.NET Installer Project - Create shortcut keeps reinstalling everytime

Question

I have a .NET project (VS2008 .NET 3.5) that builds an exe. I have an installer project as part of the same solution that creates an installer for that exe.

In the File System for the installer, I create a folder for my application under the User's Programs Menu. In that new folder, I dump the .exe and .exe.config. I also create a shortcut in that same folder AND a shortcut on the desktop. The shortcut was created by right clicking on the "Primary output from Application(Active)" and selecting "Create shortcut to Primary output from Application(Active)".

Everything installs fine. If I click on the .exe it runs fine. When I click on either of the shortcuts though, it pops up this small "Installing" pop up window with a progress bar. I have no idea where it came from or what it is doing.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

It's a long shot... but maybe check short cut's "Start In" property. Hopefully it's set to be where the Primary Output is installed.

I've seen other deployment installations behave oddly when the Start-In property is wrong.

Answer 2

I think that I figured it out... and it leans towards me not understanding what the hell I was doing. Originally, I would right click on the "Primary output from {project} (Active) item and select "Create shortcut to..." and that would create the shortcut that would in turn fire off the installer.

What I did different this time is right clicking on the file pane under the "User's Programs Menu" and selecting "Create Shortcut to {project}". In the pop up window, navigate down to the "User's Programs Menu" and select the "Primary output from {project} (Active)" item and it will create a shortcut that works just fine when installed.

The only difference I can see once the app is installed, is that the Target of the one that works is pointing right at the project's exe. The one that doesn't work lists the name of the application as the Target.

Two different ways of creating a shortcut to the exact same item in the Installer project. There must be a fundamental difference that I'm not understanding. For now I know how to make it work.

Thank you all for you input!