Re: I Need a Program to Deliver My Installation Package to a Windows\Temp Folder
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Tony Toews [MVP]
>I have a self-sufficient installation package, but I need a delivery
>program that will get through the Vista/7 protections and dump the
>package in a Windows Temp folder, then kickoff my installation package
>by running Setup.exe. That it -- after doing that it should go away.
>Seems like a simple task, but I can't find a free program that will do
>this.
The free Inno installer maybe?
Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/
For a free, convenient utility to keep your users FEs and other files
updated see http://www.autofeupdater.com/
Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/
mayayana
It's v. 6.1 and it does what you want. It also
skips the crap that's been piled onto winzip
and PA in the interim.
--
Eduardo
> I have a self-sufficient installation package, but I need a delivery
> program that will get through the Vista/7 protections
I don't think there are protections to copy files to the Temp folder.
> and dump the
> package in a Windows Temp folder, then kickoff my installation package
> by running Setup.exe. That it -- after doing that it should go away.
> Seems like a simple task, but I can't find a free program that will do
> this.
>
> I would have thought Winzip would do that but, the version I have
> can't start a program after unzipping.
FreeExtractor and MakeSFX.exe:
http://freeextractor.sourceforge.net/FreeExtractor/
Command line:
MakeSFX.exe /zip="[path]\YourZipFile.zip"
/sfx="[path]\DesiredInstallPackedFileName.exe" /defaultpath="$temp$"
/autoextract /delete /overwrite /exec="setup.exe" /noGui
The only problem that I found is that it doesn't delete the files from
the Temp folder after installation.
Tom
wrote:
> I have a self-sufficient installation package, but I need a delivery
> package in a Windows Temp folder, then kickoff my installation package
> by running Setup.exe. That it -- after doing that it should go away.
> Seems like a simple task, but I can't find a free program that will do
> this.
>
> I would have thought Winzip would do that but, the version I have
> can't start a program after unzipping.
CreateInstall Free! Far easier than Inno and more powerful. You can
install in any directory and run. Use it all the time and tested on
XP, Vista and Win7. Piece-o-cake!
Here's the link: http://www.createinstall.com/cifree/screenshots.htm
Tom
Tony Toews [MVP]
>It also
>skips the crap that's been piled onto winzip
>... in the interim.
I hear you on that one. I purchased a license for Winzip and the
Self Extracting portion likely about 10 years ago. Been happily
using version 9.0 for the past five years. Despite the regular emails
from Winzip there is nothing compelling to make me want to upgrade.
Larry Serflaten
"Tony Toews [MVP]" <tto...@telusplanet.net> wrote
> >It also
> >skips the crap that's been piled onto winzip
> >... in the interim.
>
> I hear you on that one. I purchased a license for Winzip and the
> Self Extracting portion likely about 10 years ago. Been happily
> using version 9.0 for the past five years. Despite the regular emails
> from Winzip there is nothing compelling to make me want to upgrade.
I stuck with PKWare, it has all the basic features, and then some....
LFS
mayayana
than you need, but I once needed specific
functionality after an SFX was unzipped and
ended up writing my own stub. I think I got
the basic code package from the ZIP/UNZIP
site. Stubs for SFX are a whole topic in
themselves, and you can find free ones online.
Writing one requires using C++, though, unless
you also want to ship the unzip DLL.
As Eduardo said, going to TEMP shouldn't be
a problem, so you really just need the ability
to shell your setup EXE, and almost all zip
programs can do that. I'm surprised that WinZip
can't.
Nobody
news:OR0MwT4a...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> and almost all zip
> programs can do that. I'm surprised that WinZip
> can't.
I think it does, but I don't know for sure, but the free open source 7-Zip
has an option to create SFX. The option is disabled unless you choose "7z"
from "Archive Format". 7-Zip is easy to use as WinZip, including shell
integration:
Bob Riemersma
news:ubegg5pa40b02a1g8...@4ax.com...
>I have a self-sufficient installation package, but I need a delivery
> program that will get through the Vista/7 protections and dump the
> package in a Windows Temp folder, then kickoff my installation package
> by running Setup.exe. That it -- after doing that it should go away.
> Seems like a simple task, but I can't find a free program that will do
> this.
>
> I would have thought Winzip would do that but, the version I have
> can't start a program after unzipping.
Maybe http://www.chilkatsoft.com/chilkatSfx.asp would serve you.
It is free and there is a $50 "premium" edition with more features.
mayayana
>
> I've used two installers and one does too much, presenting screens I
> don't want shown, and the other, that I've used for years, doesn't
> work with 64bit.
Are you sure about that? VB runs on 64-bit
fine. A 32-bit installer should run fine. And
VB doesn't compile 64-bit. So why would you
need a 64-bit installer?
mayayana
> I've gotten several reports of the installer I have been using failing
> on 64 bit machines. When I send the people a zipped package they must
> unzip then run Setup.exe it works without problem. I don't have
> access to a 64 bit machine to test this myself.
If I understand you correctly, the installer works fine,
but just not when downloaded as an EXE. That sounds
like a permissions issue...or maybe a result of the IE
function to mark downloaded files as having zone3
security status, no matter how many times the file is
opened.
Tony Toews [MVP]
>Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm looking at a couple of the
>suggestions now. I've looked at Inno twice in the past and haven't
>yet figured out how it works. I'm sure it's a good tool once you
>figure out how to begin.
You should be looking at ISTool as it is the GUI to the Inno
Installer.
mayayana
Download v. 6.1.1
If you delete the BMP file in the program
folder that produces garish menu icons,
then dismiss the "nag-of-the-day" box,
you get a clean, simple program that works
without extra nonsense. :) And the license
specifically says it can be used for anything.
I've always had good luck with the SFXs,
and it's fine for zip/cab, but it doesn't handle
some of the less common formats. For a .rar
or .tar.gz I keep 7-zip around. (Nobody
recommended that, and I agree that it works
well, but the GUI is somewhat primitive.)
>
> I went to their website but didn't see a free version.
Bob Riemersma
> users:
>
> "before the installation started a window came up saying the program
> was not compatible with a 64 bit system"
Some legacy setup tools and self-extractors rely on a stub or wrapper that
is compiled as 16-bit code.
mayayana
>
> Is this what you expect the user to see?
> http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2392/0122k.png
I don't know. That link gives me a 503 error.
What are you asking?
mayayana
OK, I see it now. That's odd. The first time
I got 503 "there's no server available".
No, you don't have to have that window.
* Create a zip file.
* Go to Actions -> Make EXE File.
* Under "Command line after extracting put
the name of your setup.exe or bootstrapper.
(The Unzip To folder should aready show
%Temp%)
* Check "Overwrite Files". Uncheck "Show
success message". Check "Hide overwrite box".
Check "Create autorun SFX".
Click OK and you should have an EXE that
dumps into TEMP and runs your EXE of
choice.
You can even have your own custom icon
if you edit parcse.dat in the SFXS folder.
I don't remember the specifics of how to do
that, but it basically involves replacing the
bytes that represent the standard SFX icon
with bytes from your own icon.
Also, note the setting of Save relative folder
info. when you add files. You probably already
know about that, but just in case: Any relative
paths you store will be relative to TEMP\. So
if you want to add 10 files in a folder named "App",
for instance, be sure you don't add the folder
accidentally. Your setup.exe would then be
Temp\App\setup.exe and running it on extraction
would fail.
> >> Is this what you expect the user to see?
> >> http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2392/0122k.png
>
> > I don't know. That link gives me a 503 error.
>
> That's odd. It works for me.
>
> >What are you asking?
>
> It's kind of hard to explain without the picture. When you run the
> SFX the user is presented with a screen that asks where they want to
> extract to, lists the files, has a Start button, has option buttons on
> how to deal with files. I had hoped for it to just silently dump
> the files into my target directory and kick off the Setup.exe
mayayana
> Since I thought in selecting Make EXE automatically made it a SFX and
> there was the !!!Warning!! beside that check box it meant it would
> present a Warning to the user, if that makes sense.
Yes, it makes sense to me. Unfortunately
it didn't make sense to the author of PA. :)
Tom
wrote:
> to require you put a hard path to the destination folder. That is,
> you must use C:\Windows\TEMP. But, it is possible to install windows
> on other drives and most installation package makers reference you to
> the Windows directory rather than have you assume it is on the C:
> drive. Am I missing something?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Yes. Open the Help File. Look under tempPath. It is a macro that
will determine the users temp directory and use that for the
destination directory.
Tom
mayayana
> overwrite existing files.' Here's the setup I'm using:
> http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/3520/0124.png
>
That's what I use. But I'm assuming the overwrite
warning is coming from Vista's UAC or something like
that. If it's coming from PA then try clicking the top
checkbox to overwrite files. (That box is grayed *and*
checked. I always just check it to make sure it's not
ambiguous. PA shouldn't be asking about overwriting
files.
> I can live with this but I can't get it to remember the archive
> configuration details. I have to enter the configuration details
> every time I run it. In fact, even if I don't exit the program I
> have to reenter the configuration to recreate the same archive.
I don't understand that. You mean you're making
the SFX over a few times? Why is it a problem to
create a new SFX? The "configuration details" only
amount to typing a file name and checking a few
boxes. Or did I misunderstand that?
On the C drive issue: I don't know about that and
don't have any way to test it. Since PA shows
"%TEMP%" I assume that means it uses API to find
the temp folder. But even if that didn't work properly
when Windows is not on C drive, what difference would
it make? You've got your location from App.Path and
you'd be using API to find system folders, so what does
it matter if it unpacks to C:\TEMP\ or C:\Windows\TEMP\
or F:\Windows\TEMP\ etc.?
(I didn't know it was possible to not be on C drive.
I have several OOs installed on several PCs in multi-
boot scenarios with multiple partitions. They all define
the install partition as C drive.)
mayayana
> W7 but this is prepared and the prompt about overwriting is appearing
> on the XP machine.
>
But I'm still not clear about whether that's a PA
message. It shouldn't be. If it's Windows then
there's probably not much you can do. Though I've
never heard of warnings about overwriting TEMP
files. Maybe you can test it on a few machines.
>> Since PA shows
> >"%TEMP%" I assume that means it uses API to find
> >the temp folder.
>
> If you look in Options > Configuration > Folders you will see that the
> default is C:\DOCUME~1\[username]\LOCALS~1\Temp. I change this path
> to C:\Windows\temp.
No, it's using API. On my system it shows
C:\windows\temp because I'm on Win98SE.
It wouldn't make for it to use a hard-coded
path.
mayayana
> http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6872/125ef.png
>
> If you're willing you might make a dummy archive that with the Hide
> Overwrite box unchecked (allow the OverwriteBox to appear), run it
> twice and see if the box looks like these.
OK, I just tried it. I do get that message from PA
if I don't specifically check the top "overwrite files"
box. For some odd reason it's grayed and checked
by default. But if you actually check it, rrather than
leaving it grayed/checked, it should work fine. (Which
is weird, since there's another option to "hide
overwrite box".)
So in other words, do it just as you have here:
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/3520/0124.png
but make sure the top box is checked and *not* gray.