Show message "Setup requires a 64Bit processor" from InstallShield in basic MSI project

Question

I am using InstallShield 11 and creating a basic MSI project for a 64 Bit machine.

When I run my setup on a 32 Bit machine, the Windows installer shows a message that

This installation package is not supported by the processor

Now the problem is that I want the InstallShield setup to show another message instead:

64bit processor required!

Answer 1

This message is shown automatically by Windows Installer and cannot be customized.

If you really want a custom message, you can try this approach:

• create a custom EXE bootstrapper which determines if the target platform is 32-bit or 64-bit
• if it's 32-bit show your custom message
• if it's 64-bit launch the MSI package

There is no predefined solution, so you would need to write the EXE yourself. Personally, I don't think it's worth it.

Answer 2

You could mark your install as a 32-bit install rather than a 64-bit install. (Set "Template Summary" to Intel;1033 rather than AMD64;1033.)

Then, create a Custom Action, conditioned on "Not VersionNT64", which pops up your message "64bit processor required!" and then exits.

This way, your install will still run on 32-bit systems, thus giving you the chance to detect 32-bit/64-bit and take appropriate action.

VersionNT64 on MSDN