I've done most of my coding on OS X, Objective-C, Java, ... so I'm not familiar with how to author Windows Installer packages. What I need is a single package (exe/msi doesn't matter) that the user can double click to install several programs we use at work. We are constantly having to reimage our computers, so this is a big time-saver, especially for those I work with who are just lazy.

Requirements: .NET/Java prerequisites; each installable program is optional (I prefer check boxes over the collapsable tree); most programs already have their own installers which can be called, so those installers would just be called at the right time; several programs are self-contained executables that just need to be placed in the right directory; one program requires registry entries to be set up properly; Shortcuts; no uninstaller required.

I found a list of tools at http://www.installsite.org/pages/en/msi/authoring.htm, but there are just too many to go through. Recommendations?

3/31/2007 12:25:17 PM

this is what I do at work, if cost isnt an issue, get InstallShield for Windows which is THE standard in Windows installer software. There's a learning curve, but InstallShield is the only reasonable way to make Windows Certified installers using their MSI technology.

If you want to go the Free route, get NSIS from http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page the NSIS scripting language is really easy to learn, and totally customizable to suit any needs you may have.

4/2/2007 11:56:46 PM

Sweet. I'll check out NSIS. Unfortunately, cost IS an issue because the installer is just a little convenience for when our computers blow up. We only have about a dozen people in my group, so there aren't constantly people installing things, and we wouldn't throw $2500 on a mere hour-saving convenience. However, the installers for these programs are provided from inter/intranet directories, so IDEALLY I need a script that can check if there is a new installer (inconsistently named) located in a network drive. The authoring tool I tried so far could check for a fixed file name's internal version number, but it doesn't help if the new version is embedded in the filename like installer4_1_0.msi

4/3/2007 12:14:56 AM

I use InstallShield AdminStudio at work.

4/3/2007 12:21:47 AM

I used Wise installer at my last job. Probably similar capabilities to Installshield. We had to script a combination of update utilities, running other vendor's installers, and shooting DLLs and other files into directories on the computer.

Are you networked there? How about a shared directory with the install packages and a batch file to kick them off in order?

-- Dave

4/3/2007 9:24:24 AM

^^^^ I use NSIS at work, Firefox's installer is NSIS, its really easy to use and you can do some pretty powerful stuff with it if you do a little research.

4/6/2007 3:29:00 PM

Yea, Nullsoft NSIS is easy as pie. And free.

4/6/2007 6:46:11 PM