Installation File Name Format Best Pratice

Question

I was reading the post http://stackoverflow.com/questions/469270/installation-file-names-in-windows-vista when I thought about Installation File Names. I'm a addicted software downloader, and frequently I've got installation names like "setup.exe" or "install.exe", that says nothing about the program to be installed.

I think that an installation file must be like:

Install[ProgramName][ProgramVersion][Platform].[exe|msi|etc]

or

[ProgramName][ProgramVersion][Platform].Setup.[exe|msi|etc]

What your thoughts?

Answer 1

Not sure this is entirely programming-related... but installer files are usually meant to be transient. You download them, run them, and delete them. (Or at least, I think most people do) So it doesn't matter much what the filename is.

I don't think there's any reason not to give the installer a descriptive name... but I certainly wouldn't say it "must" have one.

Answer 2

I much prefer descriptive install file names. Sometimes, you want an emergency 'restore' disk to get a machine up and running even without internet connectivity. When all your installs are named "setup.exe", you either have to rename them all, or create a directory with a descriptive name for each one.

An example of where such a disk would have been really handy was when I took my brand new laptop in to work to use while I upgraded my desktop to Vista 64, and then Windows 7. I only have one wired LAN point, so my laptop needed a wireless connection for internet access, to download my installs. I had to download them all on my desktop, and then transfer by flash drive to my laptop. Very inconvenient.

Answer 3

For CD-Rom based installation, I'd suggest sticking with SETUP.EXE which helps with autorun detecting software to install from the disk.

For downloadable files, just add the appropriate manifest to the EXE and Vista won't have a problem with it. I'd suggest something semi-descriptive, but there's no need to go into great detail unless it's something like hardware drivers that a person may archive off for reuse, otherwise the file name is confusing to non-technical people.