How to make Cutsomized Setup and Deployment

Question

I'm currently developing a window application in VS2005,i need to make a setup of the product..and i had used setup and deployment project in VS2005 and created the setup but in the setup process... dialogs cannot be modified.. according to my needs...(ie it will be the same for all products installation only can change the heading , product name or top-banner) i like to make a setup the look the normal software installation...(like Visual studio ,photo shop installation)how is it possible to make a custom setup method..Is there any Custom setup & deployment method which is easy to do...plss help..me to create a better view during the product installation

Answer 1

There are several options: You can use InnoSetup, which is free and very powerful. It has its own script language and you can create new dialogs and behaviour using integrated Pascal scripting.

You can also use Windows Installer XML. This will create professional MSI installers, which are also customizable. You use an XML dialect to describe your setup here.

My experience is that InnoSetup can be used easily (there are tools linked on the home page for visually creating the setup) and creates very professional setups.

WIX is also pretty straightforward, but you have to learn a little more in advance. However, "standard setups" can be created very easily as well.