How to allow installation in a custom destination directory and disable autorun

Question

I developed a VB.NET console application and tried using Build | Publish the menu item in Visual Studio 2008 to create the installer. It works fine, except for two things: - when I run the installer on a Windows 2003 Server, it installs the application in the C: \ Winnt \ profiles \\ Local Settings \ Apps \ 2.0 directory. How do I configure the configuration to request the destination directory for the application? - after installation is complete, the program automatically launches the application. How can I suppress autorun?

Answer 1

There are two options for deploying a VB.NET Application:

• ClickOnce : This is what you are doing with Build | Publish. It is always installed in the user profile directory and provides very few settings.

• Windows Installer : This is what you create with File | New | Project | Other types of projects | Configuration and Deployment | Setup Project. It allows you to fully configure and install on Program Files .

  UPDATE : Windows Installer installation projects have been removed in Visual Studio 2012 , but are available as an extension in Visual Studio 2013 .

Providing the user with the ability to select the target directory is possible only with the last option.

Related question: How can I determine the destination folder of a clickOnce application?