Automatic installation of programs. MultiSet - automatic program and Windows installer

On the agenda is the question of how to forget about the routine, manual installation programs and take a closer look at more modern technologies for automatic installation of applications. First of all, I decided to do a little monitoring of the topic. I went to old man Google for advice. “Poke” on the very first link and “rested his horns” on . Fate is a villain, the program turned out to be paid. That's why full review it won’t, although, to put it in the language of the TV show “Play Accordion,” MultiSet “has a very good repertoire.”

Automatic installation of programs, while it is absolutely not necessary to be a programmer and you do not need to write a single line of code/script. Creating a bootable external storage to install software after reinstalling the operating system.
Creation boot disk, flash drives, external hard drive for automatic Windows installations without user interaction or Windows with your software package.
Remote automatic installation by local network.

First of all, download the program and install it. Month can be used trial version, if you like, buy or ask in the comments “When will the end of the world.” Our super “brainbreakers” robot Dashka and her friend Andryushka will definitely answer you. Don't forget about system requirements. Program for this moment works on operating systems such as Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Server, Vista, 7.

In fact, the developers have reduced the entire process of working with the program to a minimum. Moreover, if you open MultiSet and press the F1 button, it will open detailed instructions, reference. Each item and detail is described in detail and it is not entirely clear what can be added.

Now about the main thing. For me, this is creating my own boot disk (CD/DVD) or flash drive with a package of frequently used programs. Reinstalled the system. I inserted the disc into the drive and forgot what it was like to “move” the cursor over numerous buttons and checkboxes. In the “All packages” section, right-click, select the desired category and click “New package...”.

In the window that pops up, click on the button with the image of the folder (the empty “Executable file” field).

In the explorer we indicate full path To .exe program file. In my case, the subject is Setup_Volume2_1_1_3_247.exe (very convenient), click the “OK” button.

A warning window will appear. Close your antivirus and firewall and install the application as usual. Otherwise, errors are possible that will lead to the program not working.

After which the recording of your actions will begin. That is, you install the program as usual. During installation, be sure to uncheck all unnecessary checkboxes so that “useless, unnecessary software” is not installed, if the installer imposes one. As soon as the program window for further configuration appears and you see that the installation process has been successfully completed, click the “Stop” button.

A warning appears where you need to click the “OK” button and be happy that you have completed First stage for studying the MultiSet program. So with each program until you create a complete application package that satisfies you.

All that remains is to create a boot disk (my case) with a software package for automatic installation on any computer. Click on the disk.

Select the folder where the installation kit will be saved.

Using the prompts in the Installation Wizard window, we create a complex, which we subsequently copy to any storage medium (CD, DVD, Flash, Hard Drive). We hide the disk or flash drive in a secluded place and wait new reinstallation systems. More full information as always in the video clip.

Help the victim of the capitalist cataclysm. Share the post on social media. networks:

Village hackers created a new computer virus. During the day it destroys up to two hectares of corn, and in the evening it returns back to the computer. P...

Recently, interesting discs with software have begun to appear on Moscow markets. It seems that the disk is just like a disk - programs, articles, links - everything is as it should be, but they distinctive feature is that programs from the disk can be installed automatically.
What does it mean? Can you imagine a regular installer for some program? Lots of questions about installation paths, shortcuts, license agreements, etc. But all questions can be answered with the proposed default values. This is what most users do. Auto-installation means installing the program with all default values. The user does not have to press buttons, place switches and checkboxes. You don't even have to manually enter serial number(legally acquired, of course). All this will be done automatically - the user is resting.

How are disks created with such unique opportunity? We will look at two programs from Russian developers specifically designed for creating such discs. These are competing programs.
LazySetupCD and MultiSet.

Now let's decide on our disk. What almost no one can do without modern user? Without MicroSoft products Office! Let's now try to create a disk for auto-installing MS Office 2003 using each of the programs.

LazySetupCD

Following the program prompts we will create new project MS Office 2003 disk.

Let's start creating an automatic installation. It turns out that you need to create a sequence of so-called actions that will be performed during installation. Examples of actions - click the “Next” button, check the “I agree with” checkbox license agreement", enter a text fragment (for serials). There is a convenient action editor to specify the sequence of actions.

I was interested in the "Record" button in the action editor.
By clicking it you can start the process automatic recording user actions. That is, you simply install the program in normal mode, and all your actions are accurately recorded and can be easily reproduced in the future. It is very comfortable. And if you suddenly make a mistake, or press an extra button, then you can always
edit the installation algorithm in the action editor.

The only thing that cannot be automatically recorded is entering the serial number. It must be explicitly specified in the action editor.

After doing all these steps, I ended up with the following installation algorithm consisting of 12 steps:

Now we have a fully compiled auto-installation algorithm. Before using it, it is advisable to check its correctness. To do this, LazySetupCD has a “Checking task installation”. That is, LazySetupCD will launch the MS Office installer and apply this algorithm. If the installation has reached its end, then the algorithm is compiled correctly.

Now you can proceed directly to recording the disc. Click “Record”, select the folder in which you want to record and
the disk is ready.

A primitive autorun is supplied with the LazySetupCD program.

However, this autorun can easily be replaced with your own. You can develop a disk shell through programs third party developers, and assign a special one to the Autoinstall button
LazySetupCD command, which will immediately start the auto-installation process.

MultiSet

The principle of creating an auto-installation turns out to be the same as in LazySetupCD - you need to install the application, and all user actions will be recorded and then played back.

As a result, it will be created installation package MS OFFICE 2003. Unfortunately, MultiSet does not have an action editor and it is impossible to somehow correct the created algorithm. If the auto-installation does not work for some reason, the author advises removing the package and recording from the beginning.
Also in MultiSet there is a slight subtlety when entering the serial number. You need to pause the recording of actions and manually enter each text fragment of the serial.

As a result, it will be possible to burn a disc with MS OFFICE auto-installation.

In MultiSet, as well as in LazySetupCD, you can start auto-installation using special team, which allows you to use it in autoruns of your own design.

Thus, we have auto-installation disks created by LazySetupCD and MultiSet programs. In field testing, it was determined that MultiSet performed actions faster, but at the same time completely took over control of the mouse and keyboard, without allowing anything to the user.

Comparative characteristics of programs

Supports loading ready-made scripts - i.e. no need to install the program to create an installation algorithm
Supports installer autoinstall keys
The action editor makes the process of creating auto-installation algorithms transparent

Classic user interface
Multi-language support
More high speed auto installations

Both programs can create discs with automatic software installation, saving the user from routine actions. Thanks to them, you will always have a unique disk at hand, from which you can always quickly and efficiently install the necessary program.

Free automatic installer of any set of programs on your computer.

Attention! Some antiviruses (for example, AVG) report that the program contains a Trojan. In fact, this is not true (tested by other reputable antiviruses).

It’s just that the automatic installation functions of programs for particularly corrosive antiviruses may look like the action of a Trojan program.

If your antivirus does not allow you to install Easy AutoInstaller Free, it is better to look for some other program for your tasks.

You've probably encountered the need to reinstall your operating system more than once. But this is not the main problem - the main thing is to install all the necessary programs and not forget anything!

By own experience I know that installing software sometimes takes twice as long as installing Windows itself. Lately Many special disks have appeared with automatic installation of the necessary applications.

Is it possible to create it yourself? similar disk? Of course! There are many things for this special utilities. But they are either paid or not very stable.

However, among the heap of similar programs you can find some pretty decent freeware projects. An example of this is Easy Autoinstaller FREE.

This program is intended for non-profit home use and allows without special problems create startup disks with a set of the software we need! It can remember and then reproduce an unlimited number of times all the actions that the user performs when installing the required software.

Unlike the paid version, free edition cannot create disks containing operating system files, but the functionality of Easy Autoinstaller Free is quite sufficient:

Comparison of the free version of the autoinstaller Easy Autoinstaller FREE with the paid version of Easy Autoinstaller PRO

As you can see, in addition to the restriction on creating a startup disk with the operating system, free version The ability to change the design of the auto-installation menu, as well as recording the script in “real time,” is blocked.

The latter means that to record the next required action in the script you will have to press one of function keys(left Shift or Ctrl). But more on that later, for now let’s install the program.

Installation Easy Autoinstaller FREE

The program installer, although in English, is built in a standard way, so after launching it, we will need to click “Next” all the time and agree with all the offers. Once the installation is complete, the program window will appear in front of us:

You can start working, but I would advise you to first create a folder somewhere into which we will move the software distributions and drivers we need. This will make it easier for us to create our own car installation disk in future.

Creating an autoinstall script

Now let's proceed directly to creating auto-installation scripts. To begin, click the “Add script” button.

A window will appear in front of us where we should enter the name of the program that we are going to install. After confirming the entry (the “Ok” button), another window will appear in which you will need to specify the version of the application to be installed. In principle, you can enter anything you want into both windows, but for our convenience, we will indicate what is asked :).

After entering the program version, a window will open for selecting the installer for the desired program (remember, we put them in a separate folder;)).

Mark the one you need executable file(.exe and .msi files are supported) and click the “Open” button. A script recording window will appear in front of us:

At the bottom, in the “Program Description” section, you can enter short information about the program being installed, so that you can later remember why the utility is actually needed. Pay attention to the “Options” window (third from the top).

Here you can set the type of future installation of the program: regular “silent” (silent, /s) installation, “silent” with progress display (and without) or completely hidden mode. You don't have to choose any additional parameters and then you will always have access to manual control installation.

When all the settings are made, click the “Record” button and proceed to the “demonstrative” installation of the selected program :).

You will know that the script recording process has been activated by the tooltip in the tray, as well as by the icon that appears in the left top corner information window.

In this window you can see the current coordinates of the mouse cursor, the object the cursor is pointing at, current operation etc. Important: try not to move the installer window unnecessarily, as this may affect the correct operation of the script!

Now a few words about the methodology for creating an auto-installation script. To record a command, you must press left CTRL or SHIFT.

It happens something like this: we move the mouse cursor to the desired button or menu item and press one of the above keys.

At the same time, SHIFT remembers only mouse clicks, and CRTL can record keystrokes, dots, checkmarks, passwords, paths and the same mouse clicks, so in most cases we press CRTL without thinking. As soon as the button is pressed, your action will be remembered, and you will not need to press mouse keys.

If you need to change the path or enter the serial number of the program, for example, then you need to proceed as follows. Enter the required data in text string, hover the mouse over this line, press SHIFT, and then CTRL.

When the installation is complete, you will need to stop recording the script. To do this, click right click mouse over the Easy Autoinstaller icon in the tray and select the appropriate item.

Optimizing and saving the script

Now let's check our script for empty entries to optimize it:

If there are none, we can click the “Save script” button. If you need to delete any script item, just double-click on it and confirm the deletion.

Now you can check whether the auto-installation script is working correctly. To do this, let's remove installed program, check it in the list of Easy Autoinstaller scripts and click the “Start” button.

After this, the installation process should start automatically, and above the program icon in the tray you will see a report on the current installation step:

If the installation was successful, then we did everything correctly. Otherwise, you will have to either edit the finished script (the “Edit Script” button), or even rewrite it again.

When all the scripts have been checked, you can (and even need to) save the resulting project. To do this, click the button of the same name in the main program window.

Creating an installation disk

And now comes the most climactic moment - the creation own disk with software! :) To do this, click the “Tools” menu in the main Easy Autoinstaller window and select the only item “Disk Creation Wizard”:

If you followed all the tips described above, then all you have to do is specify the path to the folder in which all the script, distribution and project files are located, and then click the “Create” button.

Several files will be created in the specified folder, which will be responsible for loading the menu of our installation disk:

The main one of these files is AutoInstall.exe. By running it, you can see what the menu of our disk will look like:

In fact, everything here is simple and tasteful :). The installation disk window presents a list of programs that can be selected for installation and a “Start” button, which initiates the installation.

Did you admire it? :) Now all that remains is to write the entire contents of the folder directly to a CD, DVD or even to a flash drive, and set necessary programs with automatic installation will always be at your fingertips!

conclusions

Easy Autoinstaller FREE, of course, is slightly inferior in ease of use and functionality to commercial products, but it copes with its main task, if not a “5”, then certainly a solid “four”.

In any case, I advise you to familiarize yourself with this program and, just in case, create a disk with the necessary drivers and software. Who knows, maybe one day this disc will really help you out;).

P.S. Permission is granted to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.

Nobody likes installing and configuring programs, everyone likes to use them, work in them, install addons, baubles, and skins on them. Those. customize programs for yourself, according to your tastes and preferences. This process is routine - uninteresting, takes time and energy, so few people enjoy returning to it. But sometimes you have to - for example, after the OS once again “fell” or failed HDD. Everything starts all over again: installing the OS, installing drivers, installing service packs, installing programs, then comes: setting up the OS (tuning), setting up programs, localizing to your language, entering registration data (at paid programs)… It’s okay if you have all the programs at hand - on disks, and you only need to install them on one computer. But then you still have to configure everything manually. And if you don’t have distribution kits, the registration keys are lost (you’ll have to contact the manufacturer’s support service), then the nervous work begins of finding the necessary programs and restoring the previous working environment. This begs the question - how to automate this? In practice, there are only three solutions to the problem of automatic installation of programs and Windows.

Use standard auto-installation functions for each program separately (automatic installation keys)
Write a script program for automatic installation.
Create a boot disk for Windows auto installs and other programs.

Let us examine in detail each method, as well as the means that implement it.

1. Established funds programs. Using auto-installation keys (silent keys).

Many installers allow automatic installation using special keys (parameters command line). In this case, no action is required from the user. All values will be set to default. Each installer has its own set of such keys.

The advantages of this method:
+ high installation speed without user intervention

Minuses:
- the user needs to know exactly which installer and key is used when installing the program.
- some installers do not support auto-installation.

2. Writing a script - programs for automatic installation.

To write scripts, special programming languages are used - scripting languages. The most popular is AutoIt. Its main purpose is to automate work with graphical interface Windows.

What AutoIt can do:

Run on Windows execution and DOS programs
Simulate pressing keyboard combinations
Simulate mouse pointer movements and button clicks
Move, resize and control window display options
Directly interact with the “control elements” of the window (get/change the caption, move, disable, etc. actions)
Work with the clipboard to transfer its text content
Read, change and create registry keys and values

AutoIt includes an interpreter and a script compiler. If you have written and debugged your own script, then it can easily be turned into a regular exe file that already works autonomously.

The advantages of this method:
+ ability to write flexible scripts
+ creating a standalone exe file

Minuses:
- the need to study both the scripting language itself and the Windows OS.

3. Create a disk for automatic installation of Windows and other programs.

To create an automatic installation disk for Windows and programs, there is special programs. The most famous of them: nLite and MultiSet

nLite - the program can create a boot disk with operating Windows systems 2000/XP/2003. Also allows you to integrate into operating system some update packages and, if necessary, remove some components from the OS ( Media Player, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, MSN Explorer, Messenger, etc.). The result of the utility is an ISO image of a boot disk with Windows.

Pros:
+ free program
+ creating a Windows boot disk

Minuses:
- it is impossible to automatically install any custom software

MultiSet is a program for creating boot disks automatic installation of Windows operating systems and software packages. The result of the program is boot disks of three types:

Automatic installation of Windows operating systems
Automatic installation of programs
Automatic installation of both Windows operating systems and programs. Since MultiSet can run files of any type with parameters, the two methods described above are easily integrated into it (using installer keys and executing a written script from AutoIt).

Advantages of MultiSet:

Automatic installation of Windows OS. The ability to create a CD/DVD for automatic installation of Windows OS on any computer. Installing the OS in any mode: restoring Windows OS (installation over current version OS(repair reinstall)) or complete reinstallation windows.
Automatic installation of any software. The ability to create a CD/DVD disk that will automatically install any set of software on many computers. For example, after installing Windows, you can automatic mode install service packs, drivers, crackers, any programs (codecs, music players, working utilities...), and also configure them automatically.
Creating a boot disk for simultaneous automatic installation of Windows and programs. The ability to create a disk that will automatically install both Windows and a set of programs.
Automatic restoration of program settings and Windows tuning. Ability to automatically restore program settings, Windows OS. Restoring registry keys, launching special utilities.
Remote automatic installation. Ability to automatically install software packages over a local network. The necessary software will be automatically installed on any number of computers connected to the local network.

Pros:
+ creating a Windows boot disk and a set of programs

Minuses:
- you cannot add to the created script.

Summary.

All methods, and three in particular the above programs pursue the same goal - creating a boot disk for automatic installation of Windows and programs. But they solve it differently. nLite is designed for modification Windows distribution, i.e. integration of service packs and updates into it. The automatic installation of other programs is simple - the user must use silent keys, or specify approximate algorithm installations based on what the program offers. MultiSet placed its main emphasis on automatic installation any programs together with Windows with the ability to use silent keys and subsequent auto-configuration.

Programs can complement each other: a script written in AutoIt is easily executed in MultiSet, the nLite disk can automatically install sets of programs from MultiSet