MSKLC under Vista (or MSKLC under .NET 2.0)

by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2006/06/27 11:02 -07:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/michkap/archive/2006/06/27/648723.aspx

Earlier today when I talked about Keyboards under LUA, i was very focused on installing the keyboard layouts that MSKLC creates under Vista.

And I did talk a bit about what might be a Vista bug.

But I didn't talk at all about Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator itself. And it too has a bug that affects Vista most prominently (but can affect earlier versions of Windows, too).

Let's say that you go to the MSKLC download page and download MSKLC.EXE. When you run the program, it pops up a nice dialog that clearly suggests wht you might want to do:

Unfortunately, if you hit the Setup button, you will then get another dialog:

Huh? Doesn't Vista include the .NET Framework? What the hell is this dialog talking about, anyway?

The problem here, which is actually a bug in the MSKLC setup, is that it is looking for the 1.0 or 1.1 version of the .NET Framework specifically. It is not thinking that the 2.0 version is the right one.

In my defense, I was using the built-in stuff in Visual Studio setup projects to build the dependency. Maybe I forgot a setting or something. :-)

In any case, if you click Yes on that dialog, you will be taken to the SDKs, Redistributables, & Service Packs page of the .NET Framework Developer Center. This too is all of the built in stuff from Visual Studio setups, which I have to admit is fairly cool.

Unfortunately, that link contains only 2.0 versions of the .NET Framework for download. And if that were good enough, then you wouldn't have had the problem in the first place!

Many people actually try installing that 2.0 downloiad, only to be told that it is already installed. And now they are really confused....

(By the way, that seems like a bug in the page content to me; if Visual Studio 2003's setup projects create links to a download page, then that page ought to at least have a link to that version's .NET Framework!)

In any case, the original page that comes up after you download MSKLC includes a What Others are Downloading list. Today that list looks like:

Others who downloaded Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC) Version 1.3.4073 also downloaded:

1. Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)
2. Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1 Redistributable Package
3. MDAC Utility: Component Checker
4. Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1
5. IntelliType Pro 5.5 Keyboard Software for Windows

Note item #2 on that list (the fact that it is #2 is because of that bug in the redist page content I mentioned above) and the fact that even if the 1.1 download were on the page there is no clear indication that it is what you need.

Hopefully this blog post will help turn it around a little bit? :-)

Interestingly enough, after you install the 1.1 .NET Framework and install MSKLC, you can go to Add or Remove ProgramsPrograms and Features in the Control Panel and uninstall the 1.1 .NET Framework. But Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator will still run just fine. It is just a silly, setup-time restriction that has nothing to do with the actual functionality of MSKLC....

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# Heath Stewart on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 2:14 PM:

# Rosyna on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 3:45 PM:

# Michael S. Kaplan on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 3:48 PM:

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