Centurion Setup Technical Support

This occurs when something in the installer has been altered.  The installer will always check to make sure it has not been changed before installing as a precaution, because there is a good chance the installation will not work.   Not a single byte is allowed to change.

The most common cause of this is a faulty download.  Delete the file (so that it is not cached) and re-download it.

Another common cause is a virus.  Viruses modify executable files when infecting them, which in turn can cause the installer to report that it is corrupt. You should definitely check your system for viruses.

A less likely cause is when the installer has been copied across a faulty network.  Verify that the copied file is exactly the same as the original file.

If the problem occurs after digitally signing the installer, make sure that "Archive Mode" is set to "Embedded" and that "Verify Integrity" is set to "Verify, digital signature required".  Both of these options are on the Build branch.




To change an interface string, follow this procedure:

1. Open the appropriate project for your installer (File menu > Open Project).
2. On the Display branch, in the "String Set" field, choose either ALL.STR or a specific language from the drop-down list.
3. Click the "Edit" button next to the "String Set" field.  The "String Editor" window will appear.
4. On the left hand side, click on the language that you wish to edit.
5. On the right hand side, click on the string that you wish to edit.
6. Modify the string in the editbox at the bottom of the window.  Please note that, by default, English strings are blank so that the English Default is used.
7. After all changes are made, choose "Save Project As" from the File menu.  Give your string set a different name, like CUSTOM.STR
8. Choose "Exit" from the File menu.
9. Back on the Display branch, select your new custom string set from the drop-down list.
10. Save the project (File menu > Save Project).
11. Rebuild the installer and test it to ensure that the altered string is being used.

You can find additional information about the String Editor here:
Help file (F1) > Table of Contents > Guides > Interface Strings



Yes.  The file should be listed in the Source Files Table on the Files branch.  For DLL's, set the Type column to "DLL".  For COM/ActiveX/OCX files, set the Type column to "COM".  For a TLB type library, set the Type column to "Type Library".

COM/ActiveX/OCX/TLB files will be automatically registered by the installer and unregistered by the uninstaller.




The operating system will not actually remove the font until the machine is re-booted.




If you sweep your computer for viruses and nothing else is reported, then this is most likely a false positive.  Sometimes the compressed data in the installer will match a virus signature by coincidence.  Follow this procedure:

1.  Go to the Build branch and check "Encrypt Installer Data".
2.  Rebuild the installer.
3.  Use the anti-virus software to retest the installer.  If it is still positive, repeat steps 2 and 3 several times.  Each time the installer is built, a randomized encryption key is used, causing the installation data to change.
4.  If the false positive won't go away, the only choice now is to submit the installer to the developer of the anti-virus product.  All reputable developers have a false positive submission form on their website.

A good website for scanning a file with multiple engines is VirusTotal.com




To install a .MSI package, first add it to the Source Files Table (on the Files branch).  Set the File Type column to "MSI".  Set the MSI GUI column to "Silent" if you do not want the package's installer to show on the screen.  That's it!




The overhead is approximately 1.6 MB, which is quite small for everything the installer can do.  Usually compression makes the installer smaller than the sum of the files that are going into it.





Yes, absolutely.  Furthermore, there are no royalties:  the installer is yours to distribute freely.  However, it is necessary to purchase a license for Centurion Setup.




To override the default icon, specify the full drive, path, and filename of an image file in the "Installer Icon" setting on the "Build" branch.  Most image types are supported, including ICO, GIF, PNG, BMP, and JPG.




Specify a path and filename to the new icon in the "Uninstaller Icon" setting on the "Uninstall" branch.

Note:  if "Shrink Uninstaller" is unchecked, the icon in the uninstaller executable will not be altered because doing so would invalidate the digital signature.  However, shortcuts to the uninstaller will still obey the "Uninstaller Icon" setting.




To change the text that appears at the top of the installer's background (which covers the desktop), go to the Display/Background branch, check the "Override Title Text" box, and enter the new title.

If a different title needs to be displayed depending on the language chosen by the end-user, follow these steps:

1. Choose "Edit Interface Strings" from the Tools menu.
2. Choose a language.
3. Choose "Background Title" from the list of strings.
4. Enter the new title at the bottom.  When left blank, the title defaults to the name and version of the product.
5. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 for each other language.
6. Choose "Save As" from the File menu and save the new string set to the folder where Centurion Setup is installed.  Give it a different name, such as CUSTOM.STR.
7. Close the String Editor window by choosing "Exit" from the File menu.
8. On the Display branch, change the "String Set" setting to the name of your new string set.
9. Make sure the "Override Title Text" box is unchecked (on the Display/Background branch).

Notes:

• If the "Display Background" option is unchecked, then the desktop is not covered by a background.
• If you are wanting to change the title that appears on the window top banner, repeat the above procedure but edit the "Top Banner Text" string instead of "Background Title".  Or, if you don't need translations, go to the "Style" branch, and edit the "Top Banner Text" field.

The short answer is that's the way Microsoft designed it.  To relocate a product, you must uninstall it, then reinstall it to the new location.

If there are two different flavors of your product that need to be installed independently, simply make sure that they have different values in the "Uninstall Data Registry Key Name" field on the Uninstall/Data branch.  As far as Centurion and Windows are concerned, they will be separate/unrelated products in this case.





To install over read-only files, you have two options:

1.  Check the "Overwrite read-only files" box on the Install branch.  No read-only file will be safe!

2.  Before installation, remove the read-only attribute from the file.  This can be done using the DOS 'attrib' command in the Pre-Installation Batch, like this:

attrib -r filename.ext

For a small set of registry keys, it is easiest to do this on Centurion Setup's "Registry" branch.

For a large tree of registry keys, you can export the data to a .REG file with the registry editor.  The .REG file can be imported during installation by using the "Merge .REG File" field on the "Registry" branch.

Notes:

• A robust program does not rely on the presence of registry information.  Your software should be able to use a default value in the absence of registry values, like ours does.
• At the bottom of the "Registry" branch, the "Create/Expunge Registry Keys" option will create a registry key during installation, which is also deleted during uninstallation.  You may find this is the easiest way for the uninstaller to clean up the registry.

After installation finishes, you can start a program or open a document with the "start" command in the Installation-Exit Batch.  The current working directory will be the location where the product was installed, so no path information is necessary.  Here is an example:

start "" "example.exe"

Here is another example that opens an HTML file in a subfolder of the installation folder:

start "" "help\welcome.htm"

Alternatively, if you want the user to have the choice to start the program, use the "Offer to launch product" option on the "Completion" branch.




Possible causes include:

• The installer is run in Automatic Mode.  This would only happen if the executable was launched with the /a or /silent command line switch, or if "Automatic Installation" is set to Always (on the "Install" branch).
• The "Hide DOS Window" box is checked (located below the Batch).
• There is a bug in the batch that is causing it to stop before reaching the PAUSE command.

To create an empty folder, use the "md" DOS command in the Post-Installation Batch.  To refer to the installation folder chosen by the end-user, use the %InstallDir% environment variable.  Here is an example:

md "%InstallDir%\my folder"

Make sure that "Archive Mode" is set to "Embedded" and that "Verify Integrity" is set to "Verify, digital signature required".  Both of these options are on the Build branch.




Make sure your computer's clock is set to the correct date.  If the executable's date is in the future, the Start Menu will continue to treat the product as newly installed.




To set the Programs and Features icon, go to the Uninstall/Data branch, and create an entry named "DisplayIcon". The data for the entry should be something like this:

%InstallDir%\foo.exe,0

Where foo.exe is the name of a executable than contains the icon (0 is the index within the executable if there is more than one icon). The path can also refer to a .ICO file like this:

%InstallDir%\foo.ico

Please note that whatever the source of the icon, it must be specified on the Files branch so that it is installed on the end-user's computer.




Most likely the folder is locked by the system.  The most common culprit is File Explorer.  Close all instances of File Explorer, then re-test the uninstaller.

If the folder was not created during the installation process, then it must be deleted manually.  Use an "rd" command in the Post-Uninstallation Batch.  This can specify a path that is relative to the main installation folder.  Example:

rd "temp files\cache"

In either case, it is important to know that a folder cannot be deleted if it contains files.  Files can be deleted using the "del" command in the Pre-Uninstallation Batch.