VB.NET: How to restart computer after installation process [SOLVED]

[aspade]

Hi, I have a question with VB.NET.

I've developed an application using VB.NET and now I'm trying to make a setup file for its distribution process. I am using the built-in program (MSI) to do the task.

How do I make this setup project restart computer when the main application is installed?

Thanks in advance!
Eric.

[Bruce Fox]

Originally posted by aspade
Hi, I have a question with VB.NET.

Then post it in the .Net Forum

[gtzpower]

use sendkeys to send ctrl-alt-del twice. J/K BTW

[nemaroller]

Since a class for restarting the computer has not been included in the .Net framework yet... you simply need to call Win32 API's from your .Net applicaton....

do a Google search for Restart Computer in VB6 to get the right API's.... I believe its ExitWindowsEx..... (bear in mind, for XP and 2000, you also need to pass a security parameter, but most of the code I've seen around handles that)...

Then, you need to call the API from your .Net application..just like you would with VB6, just remember Longs in Vb6 are now Integers in VB.Net... so you need to replace any Long returned by a Win32API with Integer...

[u]vb6:[/u]
 
Private Declare Auto Function MBox Lib "user32.dll" _
Alias "MessageBox" (ByVal hWnd As [b]Long[/b], _
   ByVal txt As String, ByVal caption As String, _
   ByVal Typ As [b]Long[/b]) As [b]Long[/b] 
 
[u]vb.Net:[/u]
 
Private Declare Auto Function MBox Lib "user32.dll" _
Alias "MessageBox" (ByVal hWnd As [b]Integer[/b], _
   ByVal txt As String, ByVal caption As String, _
   ByVal Typ As [b]Integer[/b]) As [b]Integer[/b]

There are also other ways to call Win32API's but the above is the simplest.... for other ways you may refer to this MSDN walkthrough:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...indowsAPIs.asp

[aspade]

But I'm trying to implement this "restarting capability" from the setup. Is there any way to do this using the Setup project?

[Pirate]

Yes , using any of those 3rd party tools that pack your proj (I can't remember right now) .There's an option there to force restarting the machine .

[MrPolite]

Originally posted by aspade
But I'm trying to implement this "restarting capability" from the setup. Is there any way to do this using the Setup project?

installshield should have this option... you know, if you can "find" it somewhere it's not that expensive

[aspade]

Originally posted by MrPolite
installshield should have this option... you know, if you can "find" it somewhere it's not that expensive

Well, the problem is that the licensing fee for the InstallShield is somewhere around 2000 bucks!

Hmm.. Would implementing a windows service then sending a "command" to it work? Would that be easier to restart the computer without calling API?

Desperate.

[hellswraith]

Why are you wanting it to restart? Most of the time .Net apps don't require it. I am just wondering why yours does.

[Pirate]

What's the the deal if you used APIs in this case ? It's only 3 to 5 lines of code to restart the machine .

[Pirate]

Maybe he's writing some values to the registry

[aspade]

Originally posted by hellswraith
Why are you wanting it to restart? Most of the time .Net apps don't require it. I am just wondering why yours does.

Because I'm writing a software that needs to be started right away when it's installed. Unless I restart the computer, I don't see how I can achieve this.

Even with the windows service, how do I start it right away after the installation?

If I can somehow start it, then the need to restart the computer is no longer a problem.

Help?

[Pirate]

Try this one first
http://www.clickteam.com/English/Welcome.php?L=English
http://www.***********/**********/**********.htm
http://www.***********/downloads.htm
one of these would be your lost !

[Pirate]

Best bet in this case is to write in the reg startup key your app name to start after restarting . (in some package maker you can write script and the installer itself will write that in the reg ) .

[aspade]

Yeah, that's exactly what I did. I wrote it on the Registry so that it starts automatically when the computer is rebooted. But that's not enough. If I don't find a way to force restart, then it's useless. I'm working in an environment where rebooting occurs once every while.. Maybe once a month, if I'm lucky. I need to restart the comp..

[Pirate]

Originally posted by aspade
Yeah, that's exactly what I did. I wrote it on the Registry so that it starts automatically when the computer is rebooted. But that's not enough. If I don't find a way to force restart, then it's useless. I'm working in an environment where rebooting occurs once every while.. Maybe once a month, if I'm lucky. I need to restart the comp..

I can't think of any other options right now . Just try out any of the above links ,to see if they help !

[Slow_Learner]

Because I'm writing a software that needs to be started right away when it's installed. Unless I restart the computer, I don't see how I can achieve this.

Even with the windows service, how do I start it right away after the installation?

Actually it seems to me that if you just want to start an app (especially a service) then restarting the computer is not a great way to get it done. If you want to start an installed service, check out the ServiceController component:
ms-help://MS.VSCC/MS.MSDNVS/vbcon/html/vbconintroductiontoservicecontrollercomponent.htm
ms-help://MS.VSCC/MS.MSDNVS/vbcon/html/vbtskperformingadministrativetasksonservices.htm

If you want to start an executable in interactive mode, you might use the Shell function:
ms-help://MS.VSCC/MS.MSDNVS/vblr7/html/vafctShell.htm

Restarting the computer just because you want to start an app seems like a backwards way to do it?

[Arc]

Umm why not just let whoever installed it start it? Why does the installation package need to start it? Makes no sense.

[aspade]

Thanks to everyone who tried to help me. But I found a way around the problem.

I wrote a short project that makes an instance of a service controller for my service which then calls my service to launch. Then this little .exe file is added to the setup project's custom actions and set it to laucnh when the installation is completed.

So this is it. The service starts as soon as the installation is done.

Thanks all!