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I used a commercial software to build my installer for my Windows apps. one app is written in C++ and another is written in C#.
I felt my commercial software too powerful for my small apps. now start to research alternatives.
Would any experts like to share your thoughts and experiences?
diligent hands rule....
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Tried to write an installer in C#, but that was not such a good idea, also tried Click-Once install but as our software needs admin rights that was not a good idea either.
So we stick with the trusted Inno Setup installer, it does score quite well on Slant too:
installers-for-windows-programs[^]
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InnoSetup is the best choice! Works great. Easy (relatively) to use. Free. 
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Win32 API has (a now not recommended) section of Setup API we used to create our own installer. Today we use the newer Installer API (MSI) to do the same.
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
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I used to use Inno Setup. Free and flexible enough for my needs at the time.
My current app doesn't actually require an installer. I use ClickOnce publishing to get all the files and dependent libraries. These days it's basically copy and paste deployment.
I wrote my own updater though which only downloads new and changed files.
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I use Inno Setup to initially install applications.
For updates I created a dll and class Application Auto-update via Online Files in C#[^]
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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this link is great resource![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
diligent hands rule....
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You're welcome, it's kind of simple but it works and gives you complete control.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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I use WiX for my work and personal project. But beware there is a learning curve to its XML syntax. If your application just include an executable, few dlls and images, the WiX template can be easily modified to your needs. As someone mentioned above, WiXSharp is a better alternative to raw WiX.
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Just curious, I see you asking questions about digitally signing program and building installer. Are you writing an application for sale like me? In all my current and previous jobs, I do not have access to their certificate to sign their application, so I know nothing about the signing process, only when I tried to do so for my application that I learnt.
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yes, ready to sell my apps!
diligent hands rule....
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I second Wix. Integrates nicely with Visual Studio.
And for smaller projects, I kinda like Nullsofts NSIS installer[^].
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
Mark Twain
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NullSoft link is great source for me. Thank you![Rose | [Rose]](https://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
diligent hands rule....
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We've been using InstallShield for around 20 years for the large apps. (now on 2015)
Add-on modules for the large apps (smaller .exes that may or may not have supporting files such as reports, config files, etc) are installed using a hand-rolled installer/package manager that simply gets the install directory from a registry key and determines if this is a new install or an update. If it's a new install, the user is prompted for a password if required. If the password is correct, the package is unzipped (using a 7-zip lib) and the files are moved to the correct locations. Once complete, the installer calls a .bat file to handle the cleanup and quits.
We also have a few apps using Click-Once and this has worked well with the exception that I now need to move those to another server and haven't had time to go through the steps to do so...seems to be a pita.
BTW, all of our exes and installers are signed. Also possibly important, most of the time our apps are hosted on a network share, so permissions aren't a problem. For the occasional single-user local installations, the apps are installed anywhere but Program Files or any other 'protected' folder. I know this is not recommended, but MS have made it impossible to do routine application maintenance for those playing by the 'rules'.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
"Hope is contagious"
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your experience is greatly appreciated. I worked on ClickOnce for a while and later on I gave it up
diligent hands rule....
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InstallAware[^].
It's an MSI based installer which supports all of the stuff that MSI based installers tend to do. It's expensive and I can't say I can recommend the attitude of their customer service, but it works well enough and at least it's not InstallShield.
Anna ( @annajayne)
Tech Blog | Visual Lint
"Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
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Wow, hey Anna, long time no hear, good to hear from you ! Still around here then ?
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Rage wrote: Wow, hey Anna, long time no hear, good to hear from you ! Still around here then ?
Yep, I've still not decaffeinated, but these days I get to hang from the ceiling* while thinking about my next mug of the stuff. 
* Not joking. I really do[^].
Seriously though...life's just busy. Between exercise, volunteering and work there's surprisingly little time left for other stuff.
Anna ( @annajayne)
Tech Blog | Visual Lint
"Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
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Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote: Not joking. I really do
OK, looks like not much changed then 
Any you're right, days get shorter by one hour every other year. Or so it seems. 
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Nah, I just do it with more control[^] now. 
Anna ( @annajayne)
Tech Blog | Visual Lint
"Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
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I was using Wise Installation Studio, but that is so old that the cert expired. We bought InstallAware, which I really like. It's very powerful, and our installs need that power. For simple projects, I agree that it would be overkill because of the price.
Bond
Keep all things as simple as possible, but no simpler. -said someone, somewhere
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It's both powerful and expensive, and once you've got it setup it just works.
My main bugbears with it are the inadequacy of the MSIcode code editor and the obscure format its source files are stored in (which makes SCC merges basically impossible).
But otherwise it just works.
Anna ( @annajayne)
Tech Blog | Visual Lint
"Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
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