Q. What is Windows Installer? A. Windows Installer is a system service for installing and managing applications. It provides a standard method for developing, customizing, installing, and updating applications. It can be commonly found with following interface during install or uninstall: Properties of Windows Installer : ● Self-healing: Windows Installer supports "self-healing" abilities for applications. Applications can detect common installation problems at launch, like missing files or registry keys, and automatically repair themselves. ● Installation on demand: Windows Installer supports on-demand installations of application features. For example, the spelling checker in Microsoft Office Word may not be installed by default, but a user can trigger an on-demand installation of this feature. ● Installation in l...
This blog describes some of the packaging standards. Also contains methods to silently install different applications or handling their configuration for mass deployements.