faxedhead
12th October 2007 08:21 UTC

vista uac prompt displays random file name
Using the Basic.nsi from the ModernUI examples, if you sign this using a verisign certificate (required for compatability with Vista), when launched, the Vista UAC prompt displays a random file name as the application name. E.g. Bas73D1.tmp. The random part is the four characters after Bas.

If the EXE is not signed, the "An unidentified program wants access to your computer" prompt is displayed, but the file name is correct: Basic.exe.

Does anyone know why signing a file causes this behaviour?

kichik
14th October 2007 22:31 UTC

Sounds like the program you're using to sign the installer creates this affect. It might be wrapping the installer with a signed stub that just extracts the original executable to the temporary directory and executes it from there. Try using a different signature tool.

faxedhead
15th October 2007 09:06 UTC

I'm using Microsoft's signcode.exe v5.131.1863.1. It looks like the problem is caused by the 'File Description' field of the setup EXE (generated by NSIS) being blank. It appears Vista uses this field to display the name of the program that is requesting elevation. So the question becomes, is there any way to have NSIS write a text string into the 'File Description' field of the setup EXE it creates?

kichik
15th October 2007 19:43 UTC

VIAddVersionKey "FileDescription" "Some lie"

faxedhead
16th October 2007 00:04 UTC

Fantastic - thanks kichik - worked perfectly. I did RTFM, but didn't find this info :)

kichik
16th October 2007 00:07 UTC

It's documented under Version Information and demonstrated in Examples\VersionInfo.nsi in case you need to know more about it.

faxedhead
16th October 2007 00:22 UTC

Found it. Thanks again. NSIS ROCKS.