Installation help needed .. will pay

I have spent the last year and one half developing a software application that I believe has commercial potential. My background is small business, accounting and taxes .. I am not a professional programmer, but I can get the job done. What I can't get done to my satisfaction is an installation program. The package and deployment application has an unforgiving error and Microsoft doesn't know how or seem to want to fix the problem. I have looked into Inno and even if I could figure it out I would be afraid to send off the package to some inexperienced computer user who only knows how to turn on the computer.

In short (or long I guess) I need help.

What I want at the end of the day is a CD disk containing my application that may be installed on Windows 98, 2000, ME and XP. All the user should be required to do is to place the CD in drive and follow the installation instructions. When the process is finished the user will have my icon on his desktop and when clicked the program will be fully functional with all the files in the right places.

If you firmly believe that you can make the above happen please send me your requirements and fee to:

Dick Richardson
[email protected]

Try the demo version of InstallShield before you give up doing this yourself. If you get it going, the license fee will be well worth it.

Microsoft makes Visual Studio Installer which is free.

I agree with you that PD wizard and Inno are evil.

As a last resort you could post a request for paid help at www.rentacoder.com . Try not to expose your source code to anyone if you do this (im not sure if it is even possible to avoid this), or at least try to protect yourself by using a domestic resource with a contract (still wont guarantee you wont be ripped off).

Good Luck!

Why not just put the files on the cd and then use filecopy(), if u dont like that go to a nearby barnes & noble and look at the Sams teach yourself more visual basic in 21 days. I think its like chapter 2 thats got a great homemade filecopier/linker.

If your worried about someone stealing the files just remember that they r getting them anyways, or use a homemade encryptor, and have ur program decrypt them everytime they r accesed.