How to speed up the "Verifying Application Requirements" window?

Question

I am using ClickOnce to deploy a C# application. It is available online only, so I cannot disable the application to check update every time it starts.

Every time when it gets launched from url, you will see a "verifying application requirement" window. This is fine. However, the time it takes for this window to disappear varies greatly. Sometimes it's instant, sometimes it takes a few seconds. Anyone know why this is the case and how to speed up this verifying process?

I am using process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("explorer myURL") to launch the application. I don't know if it matters or is there a better way? (I am launching this application from a Java application)

Answer 1

There are a couple of reasons why this process could take a few seconds to execute. The first is that if your ClickOnce server is busy, it could take it half a second or longer to respond to the request for the .application file.

Additionally, the .application file has to be parsed and checked by the Microsoft Installer software. If the Microsoft Installer application isn't loaded into memory, your PC will need to start that application and pass in the .application file. This could also take a second or two.

Finally, if all is up-to-date, the application will be executed. This could take one or two seconds. Each step may be rather short, but if you are operating in a "worst case" scenario for each step, the application could take 6-10 seconds to start. Possibly even slower if the ClickOnce application server is extremely busy.

This isn't a solution but I'm pretty confident that the answer is that you can not speed up this process. The best possibility is to be sure that your ClickOnce web server is on a speedy data connection and that your computers internet connection is reliable and on a fast connection as well.