How to create software installer using WinRAR

Installer is a software program which make it convenient for us to install software on our system. When a software is installed three kinds of changes are brought about in the system :-

1. File System changes
2. Registry changes and 
3. Drivers and services.

There are several software installers available on internet like - NSIS, Innosetup, GhostScript.

However you can also use one of the most popular file compression program WinRAR for this job. 

Here is the step-by-step procedure to do it:
1. Select the file(s) to be installed. You can either use the right click > Add to archive option or go through the WinRAR explorer.

2. Select the archive format as RAR.
3. Check the "Create SFX archive" option.

4. Click on the "SFX options" button.

5. On the general tab type the desired folder name you want to be created in the "Program Files" folder. All your files will be installed in this folder.

6. Go to the Advanced tab and click on the "Add Shortcut" button.

7. In the next window you will find the different options to create shortcuts in the Desktop, Start Menu, Start Menu/program and Startup folders. 

Choose your options. Here are the tips: 

Source file name: This will be your target file name with extension.

Destination Folder: If you want a separate folder for your installer, type the name here.

Shortcut Description: This will appear as comment in the "Properties" dialog box of the shortcut and as a tip on the shortcut icon when you will hover it.

Shortcut name: This will be the name of the shortcut, irrespective of the Source file name.

Shortcut icon: Here will be URL of the icon from your computer or you can put the icon in the same folder as your installer file are and just give the name e.g. MyIcon.ico.

8. Fill in the  parameters and click OK. You will see that the parameters are now displayed in the box below "Add Shortcut" button.

                                 

9. Now go to the "Text and icon" tab. 

Title of SFX window: This will become the Title of the main window of the resultant SFX installer.

Text to display in SFX window: The text typed here will appear as installer info in the main resultant SFX installer.

Browse for the logo and icon and select them These will become the default logo and icon of the installer.

10. Go to the "License" tab. 

Text typed here will appear in the second window, the license window during installation. 

Type in the title and text of License or load from a text file.

11. Now click OK a couple of times and your installer is ready. It will look something like this:

The file on the right is the installer. Since I didn't chose any ic:

on WinRAR has used the default one.

On running the executable SFX you will see the following windows