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VB Forum / General / January 2007PDWizard (custom setup program Setup1.vbp)
Hi all. I need to create my own Setup program for my VB6 application. I was trying to modify the standard Setup1.vbp, but it is very confusing. I don't need all those screens/pages, and complexity. Does anyone have a minimum, stripped down version of this Setup1.vbp that includes only the basic functionality to interact with the rest of the PDWizard? I appreciate it! > Hi all. I need to create my own Setup program for my VB6 application. I was > trying to modify the standard Setup1.vbp, but it is very confusing. It is, indeed. I'm still trying to figure out whether the people at Microsoft are so stupid that they turn everything into a Rube Goldberg fiasco, or whether they're so smart that they turn everything into an esoteric property that can only be accessed by a very few. I'm inclined to think it's a bit of both. The Setup1 project is very messy, but it works dependably as long as you don't try to install system files on later Windows versions with SFP. See here for two versions: http://www.jsware.net/jsware/vbcode.php3#set1 http://www.jsware.net/jsware/vbcode.php3#set12 Both are stripped-down Setup1 projects, with a bug fix and added functions like a click-through EULA, a Desktop shortcut, a Quick Launch shortcut, and the option to install files to APP_DATA. It's also designed to be easily customized graphically, to accomodate custom logos, etc. The second version of this Setup1 eliminates the need for setup.exe, with the assumption that the VB6 runtime is already installed, which is the only real purpose setup.exe serves. This requires a bit of editing and some extra steps when packaging, but the information for that is included. There's a screenshot of a generic version of this installer here: http://www.jsware.net/jsware/linkpics/blahpic.jpg It shows one of the pre-coded options - a gradient background. > Hi all. I need to create my own Setup program for my VB6 application. I was > trying to modify the standard Setup1.vbp, but it is very confusing. I don't > need all those screens/pages, and complexity. Does anyone have a minimum, > stripped down version of this Setup1.vbp that includes only the basic > functionality to interact with the rest of the PDWizard? I appreciate it! Thanks Mayayana, unfortunately the links you provided are all dead (even the domain itself). I think I may use something like a stripped down version of the Setup1.vbp or a technique (maybe using a tiny bootstrap executable) that installs the VB6 Runtime and then lunch my custom/simple vb-made setup application. >> Hi all. I need to create my own Setup program for my VB6 application. I > was [quoted text clipped - 49 lines] >> stripped down version of this Setup1.vbp that includes only the basic >> functionality to interact with the rest of the PDWizard? I appreciate it! > Thanks Mayayana, unfortunately the links you provided are all dead (even the > domain itself). I think I may use something like a stripped down version of > the Setup1.vbp That's what these projects are - reworked versions of Setup1. The site is not down or dead. Did you get a 403 error, perhaps? That's not "dead", it's an "access prohibited" error. The site blocks "download helper" crapware, some of which puts its ID into IE's userAgent string. (Free Download Manager is one such case. If you installed FDM it will have put its ID into IE UA string, causing sites that block FDM to reject you.) If you don't know how to clean your IE userAgent you can use Firefox or Opera to access the site. That's interesting (I'll try that). By the way, not long ago I heard about a technique involving shipping the MSVBVM60.DLL in the same folder where the EXE (vb made) will run. Is that some thing reliable? >> Thanks Mayayana, unfortunately the links you provided are all dead (even > the [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > your IE userAgent you can use Firefox or Opera > to access the site. > By the way, not long ago I heard about a > technique involving shipping the MSVBVM60.DLL in the same folder where the > EXE (vb made) will run. Is that some thing reliable? I don't know...but I don't see any point. You only need MSVBVM60.DLL on Win95, 98 and NT4 where no VB6 software has ever been installed. I don't include the runtimes at all and recently even stopped trying to provide information about "What to do if you see an error concerning MSVBVM60.DLL". I figure that anyone who sees that message is running an old, isolated system and won't be surprised that they need to hunt down a support file. Replies inline >> Thanks Mayayana, unfortunately the links you provided are all dead (even > the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > your IE userAgent you can use Firefox or Opera > to access the site. I installed this program when I was on dial-up, before I got broadband. I uninstalled it and I was able to access the site without problems. Does this make that FreeDownloadManager a bad program? Could you give me more details. Just curious. > I installed this program when I was on dial-up, before I got broadband. I > uninstalled it and I was able to access the site without problems. Does this > make that FreeDownloadManager a bad program? Could you give me more details. > Just curious. I've never tried FDM. I don't know of anything specifically problematic with it, other than the fact that it puts its name in the IE userAgent string for no reason. That's a problem because a lot of webmasters will block download helpers and auto-downloaders based on the userAgent string. I block those programs for a number of reasons. Partly it's because there isn't much real purpose to download helpers. They're "trinket" software that's often used to entice people into adware installations. If one is downloading a 600 MB ISO it makes sense to use a program that can resume a broken download and possibly download from multiple sites simultaneously. But the download helper add-ons don't really fit into that category: * In many cases servers won't allow simultaneous multiple downloads from the same IP. * Even if they did, one's connection needs to be fast enough for that to be worthwhile and the server has to be serving fast enough to make a difference. * And all of that only applies to very large files. What I've noticed in my own server logs is that download helpers are not intelligently designed. I only have very small files on my site. But the download helpers kick in for any size. They often download in multiple, partial loads even for very small files. I'll have a 50 KB file on the server and download helpers often download it as 5 or 6 pieces totalling over 100 KB! It's a waste for the downloader, a waste for my server, and it makes it makes a mess of my server logs, making it harder for me to track my website downloads. Another reason I block download helpers is that some people like to download one of everything automatically. Again, that makes it difficult to track downloads. And I figure that people doing that are probably hoarding so many downloads that they never get around to looking at any of them. So, to make a long story tolerable, I don't know of any serious problems with FDM. I block it and other download helpers partly for my own purposes and partly because it's a dubious category of software in general. Very interesting! I understand now. Thanks for clarifying. I have broadband now, but of course someday I may be in the need of downloading a list of different files at once, instead of just clicking and wait, and repeating the process many times (you never know). In that case, is there any "clean" good program you know of? I'm not looking to download in parallel, neither to have boosted downloads by downloading the file by simultaneous chunks. Just something that takes care of the repetitive tasking. Any suggestions? >> I installed this program when I was on dial-up, before I got broadband. I >> uninstalled it and I was able to access the site without problems. Does [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] > partly because it's a dubious category of software > in general. > Very interesting! I understand now. Thanks for clarifying. I have broadband > now, but of course someday I may be in the need of downloading a list of [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > to have boosted downloads by downloading the file by simultaneous chunks. > Just something that takes care of the repetitive tasking. Any suggestions? Good question. I'd be interested in the answer, too. :) Awhile back I downloaded something just to deal with getting the 5 Suse10 ISOs. I don't remember what it was. It worked OK but as I recall I had a hard time getting it to use a temp folder on a partition other than "C" drive. (There wasn't room to add 700 MB to the drive on the computer I was using.) It would be interesting to hear from someone with experience, to know whether there are well-made, dependable, non-spyware download managers to be had. ...something that works independently rather than imposing itself on the browser. > Hi all. I need to create my own Setup program for my VB6 application. I was > trying to modify the standard Setup1.vbp, but it is very confusing. I don't > need all those screens/pages, and complexity. Does anyone have a minimum, > stripped down version of this Setup1.vbp that includes only the basic > functionality to interact with the rest of the PDWizard? I appreciate it! In MS's defense. (a very limited defense) The apparent convolution of Setup is actually by design. It was built to be modified and is expanded - much like you might take one of Rick's one-liners and stretch it out to its multi-line length. It offers multiple points of 'insertion' also a lot of dead code. Useful, but not very interesting or pleasing. Also appreciate it was initially written in VB4. Check out mayayna's suggestions. -ralph Thanks Ralph, unfortunately the provided links are all dead. I need something like a stripped down version of that Setup1.vbp. The problem I see with this setup1.vbp is that is linked to the bootstrap process lunched by the first exe. So I'll have to mimic those interactions, but the code is so confusing, I don't know what to remove. I can also make use of a technique (maybe using a tiny bootstrap executable) that installs the VB6 Runtime and then lunch my custom/simple vb-made setup application. I am not planning on using my custom setup to install system files, or anything that has to do with the OS/System core. I appreciate any help! Thanks! "Ralph"wrote: > In MS's defense. (a very limited defense) > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > -ralph Comments inline ... > Thanks Ralph, unfortunately the provided links are all dead. I need > something like a stripped down version of that Setup1.vbp. I can see I didn't fully gork your first line ... "I need to create my own Setup program for my VB6 application." In that case Setup1 is useful only as an example of "what you need to do", but not as an example of "how to do it". The code base is a poor launching pad for a new roll 'ur own. > The problem I see with this setup1.vbp is that is linked to the bootstrap > process lunched by the first exe. Not the problem, actually its strength. Setup1 was designed to be a 'script' for the Setup.exe engine. It provided a generic 'install' for all Windows applications. As far as that goes appreciate that it started life with Win98. The Window world has grown since then. > So I'll have to mimic those interactions, but the code is so confusing, > I don't know what to remove. If you want to write your own, then Setup1 makes no sense. Again you will also be at the mercy of the Setup.Exe way of the world. Also I never quite understood why anyone would bother removing anything from Setup1. Or even optimizing it. What's the point? [I suppose there would be cause if one were installing off floppies or downloading complex install packages off the web with Dial-Up.] It is code that runs once. Does a simple job and leaves. In the grand scheme of the average install - its footprint and presence is minimal. I think you likely have some other requirements up your sleeve, in which case Setup1 is not appropriate. > I can also make use of a technique (maybe using a tiny bootstrap executable) > that installs the VB6 Runtime and then lunch my custom/simple vb-made setup > application. I am not planning on using my custom setup to install system > files, or anything that has to do with the OS/System core. Have you considered simply using the FSO/XCopy, and a .REG file? As for the latter, hopefully the majority of OSs that you attempt to attack in this manner will have the tools and resolve to successfully fight back. <g> > I appreciate any help! Thanks! <snipped> Thank you Ralph! Very interesting. I'm getting the picture now. I'm still miles away from VB.NET and .MSI. I bet those will be fun to play too! :) > Comments inline ... > [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] >> > <snipped> > > The problem I see with this setup1.vbp is that is linked to the bootstrap > > process lunched by the first exe. > > Not the problem, actually its strength. Setup1 was designed to be a 'script' > for the Setup.exe engine. It provided a generic 'install' for all Windows > applications. Actually setup.exe is entirely unnecessary. Its only necessary function is to check for the runtime and deal with getting that installed if necessary. Then it runs setup1.exe. (It may also move the CAB to the Windows folder before it quits. I don't remember about that offhand.) With a bit of editing there's no need of using setup.exe, since nearly all systems now have the runtime installed. > > > The problem I see with this setup1.vbp is that is linked to the > bootstrap [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > With a bit of editing there's no need of using setup.exe, > since nearly all systems now have the runtime installed. True, I was really referring (too vaguely in retrospect) to the whole setupEXE/install/uninstall process versus something else. -ralph > Hi all. I need to create my own Setup program for my VB6 application. I > was trying to modify the standard Setup1.vbp, but it is very confusing. I > don't need all those screens/pages, and complexity. Does anyone have a > minimum, stripped down version of this Setup1.vbp that includes only the > basic functionality to interact with the rest of the PDWizard? I > appreciate it! So why don't you just remove the forms you don't want or need? Yes, you're going to have to also remove any code that references those forms, but this shouldn't be THAT big a job. And it's not THAT confusing either. Granted, you can't simply open the project and look it over for 5 minutes and fully understand it. But a couple hours or so is all that should be needed if you've already got a solid grasp of VB to begin with. It might also help to understand things better if you step through the code as it's executing, as if you were debugging (which you'll need to do anyway if you modify it). Here's a KB article that explains how to run it in the IDE. HOWTO: Run Setup1.vbp in the Design Environment http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189738/en-us  SignatureMike Microsoft MVP Visual Basic Thanks Mike. I'll definitely look into modifying that code for future projects. However most of the code for the Setup1.vbp is not related to what I'm going to do. Do you know how reliable my application distribution will be if place the MSVBVM60.DLL in the same folder than my EXE? I heard of that few months ago. OR should I work on this Setup1.vbp project? > And it's not THAT confusing either. Granted, you can't simply open the > project and look it over for 5 minutes and fully understand it. But a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > HOWTO: Run Setup1.vbp in the Design Environment > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189738/en-us > Thanks Mike. I'll definitely look into modifying that code for future > projects. However most of the code for the Setup1.vbp is not related to > what I'm going to do. Do you know how reliable my application distribution > will be if place the MSVBVM60.DLL in the same folder than my EXE? I heard > of that few months ago. OR should I work on this Setup1.vbp project? I would NOT recommend copying msvbvm60.dll to your application folder. Windows 2000 and greater already have this file and even most Win95/98 systems (if you're even supporting those at all) will likely already have it. If you install it to your app folder you could potentially break other VB6 apps, particularly if your app should ever get uninstalled. SignatureMike Microsoft MVP Visual Basic |
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