MSI Studio ™ - Frequently Asked Questions

• What is MSI Studio?
  • MSI Studio is a comprehensive application packaging solution that gives administrators and software packagers the ability to quickly and easily create, edit, customize and build MSI packages.


• What is an MSI?
  • Microsoft Software Installer (MSI) files are Microsoft's Windows Installer files. A single MSI can contain the files to be installed, the setup application, and the customizations to the setup, giving Windows administrators a simple method to deploy standardized applications.


• What can I package with MSI Studio?
  • MSI Studio can package legacy applications into MSI files, repackage existing MSIs, create transforms (which customize the options during an installation) and even compare existing MSI packages.


• Does MSI Studio require a client installation?
  • No. All packaging is performed centrally with MSI Studio remotely monitoring a reference machine where the application to be mass deployed is being installed.


• Why should I package applications?
  • Creating a packaged application ensures an application is deployed consistently throughout the enterprise. Additionally, when creating a package, you can validate, and even test deploy to ensure reliability of the deployment. No user interaction would be required (unless specified when creating the package) to deploy the application.


• What is MCE validation?
  • MCE validation is MSI Studio's faster implementation of Microsoft's ICE (Internal Consistency Evaluators) validation. MCE more rapidly determines errors with greater efficiency and links the errors directly to the MSI table entries for faster fixing of the problems.


• I noticed MSI Studio requires the .NET framework 2.0. Will all MSI
     files created require the .NET framework?
  • No — Windows only requires the Windows Installer Runtime to process MSI files. The Windows Installer Runtime is updated through Service Packs and Windows Update.

• What integration is there with Desktop Authority?
  • MSI Studio and MSI Studio can be used standalone, or together with Desktop Authority for greater value. From the "Software Management" interface under Global Options in Desktop Authority you can create and edit MSIs from DA's software repository using MSI Studio, and save the changes directly back into Desktop Authority's software management for deployment.


• What integration is there with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007?
  • MSI Studio can export MSIs directly into SCCM 2007. Once you have created, captured or edited an MSI package, publishing that application through SCCM is just a few clicks through a wizard.

ScriptLogic Product Maintenance

• What do I get with Standard Support, Extended Support or Maintenance?
  • For a full statement of ScriptLogic’s Support and Maintenance offerings,  please click here

MSI Studio licensing

• For more information on MSI Studio licensing, see the Licensing FAQs page.