| In this appendix Creating an Installer Using the Setup Project Wizard to Create a Setup Project for a Windows Application Setting Options for the Setup Package Customizing the User's File System Building the Setup Project Deploying the MSI Installer Package Once you have created, tested, and debugged your Visual Basic .NET application, you will most likely want to create a way to deploy it for use on computers other than your own. Whether you have created a utility for your workgroup, a system for your company's customers, or a shareware package for distribution via the Internet, creating an installer for your application ensures that it is properly installed on the user's computer. The proper way to deploy a Windows Application project is to create an installer. An installer is a special type of application that utilizes the Microsoft Windows Installer built into Windows 2000, Windows Me, and Windows XP, and which is also available for earlier versions of Windows. The process of deploying Visual Basic .NET applications is based on Windows Installer technology. Simply put, an installer is a setup package that a user can run to install an application on his computer, just as he might do after purchasing a commercial software package. The output of a setup project is an .MSI (Microsoft Installer) file, which recent versions of Windows recognize as an installer package. Double-clicking an MSI file will invoke the Windows Installer to install and configure your application for use on the user's PC. Setup packages that utilize the installer technology built into Windows in this manner are more robust than traditional setup.exe installations, as use of the Windows installer ensures that program components are properly installed and registered. In addition a setup package that you distribute does not have to "reinvent the wheel" by including the underlying code that actually performs the installation, as this functionality is already contained in the Windows Installer. |