Default Install Path

[Mihai]

I've noticed recently - on multiple machines - that trying to install Fiddler defaults to an install path as the one depicted below. The same outcome is observed regardless if running setup as a local non-admin user, starting setup as a local non-admin user but running as administrator or simply logging in as an administrator account and starting setup. Yet Fiddler is successfully installed and runs just fine.
One of the other outcomes is that using the Start button to start Fiddler by simply typing its name no longer works - regardless if installing to the default path (present in the picture) or manually changing the install path to Program Files\Fiddler. In the first case that would make sense up to a point at least, since Indexing doesn't look in AppData by default, but not sure why it fails to work in the second case.

The latest attempt to install - and the same result observed as above - was using the latest version available today.

[Alexander]

Hello,

That's very strange. During our testing this exact feature works just as well. Are there any Fiddler-related results when you type Fiddler in the start menu search bar?

As a side note - we do not rely on the indexing. We instead create shortcuts in certain folders which are user-specific. This means that it should work perfectly well in the scenarios when a normal user and administrators run the installer. The only scenario in which this logic does not work as expected is when a normal user runs the installer "as Administrator". That's because the installer thinks the Administrator is installing Fiddler for himself, not for the normal user. However, one shouldn't hit this case since the installer no longer requires administrative rights.

Regards,
Alexander
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[Ramsey]

This happened to me today on a freshly downloaded Fiddler installer.  It suggested the AppData path the previous user posted and I didn't look at it before clicking Next.  After install, the search feature couldn't find it.  I uninstalled it and change to Programs Files x86 and now it works fine.

[Szenes]

This is happening to me right now.

FYI I'm installing on a terminal server.

Choosing another folder (Program files) works, it's just a bit inconvenient.

[Szenes]

v5.0.20181.14850 for .NET 4.6.1

[Tsviatko Yovtchev]

Hello,

Are you guys installing Fiddler as Administrator and trying to find it in search when logged in as different user? That would not work since Fiddler installs per user now and the default location is the AppData folder of the user that ran the install. the other users won't see this. They might have their own versions of Fiddler installed different than the Administrator one, though.

Regards,
Tsviatko Yovtchev
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[Karl]

This decision is terrible, to make all installations user only. This makes the deployment of the software using tools such as ConfigMgr for multiple devices difficult now. Even worse when multiple developers share the same device. Is there a way to designate the install location and for all users as well?

[Simeon]

Hello Karl,

You could still install Fiddler into any shared folder like Program Files, for example. The FiddlerSetup.exe supports silent installation and install directory options from the command line:
FiddlerSetup.exe /S /D=C:\Program Files\Fiddler

Please, note that /D must be the last parameter used in the command line and must not contain any quotes, even if the path contains spaces. Only absolute paths are supported.

You could also create a shared shortcut into the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs directory for convenience to all users.

Regards,
Simeon
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[Michael]

Hi Simeon,

Seriously? This "feature" (local per-user install) was discussed and signed off?
I realise Fiddler is free (and very grateful for it), but this new installation method is, to put it bluntly, rubbish, and I cannot see the justification for it.

Either install for all users, or make it a portable app and let the user put it where they like. But hiding the installation in %APPDATA% by default makes zero sense to me.

Please reconsider this approach.

Best regards,

- Micha.

[Kammen]

Hi guys,

I hope you could understand that there is a reason behind making this decision. However, your point makes sense and we will try to come up with a solution for this scenario with one of the next releases.

Stay tuned!

Regards,
Kammen
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[Daniel]

I am adding my support in changing the install path back to established windows conventions and allowing the user to install in a portable version mode as needed. 

[Daniel]

If separate versions need to co-exist just use `/Fiddler<VERSION>` naming convention. 

[Andres]

Hi.

Any news with this solution  ?

Some days ago i was requested to-do SCCM application for Fiddler and here discoverd the bad design descision. Even with specifying install directory ( not documented in public KB..) it still installs as per user app, making company software handling processes a joke. Specially when multiple users are using same computer.

 

 

[Kammen]

Hi Andres,

There is no any update on this. 

However, I can suggest a workaround when you're trying do per-machine installation. 

1. Run silent installation with the following arguments: FiddlerSetup.exe /S /D=%ProgramFiles%\Fiddler
2. Execute: COPY  %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Fiddler 4.lnk %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs and COPY  %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Fiddler ScriptEditor.lnk %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs commands.

The user must have administrator privileges to do that. 

Note that this is not how Fiddler normally works and can cause some limitation. One thing is that the separate users may have problem installing different Fiddler extensions.

Regards,
Kammen
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[Hal]

This is causing us a major issue too, we need to run the Exchange Online extension and cannot, since even with the /D install, the extension will only run for the user who installed it.

Incidentally Microsoft made a similar decision with Teams and installed it into %appdata% just for that user, it caused so many issues they are now changing it to a proper installation.

[Matt]

Took me 20 minutes to find this page and then figure out the path to open fiddler.

 

C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local\Programs\Fiddler

[Eric R | Senior Technical Support Engineer]

Hi Matt,

Apologies for the confusion. For additional reference, the default installation can always be found using the following steps.

Step 1 - Right-click the Start Menu icon and select Open File Location link, as shown in the below screenshot.

Step 2 - Once the Start Menu folder opens after step 1, view the properties of the Start Menu shortcut by right-clicking and selecting Properties. The Target and Start In properties will always display the installation information. See the below screenshot for more details.

Additionally, we will update our Installation documentation with this change as well.

Please let me know if you need any additional information. Thank you for using the Fiddler Forums.

Regards,

Eric R | Technical Support Engineer
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[Jason]

Hi All,

Created an account just to add to this one... Would really appreciate a proper machine based installation again, user-based installs are difficult to manage in corporate/enterprise environments & the psuedo machine install of redirecting install folder & creating new shortcuts isn't great, especially if as you mention yourself extensions wont work.

I understand the advantage of not needing admin rights to install programs, but surely most of the targeted audience for this application would either A) have admin rights, or B) be in a managed environment with deployment software in use (and potentially whitelisting/App Control software preventing unauthorised apps to run anyway)

 

Surely it can't be that hard to make this a machine based installation, which writes out user preferences to the users AppData folder., like most software does...

 

Also the installation documents & KB articles still don't have any mention on these changes, nor the /D installation option.

 

Cheers

Jason

[Eric R | Senior Technical Support Engineer]

Hi Jason,

Thank you for your feedback. As a token of gratitude, I have created a Feedback Item and increased its priority by casting a vote for everyone in this thread. I encourage following the item to receive status updates.

As for the per-user installer, we are still evaluating solutions for this scenario.

Please let me know if you need any additional information. Thank you for using the Fiddler Forums.

Regards,

Eric R | Technical Support Engineer
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[Denise]

I agree that the default per user install isn't a great idea, especially is a enterprise software development environment. At the very least, provide multiple installers, one per user and one per machine.