I know how to create the Installer for an application but I want to know how to add the Uninstaller into the Applications work group. Is there anyway to add this from the Visual Studio 2008 Deployment Project. Or do I have to create a separate application for that altogether?
+1
A:
Having a Setup Project to install your application gives you a uninstaller too, AFAIK at least.
It will revert everything the installer does, meaning files will be deleted, shortcuts gone, etc.
wtaniguchi
2010-04-27 14:23:11
The uninstaller link is added to the Add/Remove program group. I want a link to it in the Application group.
Gunner
2010-04-27 14:30:52
Guess you should edit your question, for future references, and mark Frank's answer as accepted. As of now, it is not clear what you want to know in your question.
wtaniguchi
2010-04-27 14:40:19
Thanks for the advice, I have edited my post content.
Gunner
2010-04-27 14:53:53
+1
A:
A Visual Studio setup project (Web or Windows Forms) automatically adds an entry to "Add/Remove Programs" (Windows XP and below) or "Programs and Features" (Vista/Windows 7) that lets you remove the program that you installed.
There's no need to do anything special to get this functionality as it's built in for you =)
Rob
2010-04-27 14:25:05
Thanks for the post. I am already aware of this feature.What I actually wanted is an Application link to be added to the working group. Most commercial softwares have that, which go by names similar to, "Uninstall XXXX". Can this be produced automatically.
Gunner
2010-04-27 14:29:39
+1
A:
As the other answers already stated, there already is an uninstaller feature provided with your installer project.
Besides that, this link explains how to create a short cut to the uninstaller feature, that most users usually expect to be present somewhere in the start menu.
As an alternative to the batch file described in the blog post, you could also create a short cut file (.lnk file) that launches the command from the batch file (Msiexec /x [ProductCode]). Assign a nice icon and include the file to your setup project.
As a last step, let the installer copy that link file directly into the creted start menu folder.
Hope that helps.
Frank Bollack
2010-04-27 14:32:24
Thanks. This is something that I wanted.Let me read the link and verify if this helps me.
Gunner
2010-04-27 14:35:02
@Frank - I think that'll give the OP what they're after =), but "most users usually expect"... Really? I don't think I've used an Uninstaller via the Start Menu since the days of Windows 95 and non-MSI based installs! :)
Rob
2010-04-27 14:38:49
@Rob: Thats usually the first place for me to look for an unistaller as it involves less clicks and time (the control panel applet might take quite some time to bring up the list of installed applications).
Frank Bollack
2010-04-27 14:42:40