Smart Installer Automatically Installs Your Favourite Software To PC

That's yesteryear. Get the PortableAppCreator. It may take a few steps to convert an app, but that will the last time you will ever install it.

wellcum

This is absolutely retarded and useless.

I don't see why not just make a folder of the app, save the installers into the folders of the apps that you want to install on to a new PC or fresh installed OS

Seems like a good idea, I wish there was an easy way to get rid of all the JUNKWARE that comes on them too, without reinstalling an OS...

Jay Beezy

Me too, but the thing is that I actually like to customize installations. But I guess it is much easier to delete desktop shortcuts than to click through every installation.

man i could have used this a week ago lol

Quicktime? Adobe Reader? Open Office? Why such bloated crapware?

johnsmith1234

@AltReality: As far as I can tell, this is precisely the advantage of this program. You can install a single file with all up-to-date installers instead of keeping a folder of executables that will quickly become out of date.

def gonna take a look at tonight but i prefer my old skool method of a batch file and calling msi/exe installers from it. lets you do custom setups/silent installs for most apps that support such flags

AppSnap sounds pretty cool too. thanks for the tip lf, like always.

@kazemizuhi: Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that mean your backups of all your applications would be out of date? You'd then have to update every app (assuming that a new version was released) instead of being sure the latest and greatest is being downloaded and installed.

@r0ckstarferlife:

I could have used this a day ago. Ah well..

Alex George

The problem I have with apps like this is that the apps I want to install put out a new version every couple months. So that means every time I install a new system, all the apps are out of date.

AltReality

Great post - would be great for MAC OS as well

Mark Daley

@TheEmperorofChaos: For a while I did just that, had myself a "New Install" folder full of installer exes. After realising that by the time I reinstall most of these programs they were in desperate need of updates I just used (extremely) basic HTML to create a page full of app download pages. Means I can jump straight to the latest version every time.

b0ring

@[portableapps.com]

Seems interesting. @wellcum, would this have an effect on applications which require use of the %AppData% folder?

@TheEmperorofChaos: +1

I have a folder split into sub-folders (2 tier hierarchy) consisting of all the installers for every single application I have (including executables of portable apps). Even Photoshop's and XP's CD's have been ripped and stored as *.iso's.

same here

RoderigoImbible

OMG, I was looking for a program like this, this morning!!!

You guys are following me.... .>

@[lifehacker.com]

I think the current site is now: [www.pcdecrapifier.com]

I haven't tried this, so Caveat Emptor.

aj_robins

what great timing, my new computer is schedule to arrive tomorrow, and I've been dreading about installing everything on it

the AppSnap you linked to actually sounds better than SIP, gonna try that one

Kiri Komori

@wellcum: Yeah, but since portable applications aren't actually installed and don't write to the registry in the same way, in general wouldn't they take longer to start? I'm only using intuition as a basis, not research, so feel free to correct me.

Michael

@wellcum:

You got me interested! What is this PortableAppCreator you speak about? I googled that title, but I couldn't find much that seemed relevant!

Joshiii-Kun

@ericesque: Uh, thanks for clarifying my point...

You don't have permission to access / on this server.

gmerin

For those that don't want to mess with an installer, try fileHippo.com It has a wide selection of programs that us lifehackers tend to use-- with links to the latest versions of each in a nice clean format!

ericesque

@johnsmith1234:
Don't forget winRar, Codec Pack, and Java!

I think they are just considered commonly installed applications. I'm betting the author was looking for wide appeal more than selecting his/her own favorite apps.

ericesque

@Michael:
Not really. I myself prefer not installing programs, so to keep the registry as clean as possible.
Usually the registry only consists out of references and configuration values.
The registry is just set of files that needs to be loaded and read, just like any other file.
And so it does not affect whether a programs starts faster or not. After all, when a program is executed, it does just that. It executes the code which is within the program. Now, the registry is sometimes necessary for things to work, but that's only because the program was made that way, it needs the references or the values set in the registry file. It could've just as well used an ini file, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Just that the ini file is portable, and the registry isn't quite as portable.

That's what I know about the registry anyway, haha.
I personally believe that Windows should've dumped the registry a long time ago. It's so messy and not very handy at all!

@kazemizuhi:
Thanks for the link!

Joshiii-Kun

@Mark Daley:
What do you mean? People keep telling me that Mac didn't need any 3rd party apps like those silly Windows OSs. OSX is purely and simply perfect out of the box and forever!

ericesque

I just bookmark my favorite apps's homepages or places I need to get them into Delicious. I honestly don't use many, so it isn't that big of a hassle. And you're guaranteed to have the most recent version.

Might be a pain to some, but it works for me.

spiralout987

@wellcum:
Yesteryear has nothing to do with it. The programs serve entirely different functions.

ericesque

@fosphen:
You're exactly right-- and installing the latest and greatest version is exactly the power of these tools.

ericesque

@Dangger:
The problem with customized installations is by the time you need to reinstall, it's completely out of date.

Tools like this are nice because they hunt down the latest version for you. I may look to a tool like this for a fresh install of W7 RC next week.

ericesque

I have a blog that I update with new versions for the programs I like to use. Even that becomes a pain, but it's better than nothing.

@MrHaroHaro: I'm sure he was just being sarcastic. Also, try keeping links to download your apps, rather than the actual DMGs. You'll save space, and never start with outdated apps that way.

BeefSupreme

portable apps are far more better.

liubebo

Nice little idea. A little heavy though.

I carry a similar package around in my pocket on a 4G usb disc. It contains all the apps I need to install after the base windows install.

p

powel212

@ericesque: Can it maintain a "favorite's list" as it were?

If not, you're just as well off maintaining your own list with links direct to developers.

johnsmith1234

@ericesque: I was picking the worst offenders.

While I prefer 7-Zip, WinRAR isn't that bad of a program, and the RAR format is a pretty good compression ratio / speed / feature format. Downside is that it is shareware.

johnsmith1234

@fosphen: Your point is well taken. Unfortunately, due to the fact that only the 'family' PC is connected to the internet (in my home), all updates must be done manually.

Certain apps such as Firefox and Kaspersky update on the rare occasion I lug my rig over to the modem. Security is not an issue as I scan everything on the 'up-to-date' family PC before transfering them to my rig. Furthermore, I use portable apps whenever possible and my OS is on it's own partition which is backed up bi-monthly.

You would be surprised that there are very few apps that need to be kept up to date.

@fosphen: And even worse, a lot of smaller more specialized apps just update by directing you to the website and installing it over the old. So more work!

@r0ckstarferlife: That's the second law of lifehacker, that today they'll the post the world's greatest tutorial to whatever you just struggled through yesterday

@ericesque: You're either trolling or know lame Mac users. Or both.

Mark, I agree. As I find myself with a new Mac every so often, or helping someone who's new to Macs, it would be very useful to have all the preference panes and free apps that I find myself installing on Macs rather than carrying around a flash drive of occasionally outdated DMGs.

I like Windows Post-Install Wizard (WPI) for this purpose. It requires a lil work, but it lets you install your programs silently and in one go. Also you can put on your Windows CD so it runs automatically upon first login.

Kevin Vesga

WinRar? I use 7-zip! >_<

Why use this? From 2004 on I've had a folder that I store on a secondary hard drive, backed up to CD and/or flash named "Downloaded .exes" (two words and an "s" after ".exe" so I won't think the folder contains an installer).

It contains exactly what the name says it does (executables - more precisely: "installers") for every program I own.

How to duplicate this simple genius of mine:

1) If you have a spare hard drive, or an external drive, or at least one big, empty, and secure spot on your main hard drive, right-click a space somewhere within it, click "New Folder", then give it the name you want (if "Downloaded .exes" isn't doing it for you, try "My Installers", or whatever makes you happy). Now you have created the folder that you will save your installers to.

2) In your web browser of choice go into the Tools menu and choose "where" you want to save downloaded files by "browsing" your hard drive until you find the Installers folder you just created, then select it. Also, select, if applicable, to "always" save your downloaded files to this folder.

This might create an issue where all your downloaded .pdfs and text files are saved to this folder, too, but you can always sort them out manually later on or find a way to filter them out of the folder using other methods (I just save everything to it and sort manually, myself - it's my inner control freak).

3) Now every installer you need to install the programs you want is in this one folder, without all the clutter of having to sort through the programs that these automated tools provide you with, and without having to moan and curse that the tool you're using does not include installers for those nifty little command-line freebies that you got off someone's GeoCities website back in 2003. It's all about customizing, which saves you more time and aggravation than tools like the one above will.

4) Once this folder is full of all the installers you need (best time to fill it, obviously, is after a fresh OS install) back it up to another form of media ([I'm loving flash drives, myself - they're so cute and nifty) and you'll have every installer you need the the next time you do a fresh install.

emnem

Is the site down?

evulhotdog

@TheEmperorofChaos: Someone took their nasty pills this morning.

But you make a valid point regardless.

i love the idea, but in the age of the internet and constant updates, isn't this concept a little dated? i mean, i feel like i reformat my computer a lot(less than every 6 months) and i still go to the internet for the latest version of software

AugustNanobug

yeah I've had this for a long time sudo apt-get install app1 app2 app3 app4 just copy and paste, or make a script and click away. oh... you mean on windows... yeah that's too bad, sorry to hear that. Suck you have to pay for all that too.

YeshayaElephino

@johnsmith1234:
As it were, no. The site does say that public registration will be available later this year. Perhaps then?

I got in the habit of keying in fileHippo's address long before xmarks made it easy to keep a persistent set of bookmarks. Plus, firefox is one of the applications I'd install from fileHippo-- so maintaining a list of bookmarks is kinda putting the horse in front of the cart.

ericesque

@askj113: Indeed, indeed.

Natnie

What about Google Pack?
[pack.google.com]

It offers similar features, though granted it *is* quite Google-centric.

slip

Get rid of Quicktime and you have a winner.

@johnsmith1234: You know a better freeware office suite than OO? Do tell.

bodar

I have this, plus I recently wrote a .bat that will autoinstall everything for me. The code is (.exe first, then .msi): start /wait OR start /wait msiexec.exe /passive TARGETDIR="%PROGRAMFILES%\"

FarrahFedotenko

Not actually very smart is it?

ClarenceBabalindo

@YeshayaElephino: Fanboy.

Fain

@Fain: Fanboy? I thought it just smelled of vinegar and water; reminded me of a Summer's Eve.

Thanks!@ Kevin Vesga for the WPI heads up. I'll def. be checking that out soon.

I need a way to perform stand-alone install of all the garden variety apps I use. (90% of which, i usually grab from filehippo after fresh intall, but the dl and a bazillion user prompts to click through is a royal pain!)

@YeshayaElephino:
little stinking linux troll
go and crawl back in your hole
where you pay no room 'n board
and foss is all you can afford

paintbox

@TheEmperorofChaos: that's what I do. I have a shared folder, and everytime I download and installer it goes into the shared folder. Every time I run Filehippo and download the latest versions they go in there too. This way I have a kind of local-Filehippo Mirror, that is accessable to every machine on my network (and also means I only have to download each app once).

Of course, if some apps autoupdate then they won't be the latest versions, but I'd rather update one or two apps per machine than waste my bandwidth downloading 30+ apps per machine.

as soon as I think of a good name for it I'm away....

@TheEmperorofChaos: retarded?
Find a thesaurus and start using a better word.

rockhopper

@Softmaker Office

2006 is free. Spreadsheet and word processor. I spent the $20 on 2008, more up to date and includes presentation software

You know what, I'm tired of all these app installer apps, I appreciate what they do but there's just too many - and installing a 200 MB app you only use once, to install other apps is complete overkill. Especially if you reinstalled to freshen up xp and remove all the bloat - now you're putting on new apps that will leave behind junk before you even start!

I think I'm going to set about creating a web based version of this, so you just go to this page when you have a fresh install, and it lists all the newest versions of the most popular apps.

Give me about a month (I got some other stuff on)

I use pcdecrapifier on every rebuild I do for friends/family/myself. I consider it an essential app and have always had good results with it.@Jay Beezy:

Superrrman

@Mark Daley:
ericesque is actually right: you don't need 3rd-party software for this on Mac OS X.
Just go to your application folder, then open the Utilities folder, and there you'll find a program called Migration Assistant.
It makes it easy to transfer what you want transferred from your old Mac; documents, setting, AND programs etc.

I actually prefer installing everything manually, being a bit of a controlfreak, but the tool to make it easier are there if you want it.

sredlums

even google pack is a bit bloated - it packages everything together and runs its own installer. I'm talking just a site that links to the newest versions of popular apps

@paintbox: Not the linux troll banishment curse!

Andrew Mussey

@RoryOk: What is 200mb in todays world? That's tiny.

@fosphen: You could also use Ketarin to update your installer exe's for each application automatically. It works great! I have it on my flash to update my portable apps on a regular basis.

oferil

@superrikku: Good news, many people don't need under that 'hood'. I've been doing fine without it for many years.

frak

@YeshayaElephino: It's not very constructuve to put a comment into a Windows topic that just crows about how much better your Linux distro of choice is than whatever's coming out of Redmond.

SuchiNerva

@paintbox: Does it occur to you that some people like GNU/Linux because they like the control and the ability to make the OS do basically anything you want? I don't have anything against Windows, it's a good operating system for gaming and there are many advanced proprietary programs that aren't available on GNU/Linux. Even so, a proprietary system will never let you under the hood as much as a free one.

superrikku

I use FileHippo.com ... I go there and just find mostly what I need. Yes, you have separate DL' s and installers but at least everything is up to date.

ZurielPyrrha

If this did silent installs it would be so worth it...

narcoleptik.ninja

@evulhotdog: Think so, I cannot get to it.

angrysteel

@BrianEsser: 200mb is relatively tiny to you or me, but how many people are going to download that 200mb file in order to use maybe half of the apps at best?

Suppose 100 people download it and use an average of 50% of the apps - that's 100 x (200mb/50) wasted, or 10GB of data needlessly transferred. And with something like this, on a popular site like lifehacker, is likely to generate thousands, if not tens of thousands of downloads, and 50% is a very generous figure. More than likely some of those downloads will include people who will never use it, or only install one or two apps.

All that wasted bandwidth increases our CO2 output.

Alternative: Switch to Mac. :o) lol

OprahBabb

It doesn't have as nice a GUI, but GetIt has every Windows application I've ever even thought about installing. Plus hundreds more:

[www.puchisoft.com]

I have to put in a vote for the Portable Apps Suite as an alternative. The Portable Apps don't need to be 'installed', and so can be simply copied from a separate disk, or even left on a separate drive or partition while you do a clean re-install of Windows.

Re-mastering a Windows install CD using nLite ([www.nliteos.com]) with a pack of pretty-current updates from X-able ([xable.net]) makes the basic installation pretty painless.

If you really hate doing installations, I suppose you could boot your new PC to a minimal Linux with VMware Player, then copy a VMware guest with XP and all of your favorite apps and settings.

DanYHKim

@OprahBabb:
What? You mean that a Mac has all of your favorite third-party applications pre-installed out of the box? Wow! What service!

DanYHKim

@TheEmperorofChaos:

I have a folder that I store all my apps in. They are separated into categories (eg. internet, media, utilities..) to keep them organized. As for keeping them updated, I have them all on my fileforum watch list. Then watch the feed in Google Reader. Anytime there is an update, I download it, rename (the title on fileforum with version number), install it, and replace the old version.

Robert112

@askj113: lol -true.

@YaronOphion: The first law rule of Lifehacker is you do not talk about Lifehacker.

What is the first law of lifehacker?

YaronOphion

Or you could swith to linux and use apt-get!!

Zadamw

@TheEmperorofChaos: If you are only supporting one computer then maybe. However if you're like me and want to have more things to do than babysit a computer during an attended installation, then this is the answer. I get to set the apps that I want and walk away and do more important things like work with other computers as the tedium of watching the install status bar go slowly across the screen is no longer.

AutoIT is much better in my opinion. It won't pre-configure any downloads for you. But once you have them downloaded and in a folder, you could use it to create an installation script that would be silent.

[www.autoitscript.com]

thegooch49

I agree with everyone else that this is a good idea.

Here's what it should have been like, though. The first program is a small download, where you select programs you'd like installed automatically from a list, and then select the settings for each installer. It then either creates an installer that will download and run each installer automatically at installation, or it downloads all the installers to a folder to be installed later, along with an executable to install them, plus the option to put it on a DVD or CD.

TVarmy

Great idea, switch to mac! Then you can be one of those annoying users who asks, "What is the mac alternative to this?" in every LH post.

Luke

I would prefer PortableApps. Install it in your USB stick and plug it in to any PC.

@jadn: ....I just lost the game. Wasn't that the first rule of it?

Makoto

@ugadawg: Have you ever considered copying the "Program Files" folder to a new PC? I know it sounds crazy but I have managed to get Oblivion and FEAR: Perseus Mandate working like this after I was forced to re-install XP (they had a No-CD crack BTW).

I copied most of my apps over to a spare drive before wiping and re-formating my main drive. I then copied them back to the new partition I had created exclusive for "Program Files". If memory serves 90% of the apps worked just fine.

@sprik2323: Why do people keep mentioning portable apps. This is a different problem.

Even with "portable apps" you have to download the installer for different applications. Even with portable apps the applications update and you have to either download the installer again, or hope the application has a built in update facility.

Don't get me wrong, portable apps are great to carry around and use on other PCs, but on my own desktop I actually want to install some of these applications. Particularly things like Java. Is there a portable Java? Does portable Java make sense? Does Portable Avira make sense? It can't exactly do an on access scan.

Another reason I like actual applications is security. If you have a portable app, generally that means the user must have write access to the application directory. That isn't desired from a security point of view. By having the application fully installed, I then run it from within the context of a limited access user. So that means if that application, or any application is compromised, it can't change the program code, and it limits damage to within the user's context.

@YeshayaElephino: sorry your software seems to generally be less entertaining and more underdeveloped bro [no diss]

@r0ckstarferlife: definitely (probably) gonna be helpful for 7 RC.

@trollrepliers: Hey guess what? Both Windows 7 and Ubuntu live together under the same case in my house. ... Great, now everyone's gonna look at me all funny..
lol

@sprik2323: Regarding your concern about security, I believe downloading the software from a different source other than the software publisher's site is a security risk itself (e.g. installers patched with malicious code). It's not that I don't trust SIP's authors.
If I want to limit my exposure to this risk, I would only download Adobe Reader from Adobe website, or Java installer from Sun's website.

This is a valid concern as well. Normally I do try and download straight from the software vendor. Plus of the software listed, Java is the only one I'd actually install. I sure as hell wouldn't install the bloated pig known as Adobe Reader, opting for PDF Xchange Viewer (Which also has a portable version)

The thing is not everything is available as PortableApps, or other non-PortableApps branded portable applications.

@johnsmith1234:

You do have point.
The main goal of SIP as mentioned on their website is to "incorporate a handful of software* usually installed on new computers, reinstalled operating systems, etc.".
For me, personally, I can achieve this goal using PortableApps. I can have portableapps reside on my PC. At least on my home pc.

However, a lot of users want to have the applications installed. For my PC at work, I prefer applications to be installed for accounting/audit purposes.

Regarding your concern about security, I believe downloading the software from a different source other than the software publisher's site is a security risk itself (e.g. installers patched with malicious code). It's not that I don't trust SIP's authors.
If I want to limit my exposure to this risk, I would only download Adobe Reader from Adobe website, or Java installer from Sun's website.

I think the idea of a web page is a fantastic idea. I used to keep all my programmes in a folder on a hard drive. But now with fast broadband, I wait until I need a specific programme, do a search, then download it.

My best idea was to start using Ubuntu. It comes installed with a fantastic assortment of programmes that will eaily satisfy the general user. Any other programmes are available from the Ubuntu add programme service, no web surfing required. Plus they are all automatically updated by Ubuntu, how simple is that? Oh yes 99% are free!

Steve Makepeace

Hey Powel212, where do you get all the apps you need? Sounds like a neat idea to have them all on a usb drive.

bingo bonus

this is the most useless software ive ever seen on lh. maybe it were useful if it was unattended

holybigbang

Don't worry guys. With Windows, you'll get the chance to reinstall soon enough. Just file this away for the end of summer.

MirandaCleite

Hey guys, this tool really is strange. OK, nice GUI, but whats up with the few programs? And no silentinstall? what about updates. hmm. When i want to install programs, i go to filehippo and download ´em to and usbdrive and install the programs. THEN i install filehippo update checker that checks every program and some drivers with their big archive. A very very great tool, almost like apt-get update except you need to install the programs manually. :/

MadelineLulu

Ok, so the above batch isn't the best way to keep stuff up to date. I'd only used it for initial installs and use the appsnap gui for updates. I tried the above script and it downloads and installs everything you list, even if you have the latest version. So, not efficient. I thought it would skip over current items. If you are only looking to download and/or install the latest versions, then the batch script works great.

@seamonkey420: How about a combination of appsnap and a batch file?

cd "%systemdrive%\Program Files\AppSnap\"
AppSnap.exe -n "7-Zip" -u
AppSnap.exe -n "CCleaner" -u
AppSnap.exe -n "CutePDF Writer" -u

For a new machine, I created an nlite installer that customizes my system, installs appsnap, copies an appsnap config file, launches appsnap and launches a batch file to install the programs I use. I hardly have to do anything now when I feel like wiping my system and starting over.

I use Windows Post-Installer ([www.wpiw.net]) which I carry around on a flash drive.

AngelBlue01

While this could be of use to the average persone with little knowledge in what software to use.
I much rather go throught my external Hardrive where I have all my installers saved. Sure they are out of date, but they usualy auto-update themselves so it isn't really a problem and it only has the programs I want to use.

@MirandaCleite: See. Now THAT was funny! Kindof clever. An informed troll with a bit of humor mixed in, isn't as bad a troll, as, let us say, the trolls that come out of remedial school and head straight to LH.

paintbox

@jadn: Rule #8: If this is your first time on Lifehacker..... you *have* to fight. Rule #9: If this is your _____ time on Lifehacker, you *have* to fight. At least until they wise up and ban you.

paintbox

Off topic.... Some people were talking about the Rules of Lifehacker on this thread. I was thinking I violated one of them-- Don't feed the trolls. There were one or two nix hecklers, and I just had to answer back. I have to learn to resist. It's awfully hard though.

As a rule I don't butt in on the Mac or nix threads, so I always want the same courtesy in return, and when it doesn't happen, I want to impale some fanboys.

paintbox

What I really need it something that I can provide my own install files that I don't need to monitor. Hopefully with the ability to automatically restart the computer as well

idogis1