How To Force Application Setup to Use the Default Directory

Although it is not recommended, the Visual Basic Setup Toolkit provides a means to disable the user interface for changing the default installation directory of your application's setup routine. This forces the installation process to use the default directory as the destination for the application's files.

It is recommended that you allow the user to choose the destination directory for Windows applications setup processes. However, a Visual Basic application that has a setup program created by the Visual Basic Setup Wizard on Visual Basic versions 4.0 and 5.0 or the Package and Deployment Wizard (PDW) on Visual Basic 6.0 does provide an option that allows the programmer to force the user to use a specific destination directory.

The Setup.lst file is a standard Windows initialization file. It informs the Setup.exe and Setup1.exe programs of the distribution set how to perform setup. To force a user to use a specific destination directory, you must provide the default directory name and add the keyword "ForceUseDefDir" to the Setup.lst file.

Step-by-Step Example

1. Run the Application Setup Wizard or PDW to create a distribution set for your application.
2. Open the Setup.lst file (found on disk #1 of the distribution set) in a text editor, such as Notepad.
3. Specify the default installation directory by modifying the "DefaultDir" key in the "Setup" section of the Setup.lst file. For example: DefaultDir=C:\MyProgramDir
4. Insert the following line immediately after the "DefaultDir" line:
   
   ForceUseDefDir=1
5. Save the Setup.lst file. Note that the Setup Wizard makes maximum usage of each disk. If you cannot save the file due to insufficient space on the diskette, delete one or more of the "; XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" lines at the bottom of the Setup.lst file.