- #How to create installer for windows application how to
- #How to create installer for windows application software
- #How to create installer for windows application code
#How to create installer for windows application how to
Look on the desktop and program menus to check that all of your program shortcuts, files, folders etc have been correctly installed.The goal of this article is to show how to build a standalone executable file of a Qt application for Microsoft Windows. Test the installer by double-clicking one of them eg setup.exe and work through the setup wizard:Ĭlick Next, changing any other properties as you see fit, the folder for example:Īnd after working through any other remaining sections of the wizard, that is pretty much it: Once this is done, locate your project in Visual Studio, go into the Debug folder and you will see two different installers used for two different purposes: Build it by right-cliking on the installer project and choosing Build: In this example for the User’s Desktop I selected ‘Add File…’ and used the icon I had developed for the ‘RouteOptimizer’ project I was working on, located in the ‘res’ folder of the said project:īy default when you build your project it will build your main application. In the Icon dialog that appreas use the browse button to locate the icon file (*.ico) of your choice: In the properties, select the Icon field and in the drop down menu that appears, use the browse to identify the icon file that you want to use: In the File System editor, go to where a shortcut is located (eg User’s Desktop / User’s Programs Menu), right click and choose its properties. Once added, right-click on this folder to view its properties and make sure its AlwaysCreate property is set to true, to ensure this folder and its contents are created upon installation: Rename and add any additional files as required. Right-click the Applications Folder and select Add -> New Folder. Double click on it and change C:\Program Files to another folder or directory: In the rightside window look for ProgramFilesDir. Look for this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion To change the default location of installed programs: You can also individually modify each of these, such as ‘ProgramFilesFolder’ if you prefer your programs to be installed elsewhere: You might wish to remove the ‘Manufacturer’ section, for example, if you do not wish to include this in your overall folder location. To change the destination of the application folder right-click the Application Folder in the File System window and choose Properties:ĭefaultLocation gives you the overall structure of the folder location. You can also re-name and/or tidy up your shortcut, eg by giving it the same name as your main application: If you wish, you can make it look more organized by right-clicking the User’s Programs Menu in order to create a new folder with which to house your shortcut. This enables the shortcut to be created on the user’s desktop and in the main Programs menu: You can also right-click the executable file in order to create shortcuts, which can be inserted into the User’s Desktop / User’s Programs Menu.
For example, if you wish this to contain the executable of your application, then copy the exe file, right-click the Application Folder and paste the application to it.
#How to create installer for windows application software
The Application Folder will specify where the software is located. There are three main folders in the user interface: Application Folder, User’s Desktop and Users Programs Menu. To edit your project properties to eg change its name, right click on the project and select properties: Then use the next section to add any other files such as chm, pdf, rtf etc, and then select next:Īfter clicking finish you will see that a new project gets added to your application:
But you will probably need to include documentation files, if you have those.
#How to create installer for windows application code
You probably don’t need source code so leave this unchecked. Select Primary for all your exes, dlls etc. Then select the files that will be coming out of your application.
Even if you did, you can still add them at a later date: You probably don’t yet need any of the other special packages, so just click next. First click next and then decide if you need a Windows or Web application. The Setup Wizard will then walk you through the remaining steps. Give your setup program a name and press OK: Then in the Add New Project dialog choose Visual Studio Installer and Setup Wizard. Start by adding an installer project by right-clicking on your solution folder and choosing Add -> New Project: Follow these simple steps to build your own setup package for the Visual Studio application you are working on.Ĭreating an installer within your existing Visual Studio project Visual Studio 2010 contains a package that enables you to create Windows installer files for your applications.