[RESOLVED] Distributing an .exe file...

Hey all,
I recently got some help making a quick little application and exported it as an .exe file. However, if you try to run it on a machine that doesn't have VB on it, you get an error asking you for a .dll (or maybe .ocx...) file. This is a result of using a Rich Text Box in the application. For me, this was an easy fix: Download the file, slip it into my windows/system32 directory, and run the application again. However, I want to give this app to some not so computer saavy friends. I even tried sending them the file over msn to put in the directory, but msn brought it up as a potentially dangerous file and blocked it. So, is there a way of giving somebody the application/installing the Rich Tet Box file that would be easy for somebody who isn't too technical? I thought of just using WinZip, but that might get caught by msn as well, and I'm not sure she's even got it on her computer.
Thanks,
Jeremy

And just as a note, sometimes if I want to send "potentially dangerous" files over gmail/hotmail, I just change the extension to something that wont get recognized as dangerous and then change it back when I download it again. Anyone know if this works over msn?

You can never just copy an exe of a VB program from one machine to another. They must be formally installed.

You need to create a setup and installation package. This package will contain all of the necessary dependency files that your application requires in order to run.

Once this package is made, you ship the package, NOT your program, to whoever you want and they, in turn, must run the setup package to formally install your program.

So how do I go about creating a package?

I use Easy Install Creator which is free. Inno Setup is also free and widely used.

What I do, is first create the setup package using the Package & Deployment wizard that comes with VB.

This creates a setup file along with a folder that contains all the necessary files.

I delete the setup files but leave the necessary runtime files in their folder.

Then I use Easy Install Creator and point it to that folder with all the required files and create a setup package with it.

This will build everything into a single compressed EXE setup file.

Thanks DigiRev. I'll try it out.

Moved.