setup program

[beyondsociety]

Hi,

I made a program and I sent it to my friend and he had trouble unzipping it and so he asked me to put it on a cd. I need to know if anybody knows how to make a setup program in qbasic that will install the program in windows and be able to run from the start menu.

 

[MiggyD]

Why can't you just give him the program on CD already expanded?

I just can't see how a QB program and necessary files could possibly use 600+ MB of room on a CD.

This would be easier and simpler...than to write your own install prg and take into account all flavors of Windows not to mention custom OEM OS setups. --MiggyD

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic.

 

[Guest_imported]

If you want to write a setup prg, then just make a folder on the disc, and use the shell command to run a DOS copy command, to copy all the files to the hard disk.
Try this one.


Make a folder called FILES.
Put all the files you want to install into it.
put the installer into the parent folder- ie

The installer could be
a:\install.exe

and the files could be in
a:\files
NOTE: The error trap only catches QBasic errors, not DOS ones!

Just paste this code into notepad, and save as a BAS file. Then, open it with Qb

Enjoy.



SCREEN 12
CLS
ON ERROR GOTO FAIL

PRINT "Installer - Guest;
PRINT : PRINT
INPUT "Install to which folder ", destination$
PRINT : PRINT

PRINT &quot;Press <ESC> to abort, or <ENTER> to install&quot;

TL:
SELECT CASE INKEY$
CASE CHR$(27)
END

CASE CHR$(13)
GOTO DOIT

CASE ELSE
GOTO TL:

END SELECT

DOIT:
PRINT &quot;Okay, I'm gonna make the directory &quot; + destination$
SHELL &quot;MKDIR &quot; + destination$

PRINT &quot;Copying...&quot;
SHELL &quot;CD FILES&quot;
SHELL &quot;COPY *.* &quot; + destination$
PRINT &quot;Done.&quot;
END

FAIL:
PRINT &quot;ERROR!!!!!!!!&quot;
PRINT &quot;Error &quot; + ERR + &quot; occured on line &quot; + ERL + &quot;.&quot;
PRINT &quot;The program will now end.&quot;

 

[Nyaj2k1]

To make an application show up inside the start menu, one only has to add a directory with a few link files inside the &quot;Windows\Start Menu\Programs\&quot; directory.

Most people install Windows to the default &quot;C:\Windows\&quot; dir, but to be on the safe side you should retreve the windows directory from the system, and work with it.

If you want your installation program to have a splash screen, or start the installation automaticly on disk insertion, create a file called &quot;Autorun.inf&quot; on the CD that contains the path (relitive to the CD ROM root directory) of the installation program or splash screen like this:

[autorun]
OPEN=(Path and Filename).exe

 

[qbasicking]

If you are using earlier versions of windows nyajsk1's idea will work great, but in XP the folder is
c:\documents and settings\*person's name*\start menu
i am pretty sure that if you try to SHELL that it will give you an error because of the length of the name and the spaces in it

 

[Nyaj2k1]

Atculy QBasicKing, this example will work under *any* version of windows. This is because, even though you can have personalized menus in Windows2000 and WindowsXP, the directory

"C:\WINDOWS\START MENU\"

is still present. It just affects all of the users and not just one particular one.

 

[qbasicking]

my mistake, it is there, but under c:\documents and settings\all users\start menu

 

[Nyaj2k1]

Did you look under

"C:\WINDOWS\START MENU\"

?

 

[Nyaj2k1]

Well, even if it is, that's not a big deal... Just:

SHELL &quot;VER > Version.inf&quot;

And determine what version of windows you are running on.

 

[Nyaj2k1]

But I do know that

"C:\WINDOWS\START MENU\"

is present in Windows2000.

 

[qbasicking]

2000 maybe, but not XP

if you ask the SHELL for the version type I think that XP is windows 5.1

 

[Nyaj2k1]

But whats more important then the version number, is what kind of windows you are running on. If you are running on Windows2000 or WindowsXP, use

C:\Docume~1\Alluse~1\Startm~1\Programs
If you are running on Windows95 or Windows98 use:

C:\Windows\Startm~1\Programs
That should do it.

Shell &quot;Ver > WinVer.inf&quot;
Filenum = Freefile
Open &quot;WinVer.inf&quot; for input as #Filenum
Input #Filenum, Temp$
Close #Filenum
If UCase$(Left$(Temp$, 20)) = &quot;MICROSOFT WINDOWS 98&quot; Then
' Do stuff for Windows98
Elseif UCase$(Left$(Temp$, 22)) = &quot;MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2000&quot; Then
' Do stuff for Windows2000
' Elseif for whatever WindowsXP returns...
' Do stuff for WindowsXP
Endif

...could someone tell me what WindowsXP returns?

 

[MiggyD]

I still say my original suggestion would expel any problems that have been mentioned above.

1) You can create directories and hard code them if needed from the CD-Rom drive (ex: Open &quot;.\mysubdir\thisfile.txt&quot; for input as x).

2) EXE and associated files will be localized [on the CD-Rom].

3) You can verify that the program has not been copied to the hard drive (a quick WRITE #x, &quot;this drive is write-able&quot; should do). This alone will help with some security issues you may have.

-- And --

4) You mentioned a friend; it is not a necessity to have a setup program, unless you plan on packaging it for sale/mass distribution.

Don't let me stop you though, if you believe you REALLY need a setup program then follow up on the suggestions previously mentioned atop.

Good Luck in any case,
MiggyD

 

[Nyaj2k1]

By the way... I figured out where &quot;C:\WINDOWS\START MENU&quot; came from... It's a leftover directory from before I upgraded to Windows2000.

 

[NerfHerder]

To answer Nyaj2k1's question about what Windows XP returns for a version, I think that if you could type VER at the command prompt it should return something like:

Microsoft Windows XP [version x.x.z]

Where x is tha actual version number, and z is the build number.

I don't know if this is what your looking for exactly?

NerfHerder