Paths of the folders in the "Files and Folders" Page
The folders in the "Files and Folders" page use predefined and custom installer properties which store their paths.
| Folder Name | Property Name | Sample Path | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application Folder | APPDIR | C:\Program Files\Your Company\Your Application | this is the default value and it can be configured |
| Application Shortcut Folder | SHORTCUTDIR | C:\Users\<username>\Start Menu\Programs\Your Application - this is the default value and it can be configured | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu\Programs\Your Application on Windows XP |
| Program Files | ProgramFilesFolder | C:\Program Files | C:\Program Files (x86) on a 64-bit machine |
| Common Files | CommonFilesFolder | C:\Program Files\Common Files | C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files on a 64-bit machine |
| Program Files 64 | ProgramFiles64Folder | C:\Program Files | resolved only on a 64-bit machine |
| Common Files 64 | CommonFiles64Folder | C:\Program Files\Common Files | resolved only on a 64-bit machine |
| Windows Volume | WindowsVolume | C:\ | |
| Temporary | TempFolder | C:\Users\<username>\Local Settings\Temp | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp on Windows XP |
| Windows | WindowsFolder | C:\Windows | |
| Fonts | FontsFolder | C:\Windows\Fonts | |
| System | SystemFolder | C:\Windows\system32 | C:\Windows\SysWow64 on a 64-bit machine |
| System 16 | System16Folder | C:\Windows\system | used on older Windows versions |
| System 64 | System64Folder | C:\Windows\system32 | resolved only on 64-bit machines |
| Start Menu | StartMenuFolder | C:\Users\<username>\Start Menu | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu on Windows XP |
| Programs | ProgramMenuFolder | C:\Users\<username>\Start Menu\Programs | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu\Programs on Windows XP |
| Startup | StartupFolder | C:\users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows XP |
| User Profile | UserProfileFolder | C:\users\<username> | C:\Documents and Settings\<username> on Windows XP |
| Desktop | DesktopFolder | C:\Users\<username>\Desktop | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Desktop on Windows XP |
| Favorites | FavoritesFolder | C:\Users\<username>\Favorites | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Favorites on Windows XP |
| Documents | PersonalFolder | C:\Users\<username>\Documents | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents on Windows XP |
| Pictures | MyPicturesFolder | C:\Users\<username>\Pictures | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\My Pictures om Windows XP |
| Templates | TemplateFolder | C:\Users\<username>\Templates | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Templates on Windows XP |
| Send To | SendToFolder | C:\Users\<username>\SendTo | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\SendTo on Windows XP |
| Administrative Tools | AdminToolsFolder | C:\ProgramData\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools | C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools on Windows XP |
| Application Data | AppDataFolder | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data on Windows XP |
| Common Application Data | CommonAppDataFolder | C:\ProgramData | C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data on Windows XP |
| Network Shortcuts | NetHoodFolder | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\NetHood on Windows XP |
| Recent Items | RecentFolder | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Recent on Windows XP |
| Printer Shortcuts | PrintHoodFolder | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\PrintHood on Windows XP |
| Local Application Data | LocalAppDataFolder | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local | C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data on Windows XP |
| Public Documents | PublicDocumentsFolder | C:\Users\Public\Documents\ | C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\ on Windows XP |
| Windows Libraries | WindowsLibrariesFolder | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\ on Windows 7 or above | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\ |
| IIS WWW Root | IIsWWWRootFolder | C:\Inetpub\wwwroot |
All the above folders are predefined for Windows Installer except for the first two folders which are proprietary for Advanced Installer. When the installation package runs, Windows Installer will automatically resolve their paths according to the target machine's configuration.
Depending on the package type, the paths will change; this means that if the package is per-user the paths will use "...\<username>\..." or if it is per-machine the paths will use "...\Public\..." instead.
If a package is per-machine and shortcuts are present in the AppDataFolder, the system redirects the shortcuts to the ProgramData folder.
If other files are present in the same AppDataFolder, near the
shortcuts, these are not redirected and they are placed in AppDataFolder. For
more info about shortcut redirection click here.
A special property is "AI_ProgramFiles", which is used only in a "Mixed 32/64-bit matching the platform" installation package. When creating this type of package the presence of this property in the field "Application Folder" from the Install Parameters page is mandatory. The property will automatically resolve to "ProgramFilesFolder" or "ProgramFiles64Folder", depending on the machine's type on which the package is installed.
The sample paths are from a machine which has Windows installed on the C: drive. Also,
<username> represents the name current user's name (the user account on
which the installation runs).