-1

I have a folder that includes two EXE files and a lot of other files. How do I turn that into an MSI installer or some kind of self extracting installer so that it installs Main.exe to Programs in Windows. The second EXE file is because of communication between the two EXE files.

And I would prefer if it could include the "Shortcut to desktop" feature and doesn't require a license.

The EXE files aren't setup files already I think. They are Python scripts changed to EXE files.
This is the folder I want to turn into an MSI / Installer of some kind:

This is the folder I want to turn into an MSI / Installer of some kind

HelloThereToad
  • 249
  • 1
  • 3
  • 14
  • You need to pick a tool, see this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1544292/what-installation-product-to-use-installshield-wix-wise-advanced-installer and http://www.installsite.org/pages/en/msi/authoring.htm – PhilDW Jun 15 '18 at 21:48

2 Answers2

0

So I got what I was looking for and it was right in front of me the whole time. You an create a self-extracting (sfx) executable file in WinRAR which has ALL of the features I need.

HelloThereToad
  • 249
  • 1
  • 3
  • 14
  • Not an installer, but if it does the job for you that's great. If you plan to distribute this to many machines, I would run it by [virustotal.com](http://www.virustotal.com) to make sure it is not flagged as unsafe or suspicious (WinRAR might not have the best reputation - not sure what the current situation is). – Stein Åsmul Jun 17 '18 at 11:46
  • Avast, Windows, Norton, Bitdefender and most of the other defenders said it was safe :D – HelloThereToad Jun 18 '18 at 08:47
  • False positives can cause your software to fail distribution entirely. Not a trifle at all. Using virustotal.com and other means to check for malware has become a crucial part of deployment. It is all to prevent your users from coming back to you and telling you your software can't be used because security software flags it. If your distribution is small, you might not ever see the nightmare it can be to deal with false positives. With false positives you have to do something to deal with it. With real malware, the user has to do something to deal with it (rebuild machine). – Stein Åsmul Jun 18 '18 at 10:53
-1

This is a very common question. I'll just link to some existing answers:

Advanced Installer (further info) and Installshield (further info) are commercial options with nice GUIs for MSI creation - both with some free features / editions as well. And there is PACE Suite - another commercial product. WiX is free and XML-based, with a learning curve. Integration available in Visual Studio for all (most?) products.

And there are further tools as linked to by Phil above and also linked to in my answers above - some of which are not MSI-based, but create legacy setup.exe style setups (Inno, NSIS, etc...).

Some Further Links:

Stein Åsmul
  • 39,960
  • 25
  • 91
  • 164