How do I install WinZip multi-user licenses in a networked environment?

These instructions apply to WinZip^® 11.1 & later only, and assume you are running Microsoft^® Windows^® 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista^®.

Site install instructions are also available for WinZip 11.0, WinZip 10.0 and WinZip 9.0.

Contents:

• The WinZip Multi-User Registration File: WinZip.wzmul
• Does WinZip have an MSI file?
• What type of user can do WinZip installations?
• Can the WinZip program files be located on the server (zero footprint)?
• Can the WinZip program files be located on the users' computers?
• How do I avoid the installation Wizard and all those "Next" buttons?
• How do I customize the silent installation of WinZip?
• What can I do if the user's registry is cleared out every day?
• Feedback

The WinZip Multi-User Registration File: WinZip.wzmul

Customers who purchase a multi-user license will receive a unique WinZip.wzmul registration file which must be copied to a WinZip subfolder in the Windows Common AppData folder. This folder contains application data for all users. For Windows 2000 and Windows XP, a typical path for the WinZip.wzmul file is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WinZip. For Windows Vista, a typical path is C:\ProgramData\WinZip. The presence of WinZip.wzmul in this folder will convert the evaluation version of WinZip to a licensed registered version.

WinZip.wzmul will be provided as part of a customized distribution CD for your organization and copied to that location for you, or it may be provided separately if you take on-line delivery of the WinZip MSI download file. When installing from the customized distribution CD, the WinZip.wzmul registration file will be installed along with your copy of WinZip. When installing via the download distribution file, winzipxxx.msi (winzip120.msi, winzip112.msi or winzip111.msi) your WinZip.wzmul registration file will need to be copied to the WinZip folder described above either manually or by double clicking on the WinZip.wzmul file.

Does WinZip have an MSI file?

Yes. You can download the latest WinZip MSI file for WinZip version 12.0 directly from our website:
http://download.winzip.com/ngs/winzip120.msi

Earlier versions of WinZip MSI installations can also be directly downloaded from our website:
http://www.winzip.com/dprob.htm

If you plan on purchasing a Multi-User license of WinZip 12.0, be sure to order a customized backup CD. This way, a customized WinZip MSI file with your WinZip registration information will be included on the CD (WZ120Custom.msi). For information regarding customizing your WinZip MSI file, please refer to the Frequently Asked Question, "How do I customize my WinZip MSI?"

What type of user can do WinZip installations?

The initial WinZip install to a computer must be done from an account with Administrator or Power User privileges. These privileges are required to install any program that includes a shell extension, such as WinZip. This initial installation configures WinZip both at the machine level (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Nico Mak Computing\WinZip) and at the user level for the installing user only (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Nico Mak Computing\WinZip). Thereafter, no special privileges are required as the machine level configuration will be silently propagated to subsequent users (administrators or limited users) who run WinZip for the first time.

The default installation settings include the creation of WinZip shortcuts and a program group in the 'All Users' folder so that the icons appear on the Desktop and in the Start menu for all users of the machine.

For example, if you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, create the shortcuts in these two folders:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu

and the WinZip program group will be created in:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\StartMenu\Programs

In addition, a shortcut to the WinZip Quick Pick tray icon is added to the Startup folder for all users. For example, on Windows 2000 or Windows XP, this shortcut will be added to:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\StartMenu\Programs\Startup

A typical path for the WinZip Quick Pick Shortcut on Windows Vista is:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Can the WinZip program files be located on the server (zero footprint)?

Yes. The steps involved are:

1. Network Administrator installs WinZip to a server to which all users have access.
   
   From the customized WinZip 12.0 distribution CD, install WinZip to the server.
   
   If you do not have a CD and are using a distribution file, then double click on WINZIP120.MSI and install WinZip to the "Program Files\WinZip" folder.
2. The Network Administrator logs onto each computer as an administrator (all other users should be logged off system), ensures each user on the computer has access to the WinZip folder on the server, and runs WINZIP32.EXE. For example, using a batch file or executing from the Start menu "RUN" command, use:
   
        "N:\Program Files\WinZip\WINZIP32.EXE"
   
   Note: if the computer users have administrative privileges, they can do the installation themselves.
3. Next, you need to copy your WinZip.wzmul registration file to CSIDL_Common_AppDATA, the file directory containing application data for all users into a subfolder called WinZip. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WinZip. (A typical path on Windows Vista is: C:\ProgramData\WinZip.)
4. When limited users log onto their computer and into the server where WinZip is located, they are now ready to use WinZip.

Can the WinZip program files be located on the users' computers?

Yes. Using your customized MSI file, you can install a local copy of WinZip to each user's computer (See "How Do I Customize My WinZip MSI?"). You can accomplish this by granting access to your custom MSI file for each user to manually install, creating a "Software Installation" Group Policy or distributing WinZip via SMS. You can also install the WinZip MSI from a command line using common msiexec.exe switches (e.g., msiexec /I WZ120Custom.msi /qn).

How do I avoid the installation Wizard and all those "Next" buttons?

When you run WINZIP32.EXE, previously mentioned, you go through the entire installation process and you must reply to each panel in the installation wizard. WinZip has a way to install silently. Silent installs can be managed by packages like Microsoft's System Management Server (SMS).

The /AUTOINSTALL variable is added to the end of the WINZIP32.EXE command line to perform silent installations of WinZip.

Note: Prior to running the Wizard installation with the/autoinstall switch you must copy the WinZip.wzmul registration file to CSIDL_Common_AppDATA, the file directory containing application data for all users into a subfolder called WinZip. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WinZip. (A typical path on Windows Vista is: C:\ProgramData\WinZip).

Instead of using:
        "N:\Program Files\WinZip\WINZIP32.EXE"
  or   "C:\Program Files\WinZip\WINZIP32.EXE"

Use:
        "N:\Program Files\WinZip\WINZIP32.EXE" /autoinstall
  or   "C:\Program Files\WinZip\WINZIP32.EXE" /autoinstall

Be sure to use "WINZIP32.EXE". Not WINZIP120.EXE. Not SETUP.EXE.

Be sure there is a space between WINZIP32.EXE and /autoinstall.

Please Note: The /autoinstall switch, when used on its own, facilitates an automatic installation of WinZip with default installation settings, using the default Classic interface, as if the user had manually selected the "Express setup" option. The default installation settings include the creation of a program group, desktop and start menu shortcuts for all users, addition of the Quick Pick tray icon in the startup folder for all users, creation of WinZip file associations for all users, and configuration of WinZip's Check for Updates feature, among other things.

How do I customize the silent installation of WinZip?

Here are some switches you can use with /autoinstall:

prevent WinZip from including the WinZip Quick Pick icon in the taskbar tray

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /noqp /autoinstall

prevent the "Check for Update" function from running

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /noc4u /autoinstall

prevent the "Tip of the Day" from displaying

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /notip /autoinstall

prevent the pre-configured WinZip jobs from being installed

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /nopredefinedjobs /autoinstall

prevent the "permission to run" dialog from appearing when running WinZip jobs **

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /nojobrunprompt /autoinstall

prevent WinZip from including the WinZip icon on the desktop

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /nodesktop /autoinstall

prevent WinZip from including the WinZip icon at the top of the Start menu

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /nostartmenu /autoinstall

prevent WinZip from creating a WinZip program group and icons

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /nomenugroup /autoinstall

set an association with WinZip for the extension that you specified. In this case, ".ccc"

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /altext "ccc"

**Be sure to consider the security implications of allowing your users to automatically run WinZip Job files before installing with this parameter.

You may use any combination, or all, of these switches.

Please note that when using multiple switches, they must be in the order displayed below.

• /noqp
• /noc4u
• /notip
• /nopredefinedjobs
• /nojobrunprompt
• /nodesktop
• /nostartmenu
• /nomenugroup
• /altext "xxx"

For example, if you want to customize your installation to have no WinZip Quick Pick icon, no WinZip desktop icon and no WinZip icon in the start menu, you would issue this command:

"N:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" /noqp /nodesktop /nostartmenu /autoinstall

Note: you can tell if you made an error if the WinZip installation wizard begins. Cancel the installation and fix the problem.

What can I do if the user's registry is cleared out every day?

In some network environments, WinZip may repeat the installation process (including the Setup Wizard) each time it is run from a workstation. This may occur when the network environment does not preserve WinZip's registry settings between WinZip sessions.

If you encounter this situation, or if you have a simple deployment scheme that involves only the placement of the WinZip files with no special customizations, you can set WinZip to install itself "on demand" by creating a file called AUTOINST.TXT in the WinZip folder. This file, which must be a plain text file, must contain this exact text:

I agree to the WinZip Computing License Agreement

If the AUTOINST.TXT file is present in the WinZip folder and contains the specified text, WinZip will perform the equivalent of an /autoinstallrun (install WinZip quietly and start WinZip with no other parameters) each time it is run and your users will never see the Setup Wizard.

Once again the user who invokes the automatic installation at the beginning of the day by running WinZip needs to be a local administrator. Then the limited users can log in and use WinZip.

However, if the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry is not touched and only HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry keys are reset, then limited users can do the initial installation.

Prior to running WinZip you must be sure the WinZip.wzmul registration file exists in CSIDL_Common_AppDATA, the file directory containing application data for all users into a subfolder called WinZip. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WinZip. (A typical path on Windows Vista is: C:\ProgramData\WinZip).

Note that the presence of the AUTOINST.TXT facilitates a silent installation of WinZip with default installation settings, using the Classic interface, as if the user had manually selected the "Express setup" option. The default installation settings include the creation of a program group, desktop and start menu shortcuts for all users, addition of the Quick Pick tray icon in the startup folder for all users, creation of WinZip file associations for all users, and configuration of WinZip's Check for Updates feature, among other things. There is no facility for customizing the installation when AUTOINST.TXT is used to silently install WinZip.

Feedback

Comments and questions are welcome. Please feel free to send them to help@winzip.com.