Visual Installer can create a setup package for your Visual Basic project

Visual Installer can create a setup package for your Visual Basic project

The Visual Installer installation software can import a Visual Basic project created with Microsoft Visual Studio and create a redistributable setup package of it. Visual Installer supports project files created with Visual Studio / Visual Basic 6.0 and project files created with Visual Studio / Visual Basic 2002 to 2022. So if you are a VB developer / programmer, you will find Visual Installer very useful; regardless of which version of Visual Basic you use for your software development.

Why use Visual Installer instead of the built-in setup tool in Visual Studio?
Visual Installer is much more feature-rich than the built-in setup tool in Visual Studio because it is a specialized tool. And with Visual Installer you can also create setup programs with beautiful graphics which will give your end-users a good first impression. If you develop games, multimedia software, or other products where design is important, you will have the opportunity to re-use your design in the installer.

Visual Installer can create a code signed setup package. This which will make deployment of your software in restrictive environments easier, and will also turn off the deterrent warning texts that are shown in Windows otherwise. And with Visual Installer you can fine-tune your installation in a way that is not possible with the built-in setup tool in Visual Studio.

Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6) is supported by Visual Installer
We know that lots of people still use Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6) for their software development projects so Visual Installer supports Visual Basic 6.0. You can import a VB6 project and Visual Installer will analyze the project file (the .VBP file) and create an installation project of it. Third-party components (ActiveX components) etc. will be included automatically. All necessary runtime files are also included automatically. Visual Installer also supports installation of common database engines that are used together with Visual Basic 6.0 (DAO, ADO, RDO etc.). If you use Visual Basic's Package and Deployment Wizard today for installation of Visual Basic 6.0 software you will find that our installation software / setup tool Visual Installer is a good replacement.

Also Visual Basic .NET (Visual Basic 2002 to 2022) is supported
Visual Installer supports also Visual Basic .NET. So if you create your Visual Basic programs using Visual Studio 2002 - 2022 you can let Visual Installer import your project file (.VBPROJ file) and create an installation project of it. Components used by your project will be automatically imported.

With Visual Installer you can specify which version of Microsoft .NET Framework that your program requires and let Visual Installer check the system before the installation. Visual Installer can warn the end-user if the required version of .NET is not installed in the end-user's Windows. The user will also have the opportunity to download and install the missing version of .NET Framework.

Solution files are also supported
If you have used Visual Studio 2002 - 2022 for your development and have many project files in a solution file (.sln) you can also import a solution file to Visual Installer. Visual Installer will then analyze all project files that are included in the solution file and pick the necessary files from all projects.

Many built-in setup dialog boxes are included

Visual Installer's setup wizard
The setup wizard in Visual Installer is more versatile than the setup wizard that follows Visual Studio and can be set up in different ways. Many built-in setup dialog boxes are included and you can choose which of them to show during an installation. You can also affect the design of the dialog boxes in different ways, for example choose an individual picture for every dialog box. Setup dialog boxes that ask for destination folder, destination drive, license key, password, program group etc. are included. Dialog boxes for file groups / file components are also included.

Easy to import a Visual Basic project to Visual Installer and create a setup package

It is easy to import a Visual Basic project to Visual Installer. In the File menu in the editor you can choose whether you want to import a VB6 or VB.NET project (see the picture below):

Visual Installer can import Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual Basic .NET projects

In the next step you can choose a project file, a program file (an application) and specify some settings. If you have developed a .NET program you can let Visual Installer check the version of the .NET Framework that is installed in the end-users computer before the actual installation of your software starts (see the picture below).

Visual Installer can check which version of .NET that is installed in the end-user's computer

Visual Installer can check which version of .NET that is installed in the end-user's computer

After you have chosen your files and specified your settings, all necessary files will be imported to the installation project in Visual Installer and you can create a setup package for your Visual Basic project. Visual Installer will include components and VB runtime files (if they are needed by your program) automatically. More detailed information (including videos) is available in this VB6 tip and this VB.NET tip page in our Tips & Tricks section on the website.

Download a demo and test yourself!
If you want to test the import function in Visual Installer with your Visual Basic project you can download a demo from this download page on our web site.

More information about Visual Installer
More general information about the Visual Installer tool is available on Visual Installer's product page. You can also read the following blog post on our blog: Setup of a VB 6.0 program.

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