i am publishing an app in vb.net. it's creating setup.exe and a folder called application files. i am told that setup.exe is stand alone and does not need any other files. is this right? because when i put setup.exe in a different directory it says that some files are missing.
+3
A:
If you're using the "Setup and Installation Package" project from within visual studio, then that's not the case. The actual setup files are the .MSI file and setup.exe is just a placeholder for the Windows Installer application.
If you're using ClickOnce, then you need the entire published directory (especially the manifest, as that tells the ClickOnce protocol where everything is at.
That said, other installer creation systems work differently.
Stephen Wrighton
2010-04-11 15:04:32
how do i use setup and installation package?
I__
2010-04-11 15:07:01
btw im using vb.net express
I__
2010-04-11 15:07:59
"setup.exe is just a placeholder": Setup.exe is a so-called bootstrapper, it makes sure that all pre-requisites get installed (e.g. the .NET Framework) and then launches the MSI.
0xA3
2010-04-11 15:20:10
@every_answer - the express systems don't support the "setup and installation package" project.@0xA3 - For the life of me, I could not remember the word "bootstrapper" this morning.
Stephen Wrighton
2010-04-12 01:20:26