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David Redl
Posts: 5
Joined: 2025-07-28
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Hello,
I hope you can help me. Our company is trying to upgrade our add-in from ADX 8 to ADX 10. During our testing cycle, we identified that ClickOnce installations that attempted to use the built-in upgrade feature would fail when the ADX version changed. Specifically, the new version of our add-in would be installed (to a different folder than before) and would appear in Programs and Features, but would not be registered with Excel.
We've confirmed that this same pattern exists in both directions. If we install a version of our add-in that uses ADX 10 and then release a higher-numbered version of our add-in that uses ADX 8 then we will see the same behaviour of the new version of our add-in being installed to a different folder, appearing in Programs and Features, but not being registered in Excel.
Can you please advise what we need to do to get this upgrade path to work as expected?
Thanks,
David |
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Posted 28 Jul, 2025 14:51:05
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David Redl
Posts: 5
Joined: 2025-07-28
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Could I please get some help with this?
Please let me know if there is any additional information I can provide that would be useful here.
Thanks |
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Posted 13 Aug, 2025 17:47:53
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Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express team
Posts: 19179
Joined: 2006-05-11
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Hello David,
An add-in installs to Program Files if a setup project requires this. With Add-in Express generated setup project this may occur if your add-in has the RegisterForAllUsers property (see the add-in module) set to true (mistakenly). Besides, ClickOnce is targeted to per-user installations and installing to Program Files isn't expected.
Regards from Poland (GMT+2),
Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader |
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Posted 14 Aug, 2025 14:51:33
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David Redl
Posts: 5
Joined: 2025-07-28
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I'm sorry if I inserted any confusion. I am discussing a ClickOnce installer that is targeted to per-user installations and it does not install to `Program Files` or `Program Files (x86)`. It installs to `C:\Users\{UserName}\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\{a whole lot of characters}`.
Currently, all of our installers using ADX 8 are installing to one folder (the {a whole lot of characters} bit) and when upgrading to ADX 10, the new version of our add-in changes that to {a whole lot of different characters}. The old version of our add-in isn't deleted, though it is unregistered from Excel and doesn't appear in the list of installed programs in Windows. The new version of our add-in is NOT registered in Excel but DOES appear in the list of installed programs in Windows.
That's the problem. The manifest seems to be obtained properly by Add-In Express's upgrade method and the new add-in version is installed correctly. The previous version is unregistered but the new version is not registered in Excel automatically as part of Add-In Express's upgrade method. |
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Posted 03 Sep, 2025 13:56:27
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Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express team
Posts: 19179
Joined: 2006-05-11
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Hello David,
It looks like the previous version was uninstalled with some issues. Does the old folder still exist?
You can try to uninstall the new version, check that the new folder is deleted, and then install the new version once again.
Regards from Poland (GMT+2),
Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader |
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Posted 04 Sep, 2025 08:48:13
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David Redl
Posts: 5
Joined: 2025-07-28
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Andrei,
I really don't want to have to tell all of our customers that they have to uninstall the new version and then install the new version once again. That's not a good user experience. Is there no way to get the ClickOnce update path provided by Add-In Express to update our add-in, in-place, while transitioning from the ADX 8 loader binaries to the ADX 10 loader binaries? I feel the need to stress that this isn't a one-off situation. Every single computer on which we've installed our add-in that was built with ADX 8 will fail when trying to update to a version of our add-in built with ADX 10. |
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Posted 30 Oct, 2025 14:47:40
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Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express team
Posts: 19179
Joined: 2006-05-11
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Hello David,
Installing to different folders is a feature of ClickOnce: even if you install the same add-in, the final folder will be different. The "C:\Users\{UserName}\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\" part of the final folder refers to the so-called ClickOnce cache.
Does your new add-in version have the same URL as the previous one?
Regards from Poland (GMT+2),
Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader |
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Posted 03 Nov, 2025 13:51:10
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David Redl
Posts: 5
Joined: 2025-07-28
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Yes, my new add-in version has the same URL as the previous one. Everything is the same between the two versions except for the versions of `adxloader.dll` and `adxloader64.dll` that the add-in was built and deployed with.
I have just attempted this yet again. I built my add-in twice and deployed to the same location both times. The only difference between the two versions is that my add-in version `1.2025.1104.327` used ADX 8 and my add-in version `1.2025.1104.357` used ADX 10.
After the first build, I downloaded the ClickOnce manifest and installed it in Windows 11 Enterprise where it was registered with Excel. I opened Excel and confirmed that the version `1.2025.1104.327` of my add-in was registered and enabled.
After the second build, I used my add-in to call the Add-in Express provided update method, `AddinExpress.MSO.ADXAddinModule.CheckForUpdates()`. I was informed that there was an update, prompted to close Excel, and asked if I wanted Excel to reopen after the installation. After that, the old version of my add-in was unregistered from Excel and uninstalled from the list of Programs and Features found in Windows' Control Panel. The new version was downloaded from the correct URL and installed to the list of Programs and Features found in Windows' Control Panel. The new version of the add-in was never registered with Excel, however. |
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Posted 04 Nov, 2025 10:52:48
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Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express team
Posts: 19179
Joined: 2006-05-11
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Hello David,
Does it work if you install a new add-in version and then update it?
Regards from Poland (GMT+2),
Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader |
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Posted 04 Nov, 2025 11:26:56
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