Using free software for creating msi packages
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Taking a program that has a not very standard installer and pushing it out using the windows installer service is not a simple task if you leave the proprietary installer as it is. The alternative to trying and toiling over an installer that is not meant to be deployed by policies is to create an msi package that will install the program in a manner more friendly with your domain. You go about creating msi packages by first finding a program that is capable of creating msi packages. These programs are available as free downloads and require you to begin the process on a clean slate system of the same operating system and service pack level of the machines you will be deploying the msi package to.
The, you install the program that will be used in creating msi packages to this bare bones machine. The software will take a before snap shot of every configuration option and file on the computer. This information is used to make a comparison between the clean state and the changes the installer will make to the computer when you install the program that you want to make into an msi package. Once the initial scan is complete, install the target program as if you were on an end user machine. Then, once the installation process has completed, you run a second scan that captures all the changes the installer made to the system. Files, registry settings and so forth that have been changed are captured and placed into a single file. Thus ends the process of creating msi packages for installing that piece of software.
After creating msi packages, you can then deploy that as you would any other msi package, either by scripting, batch files or having users simply launch the msi itself. It is a standard installer that after creating msi packages allows you to use that built in functionality of the operating system.
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Find more info on creating msi packages, visit packagingsoftware.net.
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