How to make an Installer (Setup.exe) for your Application Software [NEW VERSION]

hi everyone Aaron here so about two years ago I made a tutorial video on how you can create an Insider for your application software and while it's currently my best performing video so far and many viewers have found it to be very informative I also found out that some users were having difficulties understanding the process and I think that's because of the lack of narration on the video to explain what's going on despite my best efforts to achieve that with subtitles they just weren't enough so I've decided to make the video again and I'll try to explain every step as clearly as I can so without any further Ado let's jump straight into it and see how you can create an installer for your application softwares thank you [Music] I'll be creating the installer for a software I've been working on for the past couple of years it's called basic monthly successful children and it's designed to teach basic months to Children using various States and maths games so the first thing we need to create our installer is to download the software called install folds and Link the website down in the description box so you can follow that link to download the software and then install it on your computer I've already downloaded and installed it on my computer so let's go ahead and launch it to get started the first time using this software it might seem intimidating at First Sight but don't worry because it's actually very easy and very straightforward to use once you understand it [Music] so the first section is the general Tab and that's where you specify the basic information of your software the first one is products name and that's where you will enter your software's name I will just copy and paste mine here and for the product version if your software is the first release like mine you can just put 1.0 there if it's not a first release then put in the appropriate version over there if you have a company name you can enter it here but if you don't have one you can just leave it blank as this is optional aim for the website URL again if you have one interview if you don't have one you can just leave it planned I don't have one but I'll put my YouTube channels liquor instead and below that make sure to select all the proper operating systems that your software supports your installer will not run on the operating systems that you didn't choose the next section is the user interface Tab and here you have the option to change the without image in the header image I'll put up a graphics to show which is which these are optional meaning you can leave the Mine Chain and then the wizard will use the default ones there but if we chose to change them which I recommend you do because it will give the wizard a professional look then you will need to prepare your own graphics with the proper Dimensions beforehand for the header image you can use any Square image to change it just click on the Ellipsis button next to it then navigate to where your image is located and then select the one you want for faster navigation you can copy the folder path containing your image and then paste it in the software's open dialog address bar and keep enter I will leave the wizard image on the default because I don't have an image with the proper dimensions for it if you use an image that doesn't match the proper Dimensions it will not look good as it will be stretched to match the dimensions next up is the language stop and this is where you will select the languages to be supported by your installation without thank you once you're done with the general section the next one is the file stop in the setup section and this is the most important step in this tutorial because this is where you will add all the necessary files in folders that your application needs to run properly to add your application files you will use the add files button here and if your application also contains folders use the add folders button to add them to your installation without let's create in the adore files first by clicking on the add files button then up get to where the files are located then make sure to select all of them before clicking on open then after that because our application also contains a folder let's go ahead and add it using the add folder button navigate where the folder is located select it and then click on OK after you avoided all the files in folders of your application below and there is a section where you can specify the installation path of your application software on the this pass here for example will create a folder with your company's name in the main drives program files folder and within that folder it will create another folder with your software's name and in that folder it will install your application files in folders you can change this path to any path if you wanted but for this tutorial we'll leave it as it is you also have an option to allow users to change the installation path or not but if your application is pulse sensitive then it's better to turn off this option but if it is not then you can leave it turned on moving on you'll find the visual updates expressed up now this section is only going to be useful for your application if you have plans of providing an online update for your application from a dedicated server so what this feature will basically do is it will create an updated program for your application software that will determine whether or not to update your application software on the user's computer by cross checking the release version on the user's computer again is the latest release version on on your update server to do that it will use something called an update script an update script is a file with a few lines of code that you will provide on your update server and that file will tell the updater whether a new version is available or not [Music] so if you choose to use this feature you need to check the include visual update Express box and for the name it will use the same name as your current one and provide the URL for your update script here and if you have multiple urquels provide them here too for the current version field it will use the version provided in the general tab [Music] and check the below boxes according to your preferences you can use this link here to view the full documentation on how to use the visual update express it will have all the necessary steps you need to take to use this feature correctly I will also have it linked down in the description box [Music] next up is the uninstallation tab and this will create an uninstaller program that your users can use to uninstall your application software from their computer and for the name add your applications name after the word uninstall to make it more clear for your users you can use the visit website after installation field to direct your users to your website after their installation is finished and here you can also provide a pass to your custom icon for the installer if you wish to have that [Music] and in the variable stop now you will find an option to I think probably variables to the system reach through this is similar to the one we will see later on in this video on average three tab the only difference being these variables are temporary but for most softwares this is not needed so unless your application software has a specific need to use one you can skip it and in the command step you will have the option to run command lines in the command prompt if your application is to do that select which command type your application needs and provide the command parameters below you also have the option to have the command prompt window visible origin while excluding the command and in the next section you will find the splash screen tab and here you'll have the option to have one image show up before the installer wizard starts and you can also have an audio players way and set for how long to display the image but I found out using this option will crash the installer more often than not so if you encounter any problems using this feature just go back in disability you should be fine and the license tab is pretty straightforward this is where you will enter your license agreements and that your users need to agree in order to install and use your application software on their machines next up is the serial violation and this feature will give you the ability to protect your installer with serial numbers so that only users with the correct serial numbers can install your application software on their computers this feature is not to be convinced with activation serial course that will protect your application itself from being pyroster as this will only protect your installer and not the application itself and once the user have installed your applications of their own their computer they can simply navigate to the installation panel grab your application files and create another installer for it now that's out of the way let's see how you can use this feature first check the show server violation dialog box then you have two options you can either enter your own serials here manually or you can have it generate them for you specify how many serials you want here and you can also change the serials format here in the serial mask after that click on generate and the software will generate the series for you once you have your stereos go ahead and click on save to save the minifex file we will need them later on this video when we install our application once you're done with that head over to the Finish Tab and here you will choose what you want your installer to do after it's done installing you can have it to either run your application or to reboot the user's computer if that's necessary for your application if you choose to run your application then you will need to specify the name of your main executable file along with this extension after the installation path placeholder and next up is the registry top and as I discussed earlier in the video this is used to create permanent registry files in the system registry editor while the ones you will create in the variable stuff are only temporary registry files that your installer will use while only installing your application but the ones you will create in the registry tab are permanent registry files that will be created in the system registry Editor to be stored permanently if that's something your application needs to work properly but most applications don't need those files so you can just keep it if that's not something your application needs to work the next tab is the shortcut Tab and here you get the options to create a desktop and start menu shortcuts for your application software click on the add button and choose which shortcut type you want and provide the name for it below and after that in the Target Field provide the name of your main executable file along with its file extension you can escape the command line arguments and icon file fields and click on OK then do the same for the start menu shortcuts foreign down below you have options to allow users to change the start menu shortcut path and to create the start menu and desktop shortcuts for all users of the computer the last two options are will allow all users of the computer to use your software select the ones you want and after that let's head over to the final tab which is where you will build your installer for the setup in the installer icons you can use the default ones or you can change them to your own but you need to have an icon file with a DOT Ico file extension for that if you don't know how to create your own custom icon files you can watch these videos I've made on the subject and follow along so let's change the setup file to my own here and we'll select one of the default ones for the uninstaller after that let's go ahead and choose the location for our installer to be created in and let's also give it a name while we're doing that if you think this tutorial is actually helpful I would really appreciate it if you consider subscribing making these videos probably takes a lot of time and effort and the best way you can thank me is through your subscription and if you have any suggestions or comments leave them down below and I'll make sure to rate them now we're pretty much done but before we proceed to build our installer let's go ahead and save all our progress selections and changes we have made as an install Forge file so as to pick up right from where we left off we want to make any changes to our project in the future you can do that by clicking on the save button here and choose a location and name for it thank you now we can finally click on the tool button here to build up seller if you run into any error messages while building your installer simply delete the incomplete installer file that has created and click on build again and this will be fine [Music] okay the software has finished creating our installer here it is it's a DOT exe file that you can distribute your results and they can use it to install your application on their computer so now let's go ahead and install it on our computer and see how everything we have configured works in the installation wizard [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign

Channel: Habesha Tech Tips

Views: 9,195

Keywords: dolphin tech tutorials, create an installer, setup.exe, setup for software, installer for application, installer for visual studio, setup for visual studio software, software installer, Create setup.exe, Professional installer tutorial, Application software installation, Setup wizard tutorial, Application software setup tutorial, Trustworthy software installation, Step-by-step guide to setup.exe, Installer best practices.

Id: 9I1s3ZNsZ14

Length: 19min 6sec (1146 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2023