vc++ install creator

Question

VC++ 6.0 Project

After Completing my project i created the project EXE ,using Create Installer,

But the problem is without vc++ 6.0 software the EXE project it will not execute ,

it shows error:

This application has failed to sart because MFC42.DLL has not found,Re-installing the application may fix this.

When i insatll vc++ 6.0 software then it will fine no error.

plz any body help me that the without the vc++ 6.0 s/w the project must be execute.

or plz tell me how to make the project EXE(setup)

Answer 1

Check if mfc42.dll is freely distributable. I think it's part of Microsoft's runtime libs, and thus should be legal to redistribute, but you need to verify this (unless someone else can verify it).

Then just include that dll with your setup, so that the dll is in the same folder the exe is started from.

Answer 2

You might want to consider moving to a more widely used installation utility. A lot of open source projects (and a fair number of commercial projects as well) use InnoSetup to build installers.

Regardless of the tool you use, the general process is the same.

1. Create a Release build of your program.
2. Identify all the files that need to be installed. (Try the depends.exe tool that came with Visual Studio to learn what DLLs are required.) Don't forget about help files and samples.
3. List files and other install-time tasks (creating shortcuts, registering DLLs, and so forth).
4. Build and test the installation package.

Testing installations can be difficult, and really should be the subject of a whole other question. Be careful that what is installed can be uninstalled, and that running the installer again does something sensible. It may also be a good idea to make sure that you have a way to detect if a user is trying to install an update while an older copy is still running, and to take an appropriate action when that happens. (It will.)