WinRar Create SFX Self Extracting Installation Wizard and Add Registry Settings
Saturday, January 19th, 2013Creating a SFX Installation Wizard with WinRar that Can Modify Registry Settings
WinRar's "SFX options…" dialog does not contain any information or guides that help you modify registry settings after the files for your installation have been extracted. This is a hinderance, but it is extremely possible to modify registry settings by running a batch file after the installation has been completed. First, make sure the .bat file is included with the rest of your installation files that you selected before making the SFX archive. In the "Advanced SFX options" window, click on the Setup tab. Under "Run after extraction", type in just the name of the .bat file you're going to be running.
The Batch File Itself:
This template batch file checks to see if the operating system is 32-bit or 64-bit. This is an important distincting as it will affect how you setup keys for each type of operating system. 64-bit system keys are usually placed in the Wow6432Node key, so it is important to make this distinction so that your registry settings will work properly. This batch file called "Program Registry Adder 1.0" provides examples on how to add and modify registry keys depending on the operating system type.
Download Program Registry Adder 1.0
Adding Keys with a .bat (batch) File:
To add specific keys, you use the following parameters:
REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\My Proggy\" /f /v "InstallDir" /t REG_SZ /d "%PPROG%
The first parameter specifies which hive and key should be created. The /f flag forces the addition. The /v flag is the name of the key that should be created. The /t flag specifies what type of Registry key should be created. The example uses REG_SZ, which is just a string. The possible types are:
| Value | Type (Use this in the batch File) |
| Binary | REG_BINARY |
| DWORD | REG_DWORD |
| Expandable String | REG_EXPAND_SZ |
| Multi-String | REG_MULTI_SZ |
| String | REG_SZ |
| Binary | REG_RESOURCE_LIST |
| Binary | REG_RESOURCE_REQUIREMENTS_LIST |
| Binary | REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR |
| None | REG_NONE |
| Link | REG_LINK |
| QWORD | REG_QWORD |
Check out more information here.
The /d flag contains the value of the key.
Conclusion
Using both a self extracting installation wizard and a batch file for registry key settings makes for the perfect free to use professional looking installation script. You can always run the batch file silently by removing all pause statements in the script.