it in over a year. Actually I use it so infrequently that I can never remember how to use it when I need to. I could definitely pay someone else to package those infrequent apps that I need done for less money that I spend maintaining licenses for AdminStudio. From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Sherry Kissinger Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 9:00 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [mssms] MSI/Transform Manipulator Tools My opinion... all of them seem to have at least a demo you can download. But I think Wise Package Studio no longer is for sale (Symantec killed it?). So you're stuck with AdminStudio (Flexera), http://www.advancedinstaller.com<http://www.advancedinstaller.com/>, Orca, and http://www.instedit.com/ -- if you want to make MST's. If you happen to be the 100% owner of the program, of course you can build your own .msi with everything for that product. But that rarely happens for us admins. :) Try out their demos; and take some .msi you already have that you'd need to customize (add files, change regkeys, whatever) and make an .mst using each of the demos; and see which one you like best. The main thing is "knowing" how an .msi and .mst work. Personally, I found that some people, depending upon their geek background (more of an admin? more of a programmer?) you'll like one better than another because of how it's laid out or structured, or how the built-in wizards work. So some people might think Flexara is the best thing ever, and other might find it to be overkill for what they do day-to-day. fyi, those 4 above are just the ones I happen to remember exist. There are probably more I don't know about, or forgot about. Didn't ITninja / Kace or someone used to have an mst builder? or was that for straight MSI's only, not creating transforms? (see, I'm forgetful) On Tuesday, June 30, 2015 5:01 PM, "Taxter, Latisha" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Use Adminstudio for years. Have no problem with it. Flexera’s free version has limitations From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Juelich, Adam Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 2:35 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [mssms] MSI/Transform Manipulator Tools Hello Everyone, Just curious as to what people are using for tools to manipulate MSI's, create Transforms, and all that good stuff. I used to use ORCA all the time but now I mainly use InstEd It! I also have Flexera's Standalone Tuner which can be useful from time to time. Anybody using anything else? Anybody purchase premium versions of them and found that to be useful? Being able to easily add a file/folder to the MST would be useful and I can do that with InstallShield sometimes but it can get tedious. ----------------------------------------------- Adam Juelich Pulaski Community School District<http://www.pulaskischools.org/> Client Management Specialist 920-822-6075<tel:920-822-6075> ________________________________ Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail is from a law firm and may be protected by the attorney-client or work product privileges. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender by replying to this e-mail and then delete it from your computer.
