Custom Installers

Description

These custom installers are made from scratch or modified from the originals. The reason I make them is that it saves me a lot of time when doing unattended installations. I also use them for my personal everyday needs.

They all are configured to my needs and preferences. This way I don’t have to configure each program after every installation, I just run them through a CMD file and all of them are installed silently without any user interaction. You can change the settings in any program after installing it, just like with any regular installation.

Usage

There are three types of installers and each has its own way of running silently.

  • MSI. This is the most common way to get programs installed in Windows environments through Group Policy Objects (GPO) or with standard Windows Installer switches. To install them silently use the /qb /norestart parameters.
  • Switchless. This kind of installer doesn’t need any switches, they are compressed files in EXE format. Just run it without any parameter. I use Switchless in their name so you can recognize them. When double clicked, they will install as well.
  • Inno Setup. They are installers in EXE format made with Inno Setup. To install them silently, use the /silent /norestart parameters.

Example

You can use a CMD or BAT file to run any number of these installers in batches. Take into account that some of the switchless installers will need administrator rights to run properly. To make sure your batch file works as expected, always run it as Administrator.

In this example I’m going to search for a text file called AppsRoot.txt and use variable called PATH. This is useful if you are running the installations from an external, optical drive or USB stick.

You should make an empty AppsRoot.txt file and save it on the root of your installation media. The batch file will transform the variable PATH into the complete root path where the TXT file is saved no matter where it is located.

The command start /wait will run each file and wait for it to finish before advancing to the next line.

@echo off
FOR %%i IN (D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z) DO IF EXIST %%i:\AppsRoot.txt SET PATH=%%i:

start /wait %PATH%\install\burnaware.msi /qb /norestart
start /wait %PATH%\install\itunesx64.exe
start /wait %PATH%\install\someinnosetupinstaller.exe /silent /norestart

EXIT

Save this code as a CMD file and add the installers you want to install silently.

Downloads

The installers are in a separate page to keep this information page clean and clear.

Downloads