I'm new to creating installer so I might be doing something wrong here. I've checked the "Visual C++ Runtime Libraries x86" option in the prerequistes. What gets generated when I build is:
- a directory called vcredist_x86 with vcredist_x86.exe inside it
- MyProject.msi
- Setup.exe

Is it possible to package everything up into one file? (either a single MSI or a single EXE)?

Thanks,

Jeff

Not into a single MSI, no. People often deal with this by using a tool that zips up the entire install image into a self-extracting exe that someone runs, extracting the files into the original directory structure, and then runs the setup.exe bootstrapper (which is what runs the vcredist program and then your MSI file.

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Phil Wilson

Hi Jeff99999,

I quite understand what PhilWilson suggested. I have once guided a customer to use WinRAR self-extracting function to accomplish this task.

Please look at the following thread.
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winformssetup/thread/8678b938-7148-4e5b-b437-d71f33b446f9

Self-extracting package will extract all file and launch setup.exe automatically once you have properly set.

If you have any problem, please feel free to tell me.

Sincerely,
Kira Qian

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Please mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark if they don't.

Hi Kira, thanks for the tip about WinRar. What I'm using (or should say was using) was WinZip. I did some further digging and though the personal edition of WinZip is able to convert a zip to an exe, it is limited and doesn't have the feature of running an app once the achieve has been uncompressed, and an expansion module needs to be purchased for this functionality.

Before you posted, I started to look into 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) and it has the functionality I was looking for, and everything (so far) seems to be unpacking and installing correctly.

Thanks,

Jeff

Not into a single MSI, no. People often deal with this by using a tool that zips up the entire install image into a self-extracting exe that someone runs, extracting the files into the original directory structure, and then runs the setup.exe bootstrapper (which is what runs the vcredist program and then your MSI file.

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Phil Wilson

>using a tool that zips up the entire install image into a self-extracting exe that someone runs, extracting the files into the original
> directory structure, and then runs the setup.exe bootstrapper

When the user double-clicks on the self-extracting exe, does that process automatically run the setup.exe bootstrapper, or does the user have to navigate to where the files have been extracted and then double-click setup.exe?

If setup.exe automatically runs after the files have been extracted then this will probably achieve what I'm looking for.



>using a tool that zips up the entire install image into a self-extracting exe

What tool(s) do you recommend?
(I used WinZip to convert a zip to an exe but I didn't see any means to get setup.exe to automatically run once everything was extracted)


Thanks,


Jeff

Hi Jeff99999,

I quite understand what PhilWilson suggested. I have once guided a customer to use WinRAR self-extracting function to accomplish this task.

Please look at the following thread.
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winformssetup/thread/8678b938-7148-4e5b-b437-d71f33b446f9

Self-extracting package will extract all file and launch setup.exe automatically once you have properly set.

If you have any problem, please feel free to tell me.

Sincerely,
Kira Qian

---

Please mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark if they don't.

Hi Kira, thanks for the tip about WinRar. What I'm using (or should say was using) was WinZip. I did some further digging and though the personal edition of WinZip is able to convert a zip to an exe, it is limited and doesn't have the feature of running an app once the achieve has been uncompressed, and an expansion module needs to be purchased for this functionality.

Before you posted, I started to look into 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) and it has the functionality I was looking for, and everything (so far) seems to be unpacking and installing correctly.

Thanks,

Jeff