Deploying with no Setup

[bennyboy2]

I've put a lot of work into a Setup project for a program I made for some students. As I feared, it worked great for 80% of them, but 20% couldn't get the program to install or run-- right now, I'm guessing they don't have admin privileges, and I can't ask the kids' parents to provide them.

So I want to deploy the program as a runalone in a folder (which students will unzip on their desktops), with NO VCREDIST. If it's not fast and easy, they simply won't use it.

My question-- how do I figure out what dlls to include in the folder so I don't need vcredist? Are my students going to get an error saying they need to install vcredist anyway? Part of my problem is I can't find a version of windows, or a computer system, crappy enough to reproduce what they're getting at home.


Thanks for your help-- I couldn't have made the original program without help from codeguru users, and I hope I can finish it off soon.



One more thing-- will using %temp% as part of a filepath in Vista break the program? I've heard something about virtual paths, etc., but I use XP.

[hoxsiew]

Just compile with static linkages to the CRT (and MFC if applicable).

Go to Project->Properties and drill down to:

Configuration Properties -> C/C++ -> Code Generation -> Runtime Library

and select "Multi-threaded (/MT)"

If you're using MFC:

Configuration Properties -> General -> Use of MFC

and select "Use MFC in a Static Library"

You're exe will be considerably bigger, but it should run on any platform from Win2K (possibly even Win98 depending on the features) and later without any extras--just run the EXE in-place.

[OReubens]

What will work also depends what you do in your program.
Note that access to the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE requires admin privileges.

With Windows Vista and UAC, you can't even assume an obvious directory like Program Files will be accessible for writing.

The best thing you can expect is if your program can be run directtly from a (write protected) floppy disk or CD/DVD. Any kind of storage you use could be protected. But even this isn't foolproof. With UAC, you can set up your pc to ONLY allow execution of known exe's, or exe's that come from a trusted source.

[bennyboy2]

@OReubens
@hoxsiew

Thanks for those very useful answers. I'll check back in to let you know how it went.