CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#installationwindows-installerexe
bskr
bskr

Reputation: 43

what is happening when installing a software/application in windows os?

i created an application using c# language. this application is doing a task like report generation.i am using that application exe file directly to run the application.i never installed that application in my system. without installation of that application, i can use it in my system.then why people are installing a software/application in systems.please clarify me. so that i can differentiate the MSI installation and direct use of exe file.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 110

Answers (2)

Christopher Painter
Christopher Painter

Reputation: 55620

What you are doing is called an "xcopy" deployment. It was all the rage when .NET came out but it has serious limitations.

Windows Installer (MSI) is a windows platform service / SDK that aimed to create a declarative framework for consistent installer behavior. Simply put instead of learning how to write script to automate install/uninstall (and making a lot of mistakes along the way) you leverage MSI to tell it I have a product named X with feature Y that has these files Z in these directories along with a shortcut and some registry entries and let MSI do the rest for you.

Upvotes: 1

Tigran
Tigran

Reputation: 62265

Install in cs jargon means guided setup, so what you do is already, basically, installing. Installing may involve much more complicated steps than simple copy/paste of bin directory or unzipping in some folder. installation process may contain the below processes:

  1. Controlling user license
  2. Registry key control
  3. Database creation
  4. Com components registration .... and much more.

But the core concept remains the same: guided setup of all necessary components of your program to run it properly. So, if the only thing your program needs is a binaries folder, copy/paste is your install.

Upvotes: 1

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