[mark4man]

What is InstallShield; & can I safely delete it?

Recently, when running a diagnostic with Symantek's WinDoctor, it detected a problem with an unaccessable .dll file cached in InstallShield's DotNetInstaller. I found the associated knowledgebase article at the Symantek site, which told me I could safely disregard the warning if I didn't have Microsoft's .NET Framework installed on my system...but it prompted me to wonder:

Is InstallShield installed as part of the OS? Is it proprietary to Microsoft, or necessary for Windows or Internet Explorer updates? Or is it installed at the start of any random software download (i.e., do I need it to remain on my system)?

Thanks in advance,

mark4man

 

[Jason]

It looks like it is a third party program. I snagged this off their website http://www.installshield.com :

InstallShield Developer creates great Windows Installer setups. It makes quick work of common installation tasks and dramatically increases efficiency, no matter how simple or complex the project may be. It contains over 20 task-based wizards and more than 20 simplified task views. Adding files, registry entries, and other elements is as easy as dragging and dropping them in the appropriate view. This can be accomplished using the standard InstallShield Developer IDE or when running Developer inside the Visual Studio .NET IDE. A Visual Dialog Editor is available to customize existing dialogs or create new ones, and it is possible to use any one of 33 pre-translated runtime languages. Developer will automatically find and include required file dependencies, automatically add third-party technology dependencies using over 40 included merge modules, and automatically add the latest source files at build time.

 

[Matt]

Installshield is used for many installations of software you may use, I would keep this, because not keeping it could damage your OS or otherwise.

 

[Pseudocyber]

Ditto to Matt's reply!