Creating a Setup Launcher

InstallShield 2016 Express Edition

InstallShield lets you specify whether you want your installation to include a Setup.exe setup launcher. A Setup.exe setup launcher is required in the following cases:

The Setup.exe setup launcher is a bootstrap application that manages the aforementioned scenarios.

The Setup.exe tab for a release in the Releases view is where you specify information such as whether you want to use a Setup.exe launcher. To learn more, see Setup.exe Tab.

Windows Installer and Setup.exe

If it is possible that Windows Installer is not present on a target system, or if your installation depends on certain functionality that is available in only a certain version of Windows Installer, InstallShield gives you the option of including with your installation a redistributable that installs Windows Installer. If you select this option, InstallShield creates a Setup.exe launcher that checks for the presence of Windows Installer on the target system. If Windows Installer is not installed, or a more recent version needs to be installed, Setup.exe launches the Windows Installer installation and then launches your installation package.

For more information, see Adding Windows Installer Redistributables to Projects.

InstallShield Prerequisites and Setup.exe

Projects that include InstallShield prerequisites require Setup.exe because Setup.exe checks to see if the target system meets the InstallShield prerequisite conditions. If the conditions are met, Setup.exe installs the InstallShield prerequisites. For more details, see Working with InstallShield Prerequisites that Are Included in Projects.

.NET Framework and Setup.exe

Projects that include the .NET Framework require Setup.exe because Setup.exe checks the target system for the presence of the .NET Framework; if the appropriate version of the .NET Framework is not present, Setup.exe installs it.

To learn more about including the .NET Framework, see Adding .NET Framework Redistributables to Projects.

Billboards and Setup.exe

Projects that include billboards require Setup.exe because Setup.exe displays the billboards at run time.

For more information about billboards, see Displaying Billboards.

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