Pros and Cons of Using Windows Active Setup

Question

What are the known pros and cons of using an active Windows installation for deployment? Does Microsoft recommend support through active configuration?

If you're interested, here is the context: I am working on an Outlook 2003 VSTO addin. The installer for this addin creates several registry entries in either HKCU or HKLM, depending on the installation of "Single User" or "All Users". We plan not to use the "All Users" installation, since the add-ons installed for all users do not appear in the COM AddIns list in Outlook. An alternative approach is to use an active installation kit for a single user.

Answer 1

Some time ago, I published a short article comparing various methods for installing HKCU registry entries from a Windows Installer package: using self-healing to your advantage .

Personally, I prefer to use ActiveSetup, primarily because it is fast, lightweight and transparent . An alternative method (building HKCU entries in MSI, which leads to self-healing for each user who logs on to the system) causes a pop-up window of annoying progress and may fail if the user clicks the cancel button or does not have access to the MSI source ... you have an idea.

Offline, I can't think of any flaws in using the ActiveSetup method, except that it takes a little more forethought to create or update an MSI package.