Creating upgradable C# .net windows application

Question

I create an windows application and give the user the installation pack for it. So now I need to fix some bugs and give a revised version to the user but I don't want them to reinstall it. So how can I create a fix and distribute it?

Answer 1

Create a new installer that will overwrite old files with the new files. or consider using click once deployment

Answer 2

ClickOnce will greatly simplify this process of installation/upgrade. You may have to reinstall the application once through ClickOnce, but after that, upgrades will be easily provided. Explanations here.

Answer 3

I haven't used clickonce, but a couple of years ago I had to write something that would auto update. I can't find the code or else I would post, but this is what it did:

1) Main exe would look at an assembly and find the version.
2) IF the exe could connect to a public server, it would check and see if a different assembly was available.
3) If the assembly was available, it would download it and run the new assembly
4) If the assembly wasn't available or didn't have an internet connection, it would just run the local one.

Doing this requires no user interaction.