Large size of Setup/Package of the vb application

Dear All,

We have developed a vb Application. We make the setup/Package by using Install Shield. The setup/package size is 90 MB. We upload the setup/package on our website. The users/clients download the package from there and use it.

The problem is that the user experience much time to download the setup from website (due to the setup size: 90 MB ).

I want some method that the setup/package can be compressed and uploaded and when user download it, it gets decompressed.

Anyway that downloading should not take much time.

Plz guide me what can be done.Any method you suggest.

Regards,

engineer,

There is basically nothing you can do but to eliminate unneeded things in your setup. Without knowing what you have in your setup it would be impossible to answer. The setups should already be compressed.

Randem Thans for your suggestion.

My fellow told me that only those forms are included in the setup which are being called explicitly in the application(e.g form1.show) and if a form is includsed in the project but not being called explicitly then it does mot add up in the size of the setup.

Anyhow, i am going to remove any extra forms/reports which is not used/called in the application.


Isn't there any other solution also: Can't i further compress setup or anything...

Please guide.

engineer,

Those won't make much of a difference. It bacially data files or dll or ocx files that you do not need.

As I stated before: Without knowing what you are packaging, it would be impossible to comment.

You can post what you are including in the setup and then someone can make suggestions.

I have checked all the dlls and ocx. All are required fore the application to work.


Can i split the setup package into parts so that user may feel less download time.
Or any other method...

Perhaps a self-extracting zip file.

Some of the files like msvbvm60.dll are now on most systems by default, so you dont need to include them. Only 9x systems dont have them by default.

What I do is this. I make a setup package without the basic dll files, and I make the installer check for them when installing. If they are not present I download them from the internet and install them. That way I reduce the size of my setup by at least 1 or 2 MB.
I make my installers in NSIS (nullsoft installer), it's completely free.

With the P&D Wizard you can specify to create multiple cab files or a single one. Instashield should have an option or be able to specify an Internet Setup package. ;)

engineer,

I don't understand you. You ask for help but when something is asked of you, you basically state you know what you are doing. If that is the case what is the problem?

If you really want help you would allow people to assist you. Even if the answer does come back the same as yours. Having someone else verify what you think is true is not a bad thing.

What is the problem with showing a list of everything you are putting in your setup. I don't think anyone here in the forums has a setup of 90mb, but you do. That right there a deaf person could here the bell ringing.

Also, when using Nullsoft Installer, choose LZMA as the compressor, it always makes the smallest install file.