Visual Basic Concepts

Creating Distribution Media

There are several ways you can distribute your application — on floppy or compact discs, over a network, or on a Web site. As part of the deployment process, you must copy your packaged files onto the distribution media you plan to use.

Note   If you package and deploy your files using the Package and Deployment Wizard, these steps are not necessary because the wizard will create your disks, network location, or Internet component download distribution media for you automatically.

You can use any of the following methods when you manually create distribution media:

Creating Distribution Disks

It is a good practice to label your distribution disks with the number and name of the disk and instructions for setting up your application. Repeat this installation message on each of the distribution disks. After your disks are labeled, you are ready to copy your files to the distribution disks.

To create distribution disks

  1. Copy the pre-installation files listed below onto the first disk:
  2. Copy the remaining bootstrap .cab files onto the rest of the first disk and any subsequent disks that are needed.

  3. After all bootstrap .cab files are copied, copy the rest of your .cab files onto the necessary disks.

Manually Deploying to a Web Site

If you want to manually deploy your application or component to a site on the Web, you can use the Web Publishing Wizard to deploy your packaged files to the appropriate location. The Web Publishing Wizard is available on the Microsoft Web site at www.microsoft.com, and is also installed with Internet Explorer 4.x.

For More Information   See "Internet Tools and Technologies" in the Internet/Intranet/Extranet Services SDK for more information on the Web Publishing Wizard. See "Creating Distribution Media" earlier in this chapter for information about deciding how to place your files on the disks.