Grump about install-builders
Currently working on the 4th revision of my main product. For the first version in 2002 (roughly Windows 98 era) I used an install-builder from Eset. At that time Eset was a small shareware company, and their installer was simple and cute. When my publisher changed ownership, they disliked the cuteness, so I had to switch for the next version.

For the second and third in 2004 and 2008 (roughly Win XP era) I used CreateInstall.

Eset and CreateInstall both worked neatly, building all the usual install stuff in a logical order. You just ran through a fixed sequence, filling in the blanks with appropriate files and folders.

Usual install stuff = (1) choose destination folder; (2) agree to the EULA that nobody ever reads; (3) show readme if wanted; (4) put shortcut on desktop; (5) make program able to uninstall. Those are the steps that every ordinary program uses, and those are all I ever need.

For this fourth version I wanted to follow Microshit conventions and make an MSI installer. CreateInstall didn't seem to have that option. Maybe I didn't look hard enough...!

First I tried MSIStudio, cost about $100. NOT RECOMMENDED. An incomplete program that produces none of the usual install stuff by default. You have to write separate code for some of it! Their email support is excellent, but I finally ran into a brick wall.

Now I'm wrestling with AdvancedInstaller, cost about $300. It will make all the usual install stuff, but some of it requires odd non-intuitive steps that aren't listed in the internal Help. AdvancedInstaller has a well-run online forum that provides answers to every question, but these basic things really shouldn't require attention or advice. They should be automatic, as they were with Eset and CreateInstall.

That's the whole fucking point of computer software, for fuck's sake!

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Later: Good old tracking cookies. After I posted the above NON-recommendation of MSIStudio, Google is hammering me with MSIStudio ads!
  ¶ 7:19 AM