Welcome!
The first entry of the GuruCE blog of course has to be a special one!
Therefore, we start this blog with a tool I developed in the past:
The QFE Installer
Ever had to reinstall Windows CE? Then you had to reinstall all the QFE's as well. Not a nice task, it's lengthy and you have to stay close to your computer because there are about 12 screens you have click through before it actually installs. There is unfortunately no way to install all QFE's without a user controlling the mouse... until now!
The QFE installer installs all the QFE's you downloaded in the exact right order, from oldest to newest, without the need for one mouse click. Just copy the QFEInstaller.exe in the folder containing all the Windows CE QFE's and run it. Source available for free, just drop us a line.
Keep an eye on this blog for future tips & tricks and more tools for the CE developer!
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 QFEInstaller.zip | 52.21 KB |
Comments
QFEInstaller
Excellent article Michel and Erwin. Can I get the source code for QFEInstaller? Thanks.
RE: QFEInstaller
Yes, you can! Just send us an email using the "Contact" page and we'll let you know how to get the source. We would appreciate it if you would share your improvements or modifications with us so we can release a new version if your changes will benefit more users.
is QFEInstaller still required?
Hi -
Microsoft is providing .msi files for summary of all the QFEs. The cumulative update rollup yearly, and the latest update (WinCEPB50-101231-Product-Update-Rollup-Armv4I.msi) is supposed to contain all the QFEs till Dec 2010. This is a single file and installs in a single click(some more clicks to choose path, licence agreement, ..finish ...etc). Do you think QFEInstaller.exe is still required or have to be used?
thanks,
chandra
RE: is QFEInstaller still required?
If you just install 1 msi package then no. If you install multiple, like for instance for multiple architectures or you also want to install all the monthly releases, then the QFE Installer is still handy for unattended installation.
The msi installer now also supports unattended installation through command line options, but the QFE Installer also makes sure the QFE's are installed in the right order (from oldest to newest, NOT based on the file date/time but based on the "encoded" release date in the file name), so yes; the QFE Installer remains a useful tool if you install multiple QFE's.
Microsoft QFE installers are broken
It should also be mentioned that the Microsoft QFE installers are broken. If any of the files in the QFE update have a newer time stamp, then the QFE installer will *not* install the updated files. What's worse is that it won't give you any warning or notification.