Created date	Updated date	Affects version	Fix vesion
13 Mar 2017	06 Mar 2024	Preinstall - All versions	N/A

Blancco PreInstall (MSI) package is created by using a WixE Edit software to "combine" the Blancco MSI installer content with an Blancco Erasure Software ISO image (Blancco Drive Eraser or Blancco 5).

In order to create the PreInstall package, you will need to have the following "components" available

Wixedit requires .NET2.0. To install .NET2.0

Open "Control Panel"
Open "Programs"
Select "Turn Windows features on or off"
Select ".NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)
Press Apply /OK
1. Windows starts installing components "Searching for required files"
Select "Let Windows Update download the files for you"

Wix Edit software
- Download and install the WiX Edit software.
  - Download version: wixedit-0.7.5.msi
Blancco MSI package content
- Download the ZIP package containing the Blancco PreInstall file and extract it for example to C:\
Blancco Drive Eraser ISO image file
- The download link for the ISO should have been delivered to you (Check your email for a delivery email / download page link / web store email, etc.).
  - If you do not have any ISO image file available, contact your Blancco Sales representative or Technical Support.

Parameter Table

Parameter	Mandatory	Description
--additionalArguments	No	List of additional arguments to pass to PreInstall when run immediately after installation (only effective when the parameter –launchPreInstall is also passed). The parameters need to be surrounded by inverted commas and a space needs to be included after the last argument, e.g. --additionalArguments “--extract_wireless_settings --force --reboot “
--architecture	Yes	The architecture (32 bit or 64 bit) of the PreInstall binary to use when generating the MSI package.
--autoXML	No	If active, the MSI package installation won’t require any user input/confirmation during installation, e.g. pressing the “Next” button.
--help	No	Displays the help text.
--ISOLink	No	URL to a Drive Eraser image.
--language	Yes	The language to be used in the generated MSI installer.
--launchPreInstall	No	Run PreInstall once the MSI installation completes.
--preInstallDir	No	The root directory of the PreInstall package. This argument is only necessary when running the PreInstallPackageGenerator.exe from anywhere else other than the PreInstall package root directory (where the PreInstallPackageGenerator.exe is located by default).
--restoreBootOrder	No	Restore the boot order (i.e. undo any boot changes done by previous PreInstall runs).
--wixDir	Yes	The location of the Wix installation.

Example use cases:

Use case	Command
Manually install PreInstall without running it	PreInstallPackageGenerator.exe --architecture win32 --language en --wixDir "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\WixEdit\\wix-3.0.5419.0"
Automatically install PreInstall	PreInstallPackageGenerator.exe --architecture win32 --autoXML --language en --wixDir "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\WixEdit\\wix-3.0.5419.0"
Automatically run and install PreInstall	PreInstallPackageGenerator.exe --architecture win32 --autoXML --language en --wixDir "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\WixEdit\\wix-3.0.5419.0" --launchPreInstall --additionalArguments "--extract_wireless_settings --force --reboot "

Note: Running a 64 bit version of PreInstall from an MSI package isn’t currently supported.

Note: Multiple runs of the PreInstallPackageGenerator.exe in the same PreInstall package is not supported. To generate another MSI package, take the original unmodified PreInstall package and generate the new MSI package in there. Don’t run PreInstallPackageGenerator.exe multiple times in the same PreInstall package.