Best way to deploy Visual Studio application that can run without installing

Question

I wrote a fairly simple application with C#/.NET and can't figure out a good way to publish it. It's a sort of a "tool" that users would only run once, or run every few months. Because of this, I'm hoping that there is a way I could deploy it where it wouldn't need installing to run (it could just be run by double-clicking an EXE file straight after downloading).

However, it still needs (somehow) to include the correct version of .NET, libraries, etc. so it will run correctly. I know this is included when using ClickOnce, but that still installs the application onto the user's computer.

Is there a way this can be done?

EDIT - \bin\Debug

myAppName.application myAppName.exe myAppName.exe.config myAppName.exe.manifest myAppName.pdb myAppName.vshost.application myAppName.vshost.exe myAppName.vshost.exe.config myAppName.vshost.exe.manifest extraLibrary.dll 

as well as two folders

app.publish Resources 

Answer 1

It is possible and is deceptively easy:

1. "Publish" the application (to, say, some folder on drive C), either from menu Build or from the project's properties → Publish. This will create an installer for a ClickOnce application.
2. But instead of using the produced installer, find the produced files (the EXE file and the .config, .manifest, and .application files, along with any DLL files, etc.) - they are all in the same folder and typically in the bin\Debug folder below the project file (.csproj).
3. Zip that folder (leave out any *.vhost.* files and the app.publish folder (they are not needed), and the .pdb files unless you foresee debugging directly on your user's system (for example, by remote control)), and provide it to the users.

An added advantage is that, as a ClickOnce application, it does not require administrative privileges to run (if your application follows the normal guidelines for which folders to use for application data, etc.).

As for .NET, you can check for the minimum required version of .NET being installed (or at all) in the application (most users will already have it installed) and present a dialog with a link to the download page on the Microsoft website (or point to one of your pages that could redirect to the Microsoft page - this makes it more robust if the Microsoft URL change). As it is a small utility, you could target .NET 2.0 to reduce a user's probability to install .NET.

It works. We use this method during development and test to avoid constantly uninstalling and installing the application and still being quite close to how the final application will run.