SetupBuilder Editor's Review

SetupBuilder is a program that can help software developers deploy their own applications. You can use the program to customize the installer, separately, for every system configuration.

The steps you need to take in order to create an installation script are shown on the left side of the user interface. Using this menu, you can view the file path variables, choose multiple setup types (typical, minimal, custom), select optional features, make registry changes (applied when the installer is started), and so on.

Basically, every aspect of installing a program can be customized with this software. You can use it to create INI files, to add Windows Services, to install ODBC drivers, or to associate file extensions on the destination computer. Each step of the install process is also customizable, meaning that you can add your own texts and images. It's even possible to define minimum system requirements for the destination computer (ex: RAM, screen resolution, and so on).

Pluses: If your application needs a certain library or framework (Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable, .Net Framework 2.0 or 3.0, DirectX 9C, SQL Server Express, etc.) you can choose the 'Core PreRequisites' entry in order to select dependencies.

Drawbacks / flaws: Make sure you save your project whenever the program asks you to. I changed the current installation script and I didn't save the changes when moving to another category. That's when the program asked me to save the current project. I chose 'No', so unfortunately the application closed the current project completely. Another thing that I don't like is the fact that it's impossible to add files recursively to the main application directory (on the destination computer).

In conclusion: This fully-featured software needs some minor improvement in terms of stability. Other than that, it's a good choice if you want to create a professional installer.

version reviewed: 6.7