In trying to determine why our setup is so bloated I created several dummy IS projects, each containing only a single 30k file. These projects did not include the windows installer or any redistributables, and did not include dependencies of the added file. Here are the setup.exe sizes from each:
- A dummy InstallScript project is 1.5 MB
- A dummy InstallScript MSI project is 3.5 MB
- A dummy Basic MSI project is 1.6 MB
When the Windows Installer is included -
- A dummy Basic MSI is 4.1 MB
- A dummy InstallScript MSI is 5.9 MB
I understand that the Windows Installer will bloat the setup.exe size, but why is the setup.exe from the basic projects so large? What can I do to reduce it?
- A dummy InstallScript project is 1.5 MB
- A dummy InstallScript MSI project is 3.5 MB
- A dummy Basic MSI project is 1.6 MB
When the Windows Installer is included -
- A dummy Basic MSI is 4.1 MB
- A dummy InstallScript MSI is 5.9 MB
I understand that the Windows Installer will bloat the setup.exe size, but why is the setup.exe from the basic projects so large? What can I do to reduce it?