Looking for lightweight FTP/HTTP-based installer

[DavidNels]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for a lightweight .EXE builder that requires no extra frameworks (.NET or otherwise) and can retrieve and unpackage a file from the internet (either HTTP or FTP), then proceed to launch the setup executable received from the internet.

I've seen a lot of software companies do this - basically you download a .EXE that's usually less than 1.0 MB, and it proceeds to retrieve the full setup file from the internet.

I believe Adobe products like Reader do this, although that's a bad example because their installer is very bloated compared to what I'm seeking.

Does anyone know of something out there that I could use for this?

Let me know if you need any clarification! :)

David

[dilettante]

Sounds pretty easy.

Windows has had Visual-Basic 6.0 runtime components in place since Win98SE. With testing to be sure, even an old Service Pack level should work.

By using the AsyncRead method of a UserControl you can do the download. Locating (and saving the download into) the user profile's temp folder is no big deal. A progressbar, etc. can be trivially constructed using intrinsic controls. A "shell and wait" routine based on a few API calls is simple too.

Download, run, await completion, then delete the download.

Sounds easy, and the pieces and parts I described have all been discussed in these forums.