How do I embed a banner image and or add remove programs icon in my setup project?

Question

I'm using a setup project in visual studio 2010 to create an installer for a program I'm working on. I want to have a custom banner image in my setup as well as a custom icon in add remove programs.

I've added both these images to the "Application Folder" of my installer and was able to get them to show up correctly. However, my program is not very big and only installs as an EXE and a few DLLs. So it seems a little silly to me that the 4th and 5th files that get "installed" are graphics only used during installation.

Is there some way I can embed these images in the installer or one of my other projects?

Answer 1

I'm currently using VS 2008 and just been playing around with the setup project. I believe the following works - it did in my tests.

1. Select the setup project in the solution explorer window.
2. Right click and select Add/File
3. Find your banner Image file and add it.

You will see that it's been added to the Application folder.

1. Select the banner file in the application folder - or in the project list on the solution explorer.
2. Open the Properties Window
3. On the properties set "EXCLUDE" to TRUE.

When you set exclude to true you will see the banner file removed from application folder - but it will still be shown in the project tree - the icon will for the file will have a little red circle with a line through it.

I've done this with both the banner and a custom icon and tested my install - worked fine with both and neither file showed up in the application folder.

Hope this helps.