[hemmerling] Software Installation as well as Desired State Control & State Monitoring of Software

Related page:

• Device Description Languages and Device Parameterization.
• Development and Operations ( DevOps ).

Attention, many Installer projects are “not under active development anymore” since many years! So please check the date of the last release!

• The OpenSource Sourceforge "DOSConf", Sourceforge "DOSConf" for MSDOS.

• The free Bloodshed Software "QuickInstall" for Windows.
• The free Jeffrey Carlyle "StratoSetup" for Windows.
• The free Clickteam "Install Creator, freeware version" for Windows - “Each installer will contain an advertisement page for Clickteam when the installation is complete, with a button to connect to our web site”.
• The free Ethalone Solutions "Ghost Installer Free Edition" 4.8 of 2009-11-19 for Windows.
  • Ethalone Solutions "The Installers competition" - comparison of Ghost Installer, Wise and InstallShield.
  • As of 2015-03, the current free edition is still “Ghost Installer Free Edition 4.8”.
  • You need a free XML editor for editing the Ghost data files.
• The commercial Flexera Software, Inc. "InstallShield".
  • EN.Wikipedia "InstallShield", DE.Wikipedia "InstallShield".
• The free HJ-Install for Windows.
• The free Installaware Free Edition - “The Freeware, .. editions are all contained inside the same free download. You choose the InstallAware edition ( e.g. 'Free Edition' ) to install directly in the setup wizard”.
• The free “MSBuild” for Windows with .NET.
  • Microsoft Developer Network "MSBuild".
  • Microsoft Download Center "Microsoft Build Tools 2013" - “Build Tools 2013 provides the essential tools for building managed applications”.
  • EN.Wikipedia "MSBuild".
• The OpenSource Sourceforge "izfree 1.1", Sourceforge "izfree Tools for Windows Installer" for Windows.
• The OpenSource Chimps with Keyboards, Sourceforge "NInstall", Sourceforge "NInstall" for Windows.
• The free jrsoftware.org - Jordan Russell's Software "Inno Setup" for Windows.
• Rubyinstaller, RubyForge "Rubyinstaller" for Windows, making use of 'Ruby' / 'Ruby on Rails'.
• The OpenSource Sourceforge "Spoon Installer", Sourceforge "Spoon Installer" for Windows.
• Windows Installer.
  • The OpenSource Sourceforge "Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset", Sourceforge "Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset", CodePlex "WiX Toolset" for “Microsoft Installer”, on Windows.
  • MSDN Library "About Windows Installer".

• The OpenSource NoodleInstaller, NoodleInstaller.
• The OpenSource paco - a source code pacKAGE oRGANIZER for Unix/Linux, pacKAGE oRGANIZER.

• The commercial install4j - “A powerful multi-platform Java installer builder that generates native installers and application launchers for Java applications”.
• The OpenSource Sourceforge "InstallGuru", Sourceforge "InstallGuru".
• The OpenSource Sourceforge "Launch4j - Cross-platform Java executable wrapper", Sourceforge "Launch4j Executable Wrapper" - “Cross-platform Java executable wrapper for creating lightweight Windows native EXEs”.
• The OpenSource Sourceforge "Lift-Off Java-Installer", Sourceforge "Lift-Off Java-Installer".
• The OpenSource Sourceforge "Packlet installer tool", Sourceforge "Packlet".

• The OpenSource Sourceforge "NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System)", Sourceforge "NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System)".
  • EN.Wikipedia "Nullsoft Scriptable Install System", DE.Wikipedia "Nullsoft Scriptable Install System" ( NSIS ).
• The OpenSource InstallJammer( formerly: Sourceforge "InstallBase MPI", Sourceforge "InstallBase" ), making use of Tcl/Tk.

• The commercial BoxedApp.
• The commercial File Joiner.
• The commercial Adontec Data Communication Company "RuntimePacker".

• The free Orca Tool – A MSI Creator and Package Viewer, for Windows.
  • VST & .NET & Excel: "The Orca Tool - A MSI Creator and Package Viewer".
  • Klaus Hartnegg "Orca".
    • “Orca is a tool to edit entries of MSI files”.
    • “A much smaller alternative is the 'Windows Installer Redistributable'. The Installer 4.5 SDK contains Orca version 4.5” ( msi45sdk.msi ).
• dotNetInstaller - “A general-purpose setup bootstrapper for Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 and Windows 7”.

• According to experts, automation of installation, of installer generation and of installation processes works well with “MSI Installer” .
• Sourceforge - Software Search for "Installer".

• See Device Description Languages and Device Parameterization.

• See Device Description Languages and Device Parameterization.

• The free PC Magazine "InCtrl5" for Windows, 2000-12-05.
  • PC Magazine "Stay In Control".
• Raymond.cc "8 Tools to Track Registry and File Changes by Comparing Before and After Snapshots", 2012.
  • “First, unsurprisingly InCtrl5 will need to be run in compatibility mode for Windows Vista, 7 or 8”.
  • “Secondly, there is an issue with it’s output results for 64-bit users as it won’t display the Software\Wow6432Node registry keys as coming from there, but will instead show them as coming from simply Software, something to watch out for”.
• EN.Wikipedia "InCtrl5".

• The free “InstallSpy 2.00”.
  • Major Geeks "InstallSpy 2.00", 2003-11-11.
  • 2BrightSparks "Freeware" ( - 2010-06-02 ) - The free “InstallSpy v2.0” for Windows.

• The free “InstallWatch 2.5c” of 2009-03.
  • Archive.org "Epsilon Squared 'InstallWatch 2.5'.
  • LO4D "InstallWatch Pro 2.5".
• NARKIVE Newsgroup Archive "A fully compatible 64-bit W7+ installation comparison like outdated InstallWatch Pro v2.5c" - “The last version 2.5c of InstallWatch is dated back to March 2009 (and only supports 32-bitwise versions of Windows)”.

• The free Mark Jacobs' Free 32-bit Windows Software "MJ Registry Watcher", 2015-11-11.

• The free Microsoft TechNet, Windows Sysinternals "Process Monitor" for Windows, 2016 - “Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. It combines the features of two legacy Sysinternals utilities, Filemon and Regmon”.
• How-To-Geek "SysInternals Pro: Using Process Monitor to Troubleshoot and Find Registry Hacks".

• The free NirSoft "RegFromAp" for Win-32 and Win-64.
  • “RegFromApp monitors the Registry changes made by the application that you selected”.
  • “Works on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows 8. Older versions of Windows are not supported. There is a separated version for x64 applications”.

• The OpenSource SourceForge "regshot", SourceForge "regshot" 1.9.0 for Windows, 2013-02-02.
• Archive.org "regshot.ru" ( - 2010-09-24 ).
  • |MediaFire "Regshot 2.0.1.70".
  • winPenPack "X-Regshot-2 2.0.1.70 [rev4]".
• How-To-Geek "How to Use Regshot To Monitor Your Registry".
• Raymond.cc "8 Tools to Track Registry and File Changes by Comparing Before and After Snapshots", 2012 - “The original Regshot is still very slowly being developed and there is a recent beta with separate 32 / 64-bit and ANSI / Unicode versions that can be found at SourceForge”.

• The free Google Code Archive "sobek-hids" in Python - “A python based Host IDS system that is capable of monitor: Registry Changes,...”.

• CNET "SpyMe Tools".
• LC IBros Solutions SRL. "News" ( - 2013-04-12 ) - The free “SpyMe Tools” for Windows.

• Matthias Withopf "TrackWinstall" for Win-32 and Win-64.
  • “Tracks the changes made to your system by program installers, including registry entries and file system alterations” → You need to “load” the software installation software by this tool.
  • On Win10-64, you must run it with VISTA compatibilty settings?!
  • It takes several seconds before you see the start screen of the program, even on a state-of-the-art computer with HDD ( not SDD ). Indeed it takes so long, that you might assume that the program was crashed and won`t work.

• vTask Studio "Free Software Tools!" - The free “WhatChanged” for Windows.
• gizmoz's freeware "Snapshot Your Files And Registry To Discover What Changed".

• The commercial Blue Project Software "SysTracer - Track file and registry changes in your computer".

• Makeuseof "3 Tools To Monitor & Examine The Windows Registry".
• Raymond.cc "8 Tools to Track Registry and File Changes by Comparing Before and After Snapshots" (1/2), Raymond.cc "8 Tools to Track Registry and File Changes by Comparing Before and After Snapshots" (2/2), 2012.
• WindowsReport "Top 5 Tools for Monitoring Registry Changes in Windows", 2015-05-06.