What is the best SIMPLE replacement for VS Setup-p

Question

I'm having troubles installing my WPF application on Windows XP (required to be updated with SP3 and .NET 4.0 preinstalled). My installer is made with Visual Studio 2010 Setup Project.

Question: What is the best simple installer product to replace the VS-Setup one? In particular, I would prefer not to...

• create complicated XML config/install files.
• spend a whole week learning some rare scripting language.
• spend a lot of money for a very basic install process.

Also, can developer with experience in installing WPF applications on WPF give opinion? Thanks!

Answer 1

You can try the free version of Advanced Installer. It's oriented towards usability, so it should be easy to use.

It doesn't support prerequisites, but it does support launch conditions (stop the installation and show an error if a requirement is not met). It also has a Visual Studio extension which can be integrated in your solution.

You can also try some of these tools: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_installation_software

As a side note, a Windows Service Pack is a very important and very big update. It's not recommended to add it as a prerequisite, but it can be added as a launch condition.

Answer 2

I always used InstallShield. Pricey, but AFAIK the "free" InstallShield LE is included with VS 2010.

WiX is available on Codeplex (http://wix.codeplex.com), but it is very complex.

You can compare all 3 here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ee721500%28v=vs.100%29.aspx

For bonus points - I used this once, I think: http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Features