Originally created and hosted by Crucifer [old].
Copies of this INF Guide
can (still) be found at:
A MUST:
You can take advantage of the built-in setup engine in Windows 95/98/ME by writing a setup script (an INF), and use various methods to execute the script. The advantages of using the built-in engine is size: the functions to copy files, add registry entries, create shortcuts etc. are in the Windows 95/98/ME operating systems, so you don't need to ship a setup engine, only an INF and the program files you want to install. Windows 95/98/ME INFs can be used to install and uninstall a particular component. However, a separate script is required for each.
The disadvantages of using the Windows 95/98/ME setup engine are inflexibility and lack of some features found in other setup programs. Windows INFs cannot prompt the user for a destination directory, it must be hard-coded in the INF. It also does not have the capability to execute much logic in the way of deteremining what is already on the user's machine, and branching accordingly.
If you prefer to browse through this INF Guide offline, download it [333 KB, English]:
You need an unZIPping tool to extract the
files.
Then use your favorite web browser to open
index.htm .
Enjoy.
The easiest way to create an INF is to use a sample INF as a template, and modify it for your own use. A pointer to a generic sample is provided below. Other good examples abound in the %windir%\INF [usually C:\WINDOWS\INF] folder on any Windows 95/98/ME machine. Ones that are especially good are WORDPAD.INF, APPLETS.INF and APPLETPP.INF .
Once you have created an INF, there are a number of ways to execute the script: