Embed an exe into project and use the publish update option

I've built an application inside of vs which is then built using an installer. The installers job is to download and extract the files to the server.

I want to be able to take advantage of the publish update section inside of vs by having the installer file placed inside of a simple form, so when I run the setup it checks to see if there is an update from the installer (Has the filesize changed at all) and if so let the user know there is an update, if no update is found tell the form to run the exe from the target location and run.

is this possible?

Inside of the installer application is an updater application, the problem with the updater is that it reveals the download url of the file from the server, all it would take is one person to look, take the url and then no body has to pay for the download.

I've got the idea in my head just not sure how it rolls out, any advice please

I am not sure what you describe as exe in the exe. But, you can have a file or some form of data that is required for the app to run that is local to the system. For example you can save a registration number in the my.settings local user data on the system. Then if an update is downloaded and installed it checks the my.settings for the registration key and wont run if not found.

Or any number of similar things.

Nothing is perfect of course. Someone can figure how the registration is saved on the system. However it is very difficult to have a not hackable installation these days. So one method is about as good as any other. How much time and effort you put into "protection" depends on what it is being protected.

It is a common problem. If you block 99 percent of the users from an illegal copy that is pretty good? If you need more protection you probably need to purchase some 3rd party something?

I want to embed an exe file into the resource section and be able to run that exe from a basic form. The whole purpose is basically so I can take advantage of the publish section for the updater.