Member Avatar for NeroToxic

Hi all. I'm currently using Visual C# 2005 Express, and to my horror realized that it doesn't support Setup & Deployment Projects, it only caters for ClickOnce Publisher. :sad: And I can't get that working, I recieve the one minfest file error after the other.

Do any of you know of a nice external installer, where I can just add my project output files and it creates my msi file needed for the installation of my application.

Thanks in advance

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Godfear1

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: Visual C# 2005 Express does not include the old Setup & Deployment project type, so an external packager is the normal route. 's quick workaround — publishing and zipping the bin\Release and telling users to install the correct .NET runtime first — is a pragmatic short-term fix. For a proper installer you have three common paths, depending on how much control you need and whether you must produce an MSI.

  • WiX (Windows Installer XML) — creates real MSI packages, integrates with Visual Studio, and is the right choice if you need administrative installs, services, registry changes or enterprise deployment. (steeper learning curve)
    WiX toolset

  • Inno Setup — free, simple, produces a single EXE installer, fast to learn for typical desktop apps. Good when you just need a friendly installer and shortcuts.
    Inno Setup info

  • NSIS — scriptable, compact installers, widely used for small-footprint setups.
    NSIS wiki

Ghost Installer and other commercial tools offer GUI-driven workflows and extra features (trial versions are typical), but they cost money.

Basic Inno Setup example (minimal) to drop your Release EXE into Program Files:

[Setup]
AppName=MyApp
AppVersion=1.0
DefaultDirName={pf}\MyApp

[Files]
Source: "bin\Release\MyApp.exe"; DestDir: "{app}"

Notes on ClickOnce manifest errors: clean and rebuild, publish to a local folder to reproduce the error, increment the Publish Version, check the Signing/Certificate settings (ClickOnce manifests are signed), and examine referenced assemblies for version/identity mismatches. If you must ship an MSI (not ClickOnce), use WiX or a commercial packager; for fast distribution, Inno/NSIS or the zip approach are reasonable.

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Member Avatar for Godfear1

I know that there are nice installer programs out there, but I haven't been able to afford them. They usually run at around $500 or more. The one I had my sights on was http://www.advancedinstaller.com/
alas, I couldn't afford it. But I was able to make the click once installer work. I Just had to give detailed instructions on an install order that would allow the program to work on the users computer.

You could just publish the file and go to the bin directory and then to the Release directory and copy all the files there into a zip file. Then when other people use it they have all the files and they can put them where they want. Just add a readme saying that they need the in order to run the programs. Or just include it in the zip with a readme saying to install it first.

Member Avatar for NeroToxic

Do you know anything about Ghost Installer?

Member Avatar for Godfear1

No I don't sorry.

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