Dear all i found that the size of msi file is 69.0 MB although the size my main application is 1.5 MB, so where all this size goes for ?!?
thnx in advance
A:
That's extreme, I've use wix quite often but I never have seen such a big msi from small files, e.g I've something around 110 KB. So I'd think it must be due to the tools you're using. What happens if you remove the complete .msi stuff and do a complete rebuild?
Regards
Friedrich
2009-01-21 11:27:22
+1
A:
check your msi file with Orca. It will show you all the tables in the msi file, including the packed files and their sizes.
However, if you're talking about the size reported in the "add/remove programs" dialog, you should read this blog entry.
Stefan
2009-01-21 11:46:37
+2
A:
Like the previous poster I would recommend using Orca to inspect the package. Is is included in the Windows Installer SDK. You have to know what it is required for your application to run. Mostly you need the VC++ runtime, data access components, 3rd party dlls. If your application is managed you can add ~20 mb for the .NET 2.0 runtime. The .NET 3.5 redistributable ia about ~200Mb. The client profile is about ~70mb, which maybe answers your question. Consider using web donwloaders, which would download and install .NET runtime on demand.
devdimi
2009-01-21 12:02:26
Web downloaders aren't always well received in a corporate environment (and MSI file size wouldn't be a concern), however if you're distributing a small app via the internet then it's probably the best choice.
sascha
2009-01-22 22:22:31
A:
My guess is that you have included a large number of merge modules or runtime packages such as the .NET framework in your MSI. Including anything relating to Crystal Reports is a common way to bloat your package.
Another possibility is that you have saved the MSI many times. MSI files are COM-structured storage files, and they don't feature any "defragmentation" of the internal streams. To determine if this is the problem, just open the MSI in Orca and do a Save As... If the file size is reduced, the problem (or part of it) was caused by file fragmentation.
Note that the "Save As..." behavior is the same as in Office documents. When doing Save As on a Word document, for example, the file size may be drastically reduced. The cause of this is the "defragmentation" that occurs when the file content is streamed to a new file with no fragmentation.
Glytzhkof
2009-06-30 03:14:31