Built exe closes after few seconds

Question

I have a program that I built in C# using Visual Studio 2013

I want to build a standalone exe that I can send to someone and they can download and run.

I went into Visual Studio 2013 and changed my Solution's configuration to Release.

I then went and clicked Build Solution.

I went into my \bin\release folder and I opened the EXE. The EXE works when I run it from here.

I copied the EXE and pasted it onto my desktop, I opened the EXE and I see something happen in the taskbar but then nothing occurs.

I've tried changing The Platform from AnyCpu to x86 and that wasn't fixed either.

Any ideas?

Did you copy all the dependencies your application has from bin\Release? — DaveShaw, May 07 '15 at 23:18
Sorry, I'm a bit new to this. From what I understand, dependencies are the files I downloaded using NuGet, correct? If that's the case, I have a .dll and .xml for that. Do they need to be in the same directory as the EXE? — ConfusedAllTheTime, May 07 '15 at 23:21
What happens when you run the application from thought release ? — Saagar Elias Jacky, May 07 '15 at 23:22
You can't just copy your exe to the desktop and expect everything to work. You need to check if you copied all dependencies (supporting files) for you executable as well. — Magic Mick, May 07 '15 at 23:22
Your exe, and all the .dll files in the release folder have to be moved/copied together if you want to run from someplace else. To be safe, you should copy **all** the files in the release folder. — hatchet - done with SOverflow, May 07 '15 at 23:23
I copied the .dll that was also in the Release folder and it now works. Is there anyway of including the dependency in the exe within Visual Studio? Or do I need to download another program for that? — ConfusedAllTheTime, May 07 '15 at 23:23
The question you just asked in your comment should be a separate question, but I strongly suspect it has already been asked and answered on stackoverflow. — hatchet - done with SOverflow, May 07 '15 at 23:26
Take a look here -> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10137937/merge-dll-into-exe — Magic Mick, May 07 '15 at 23:27
Thanks everyone @DaveShaw if you post it as an answer I'll accept it — ConfusedAllTheTime, May 08 '15 at 00:10

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 08 '15 at 00:15

1

When copying an exe from the bin folder you must ensure you also copy any dll or other files that were put there. The compilation process ensures all dependencies are output to the bin folder, you need to ensure you deploy them with your app.

answered May 08 '15 at 00:15

DaveShaw

52,123
16
112
141

Built exe closes after few seconds

1 Answers1