Vista game explorer xp

Once the GDF and related files have been added to a binary resource, it is then possible to integrate the game with Games Explorer. To register the game with Games Explorer, call the GameExplorerInstall with a path to the GDF binary, a full path to the folder where the game is installed, and the installation scope.

Note that the removal process only removes one unique installation. If a game has been installed multiple times, this process must be repeated for each unique installation. Games Explorer tasks will appear in the context menu of an item in Games Explorer. Tasks are divided into play tasks and support tasks.

Play tasks launch a game into a particular mode, while support tasks serve any other purpose, including linking to web sites. In Windows Vista, tasks are simply shortcuts that are located in specific folders. Play tasks and support tasks are stored in folders with the corresponding names PlayTasks and SupportTasks. In Windows 7, the shortcuts to the tasks are not needed, because Games Explorer obtains all of the task information directly from the GDF binary file.

The steps required to integrate with InstallShield are as follows:. On the Installation Designer tab, click Application Data in the navigation pane on the left.

Under Destination computer's folders , click Application Target Folder. In the InstallScript explorer, click the InstallScript file usually setup. This procedure is described in detail in the following instructions, which describe a process that can be done using an MSI editor, such as the Orca editor found in the Platform SDK. Some MSI editors have wizards which simplify some of these configuration steps.

Add the row shown in the following table to the Binary table in the MSI package. The location specified by the path is relative to the location specified by the installation path.

The GDFInstall. Running GDFInstall. Also included in the source is its GDFMaker project. You can build it and test it using GDFInstall. You can also compare the its XML to yours to pinpoint exactly where the issue is. Gaming has taken a big leap with Windows Vista and Directx Now even the in house games of windows comes with 3D support, not the least Games on Windows 7 and Vista have their on explorer now.

Yes you heard it right!!. Games when installed on windows either leave a shortcut on desktop or a link on program menu but now whenever you can just find them real quick with Game Explorer which is right off the start menu. The Game explorer can manage all the games. And not only this it can tell you more. If a game is installed on Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 Desktop, it can be added to Game Explorer, and this is the most straightforward scenario.

The first step in adding your game to the Games Explorer is to have your game files installed on the hard drive. It is important that all game files be installed by this step; once the game is added to Games Explorer in step 4, the parental controls of Windows Family Safety might prevent your installation process from accessing the game's base directory to add or change files.

To check whether the game has permission to run on the current user's account, call VerifyAccess. Note that doing so also adds the game to the "Parental Controls Activity Viewer" log. Additionally, you must call this function prior to logging into the parental controls activity viewer. It checks parental control rating in the GDF against the current user's parental control settings and determines whether the current user has the necessary permission to run the game.

You might choose to inform the user of their lack of permission to run the game, since if VerifyAccess returns FALSE, the user will not be allowed to run the game. The InstanceID uniquely identifies the instance of your game added to Games Explorer, and you must persist it in the next step. Note that after calling AddGame , restriction by parental control settings might prevent the game's installation directory from being accessed by the current user. Store the InstanceID that you retrieved from or passed into AddGame , using either a file or the registry.

See the various samples for more information on how to do this. Tasks are the actions that a user can perform on your game in Games Explorer. Actions such as playing the game, updating the game, or visiting the game's website are examples of tasks. You must create a directory structure that represents the tasks that you wish to support for your game, even if you only want to support the default task, which runs when the user double-clicks on the game in Games Explorer.

See Games Explorer Tasks. You can install your game on a computer running Windows XP and store extra information so that your game will show up in Games Explorer if the user upgrades the system to a more recent version of Windows.