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Docs: Version 3 | Verison 2 | Verison 1

Introduction

This documentation describes how Install Assistant (IA) works, how to set up the directory structure, and then how to customize the program to meet your needs.

IA is designed to install system related files for your program. It will restart the target computer as needed and resume installation. Once all necessary system files have been updated, your setup program / Windows Installer package will run.  You can now create a fully customizable 'splash' screen.

Upgrading from Verison 2: The format of settings.ini and the CD layout has changed somewhat since version 2. To convert a v2 layout to v3, rename the folder 'vbsw' to 'ia'. You can then open the layout in the Settings Utility. You will also need to add new buttons to replace the 'Install' and 'Cancel buttons for your setup/msi.

Steps

  1. Read this entire page
  2. Download  IA.
  3. Using the included 'IA Settings Utility', customize the sample installation or create a new installation.
  4. Download the components your installation requires, and extract any files that need extracting.
  5. Deploy by CD or network share.

IA Settings Utility

The IA Settings Utility allows you to customize your installation. This utility requires the VB6 runtime files, and IE4.0 or higher (ONLY the utility has these requirements - the main program does not!). A basic installation has the directory structure shown to the right.
  • \ia - contains the settings file (settings.ini) and images used by Autorun.exe
  • \setup or \msi - contains either the 'setup.exe' or 'Intall Package.msi' for your installation
  • \sysfiles - contains installers for system components
  • Autorun.exe - Main program (IA)
  • Autorun.inf - When used at CD root, causes autorun.exe to launch when CD is inserted.
  • setup.exe - (optional) a copy of autorun.exe, renamed to setup.exe. (In the settings utility you can specify that if the program name is 'setup.exe', skip the splash screen.)

Program Settings

The best way to get started is to use the sample layout included with the download. Open 'Settings Utility.exe' and from the file menu, open the path to the 'Sample CD' folder. The screen will look similar to the screen on the right.

  • Name: Specifies the name to use on dialogs and title bars
  • Root: Read only, simply displays the current root

 

Components

Components are individual system component you would like checked. To skip checking a component, uncheck it. The 'Sample CD' only includes folders for the components, you must download each component yourself (if you choose to supply the component from your own source, be SURE the version is the same - see advanced docs).

Note:  Several components require special downloading/extracting.  For details 'Edit' the component and go to the 'Notes' tab.  [IE and WinNT/2000 service packs require special attention]

The component checking is fully customizable. If you decide to customize the components, please read the component documentation to fully understand everything involved.

Buttons

The buttons tab allows you to customize the number and type of buttons that appear on your splash dialog.  You can specify the button action (run program, launch URL, launch file, or cancel), images (standard, mouseover, and mouseclick), placement, and sound effects.  On this tab you can also specify which button is the default button and which is the cancel button (for 'enter' and 'esc' keys when the dialog is opened).

For details on modifying buttons, read the button documentation.

Global Options

This tab allows you to set several misc. options.

  • Reboot Options - you can customize whether or not the reboot dialog is timed, and if so, its timeout value
  • Single Instance - if you only want one copy of autorun/setup to run at a time, check this box.  You can also set an error message to display if the program is run when another instance is already running.
  • User Defined Mutex - Chances are you know if you need this/want to use this feature.
  • Enable Logging - Create a log file (ia.log) in the user's temp directory. This is very useful for debugging.

Splash

This tab allows you to control the splash dialog behavior and appearance

  • Dialog Options - whether or not to display the splash dialog
  • Confirm Setup Run - Yes/No message box text to confirm running setup (or whatever program you name it that skips the splash)
  • Background - Bitmap image to use for the splash dialog
  • Hide titlebar - will hide title bar and window border on splash dialog
  • Sound Effects - OnOpen and OnClose sounds to be played as the dialog is opened and closed

OS

This tab allows you to specify the OS requirements for IA to run.  If run on an unsupported OS, a message will be displayed to the user.  You can customize the message on this tab.

 

 

Misc Notes

  • When a system component is installed, a registry entry is created (HKCU\Software\Install Assistant\Installed Components). If the component fails to install for some reason, the user is prompted if they would like to retry installing the component.
  • You can override the 'logging' setting by specifying '/log' on the command line when launching autorun.exe.
  • Clicking 'Cancel' on the progress dialog cancels setup AFTER the current component finishes installing.

To download now, click here
For the component documentation, click here 
For the button documentation, click here 
If you have any questions, feel free to ask from the feedback page.

  ©2002, Mike Giesler ...