Target System Requirements

InstallShield 2009

You can use InstallShield to rapidly build, test, and deploy installations that target Windows-based systems and mobile devices.

Requirements For Desktop Computers

Operating System

Target systems must meet the following minimum operating system requirement:

Windows 2000

Windows XP

Windows Server 2003

Windows Vista

Windows Server 2008

Installer Engine Requirements

The minimum target system requirements for the various installer engines are as follows.

Target System Requirements for Desktop Computers
Installer Engine	Operating System and Other Requirements
Windows Installer 4.5	Windows XP SP2 or later, Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later
Windows Installer 4.0 (This is not available as a redistributable.)	Windows Vista
Windows Installer 3.1	Windows 2000 SP3 or later, Windows Server 2003 or later
Windows Installer 3.0	Windows 2000 SP3 or later, Windows Server 2003 or later
Windows Installer 2.0	Windows 95 or later
Windows Installer 1.2	Windows 95 or later
Windows Installer 1.1	Windows 95 or later
InstallScript	Windows 95 or later
Compact	Windows 95 or later Internet Explorer 3.02 or later
ClickOnce	Windows 98 or later .NET Framework 2.0

For more information about Windows Installer redistributables, see Adding Windows Installer Redistributables to Projects.

Requirements For Mobile Devices

InstallShield includes support for adding mobile device installations to desktop installations that use Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center or Microsoft ActiveSync to transfer files to a mobile device.

InstallShield also includes support for straight-to-device installations that do not use Windows Mobile Device Center, ActiveSync, or any other desktop component.

For an overview of the different options that InstallShield supports, see Creating Installations for Mobile Devices.

Windows Mobile Device Requirements

InstallShield supports many Windows Mobile platforms and processors. The Windows Mobile platforms are:

Windows Mobile 6.x Professional and Classic

Windows Mobile 6.x Standard

Windows Embedded CE 6.x

Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC

Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone

Windows CE .NET 5.0

Windows CE .NET 4.x

Pocket PC 2003

Pocket PC 2002

Pocket PC

Palm-size PC 2.11

Palm-size PC 2.01

Handheld PC 2000

Handheld PC Pro

Handheld PC 2.0

Smartphone 2003

Smartphone 2002

Note that if a platform is not included in the list, it does not mean InstallShield does not support it. It simply means that you cannot set conditions for that specific platform by default. To add support for additional platforms or to change the conditions for targeting a specific platform, you can modify the Settings.xml file that is installed with InstallShield. For more information, see Modifying the List of Available Windows Mobile Platforms or their Associated Settings.

InstallShield includes support for the following Windows Mobile processors:

ARM920

ARM820

ARM720

Common Executable Format

Hitachi SH4

Hitachi SH3E

Hitachi SH3

i686

i586

i486

MIPS R4000

MIPS R3000

MIPS R2000

SHx SH4

SHx SH3

StrongARM-XScale

Palm OS Device Requirements

InstallShield supports Palm OS 3.5 and later.

Desktop Requirements for Windows Mobile Device Installations

Requirements for the desktop computers that are used to install applications on Windows Mobile devices are:

Microsoft ActiveSync 3.x or later on Windows XP (ActiveSync 4.x is required for Windows Mobile 5.x or later devices)

Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center on Windows Vista

Administrative privileges

Desktop Requirements for Palm OS Device Installations

Palm HotSync is required for the desktop computers that are used to install applications on Palm OS devices.