Advanced Installer is an intuitive Windows installer authoring tool with an easy-to-use graphical user interface, offering robust installers based on standard Windows Installer technology that offer rollbacks, patches and auto-updates.
Installation log and rollback features provide you with the means to recover from installation errors, while silent installation and multiple languages support allow for seamless operations.
MSI & MSIX
MSIX, as Microsoft’s new packaging format for Windows applications, strives to become the industry standard and offers several advantages over legacy application formats like WinROT or DLL Hell, such as clean installs and uninstalls (thus eliminating WinROT or DLL Hell), OS update decoupling from application updates, faster application launches, network bandwidth optimizations and differential updates – the latter only downloading changes between your current version and its latest iteration.
However, to utilize its full potential and realize these features, software vendors must embrace MSIX and begin providing standard vendor applications as this new package type. However, that will only happen once there is enough users upgrading to new versions of Windows who are willing to download these apps.
At present, Advanced Installer remains an efficient means for creating MSIX packages. This powerful tool comes equipped with all of the features required for creating fully featured applications; such as being able to record an original installation routine by collecting files and registry entries that change during setup/uninstallation for inclusion into an MSIX container.
Also, you can add an MSIX build to an existing project by pressing the [MSIX/APPX Build] button in the top ribbon. After doing so, select an available folder on your computer where MSIX files should be saved before selecting either desktop as your target platform (e.g. target version of Windows) or specific minimum and maximum versions that your package supports (e.g. x86 and x64 versions).
Once your options have been configured, simply press “Next” and wait for the tool to inspect package content before producing an MSIX file for deployment via your preferred method such as public storefront, SCCM or Intune – even self-hosted websites for sideloaded apps can deploy it!
Once your MSIX package is ready for deployment, deploying it is just as straightforward as any other Windows Installer package. Furthermore, the same tools can even help repackage older installers for maximum return on investment in Advanced Installer.
EXE & EXEX
EXE files are the standard format software developers use to package and distribute Windows programs. These executable files contain information used by Windows to identify, read and run the programs contained within. In addition, EXEs often contain additional resources like icons or GUI graphics assets which make up part of a program’s identity; usually stored using machine code as their storage format.
Double-clicking an EXE file immediately launches its program and opens its own window in Windows. However, sometimes an error message may appear or the program may fail to function correctly due to registry corruption or virus infection; in these instances you should reset the registry back to its default settings so that EXE files will properly associate with Windows.
Some EXE files are self-extracting archives, meaning their contents will be extracted to a specified folder rather than opening automatically when clicked. You can create such an EXE file by checking “Create new Self Extraction Directive File” in the Wizard; additionally you can include command line parameters to pass to msiexec when launching this package.
When creating an EXE setup, using command-line parameters allows you to choose which language should be used by it – an essential feature when setting up unattended installations. Unfortunately, unlike MSI setups which include standard silent installation parameters by default, EXE setups do not.
The /exelang command-line option lets you specify the language to be used when setting up. It can be applied at either UI or Bootstrapper levels.
Path to Configuration File [/config=filename], which stores all settings and options used to build EXE setup.
InstallMate provides a command-line option to specify the name of a configuration file, making this tool useful when building multiple sets of EXEs with unique configurations.
CAB & CABX
CAB files are archive formats designed to efficiently package and compress large numbers of files. CAB archives use three distinct compression algorithms: DEFLATE (similar to ZIP), Quantam and LZX.
A CAB file can contain up to 15 compressed files that have been compressed with one of three algorithms, plus it can include a header which details its contents.
CAB files are frequently used by Microsoft to deliver standalone updates for Windows PCs and can also be included as part of an installer for programs or applications, like Microsoft Office (which includes several CAB files bundled together into one MSI file).
As software organizations have evolved, many have converged their change management and release management processes in an effort to reduce risk and increase efficiency by allowing developers to deploy changes much more rapidly to users. Unfortunately, this approach can sometimes create issues if changes are released without first being thoroughly tested in a production environment.
Developers submitting software to a CAB must take great care to meet all requirements set out by their organization, including providing detailed descriptions of changes made and user acceptance test results as well as proof that all business signoff has been obtained.
These requirements may be specified through a formal change request process that must be implemented by both project manager and team, and then assessed and approved by CAB for release into production environments.
There are various tools available that can extract and convert CAB files to EXE format, including IExpress Wizard – built into Windows itself – which can extract these files. Simply use Win+R to launch it then type iexpress before selecting your destination folder to extract your CAB file’s contents.
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.NET
An installer is a software program that installs files, typically an application or piece of software, into one or more folders on a system. Installers often come equipped with setup scripts which run once installation has completed and perform various functions afterward, such as uninstalling previous installations or updating versions.
Installers perform various actions, such as copying files and folders or changing registry values, as well as providing a GUI interface for user interaction with software applications.
A script-based installer allows for more flexible and extensible installation options compared to tools which rely on pre-defined commands. Furthermore, this gives more control over the installation process, including creating custom dialogs to collect user information or prompt them to accept a EULA agreement, for instance.
Advanced Installer is highly configurable, compatible with popular development tools and technologies, and easily incorporates into existing workflows for developers. Thanks to its scripting features and version control integration, Advanced Installer makes an excellent choice for complex installation projects.
Advanced Installer version 4.9 offers several notable new capabilities, such as sharing folders upon install, authoring removable patches and improving.Net application performance by recompiling to native images on install. Other improvements include redesigned Windows Explorer context menus, support for multiple UI languages and an improved XML editor.
Advanced Installer is one of the most comprehensive authoring tools on the market, but other GUI tools also exist that make the authoring process simpler and streamline this task. Some good alternatives include Inno Setup (free and with good features). This program supports installing software on Itanium-based Microsoft platforms and offers options such as signing it with professional digital certificates. Similarly, Install Forge may be more stable while offering additional tools like an AppX repackaging tool required by Universal Windows Platform.
Advanced Installer makes adding add-ins to a Visual Studio project extremely straightforward. Supporting both MSI and CAB formats, the tool integrates directly with Visual Studio so you can utilize its features when building or designing an add-in – such as using its UI tester for developing and testing its user interface (UI).
