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Windows Installer 4.5 and later can install multiple installation packages using transaction processing. Administrators can enumerate across user and install contexts, and manage source lists from an external process.
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The installer can be used to read, edit, and replace source lists for network, URL, and media sources.
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Patches installed with Windows Installer 3.0 or later can be uninstalled in any order to leave the state of the product the same as if the patch was never installed.Īccounts with administrator privileges can use the API of Windows Installer 3.0 and later to query and inventory product, feature, component, and patch information. Patching using Windows Installer 3.0 only updates files affected by the patch and can be significantly faster than earlier installer versions. The installer can apply patches in a specified order regardless of the order that the patches are provided to the system. Windows Installer 3.0 and later can install multiple patches with a single transaction that integrates installation progress, rollback, and reboots. Installation packages and patches that are created for Windows Installer 2.0 can still be installed by using Windows Installer 3.0 and later. This documentation doesn't describe versions earlier than Windows Installer 2.0. Not all the capabilities available in later Windows Installer versions are available in earlier versions. This documentation describes Windows Installer 5.0 and earlier versions. For more information, see Platform support of advertisement. The installer also enables the advertisement of applications and features according to the operating system. The installer service enables customers to provide better corporate deployment and provides a standard format for component management.
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Microsoft Windows Installer is an installation and configuration service provided with Windows. This version is included with the operating system in Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and later client and server releases, including Windows 10. There's no Redistributable for Windows Installer 5.0. If you're looking for a Redistributable for Windows Installer 4.5 and earlier, see Windows Installer Redistributables. This documentation is intended for software developers who want to use Windows Installer to build installer packages for applications.
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