

Ask HN: Idea for an automatic silent installer for *any* software - superasn

Hi,<p>I've been using NiNite for some time and because I like it so much I was just wondering how one could create an automatic installer for just about <i>ANY</i> software and then it occurred to me that it can be almost 100% automated.<p>All you have to do is use a software like SandBoxie to run the installer inside a sandbox and then see the files and registry entries it creates or changes (much like how Revo Uninstaller monitors). I think RegisterMon and FileMon can be used to monitor this as well.<p>I'm guessing file and registry entries are all there is to make _most_ software work after installation. So with this list in hand it should be easy to create an automatic silent installer for almost any software out there.<p>Advantages:<p><pre><code>  1) Silent unattended install for **any** software
  2) Bulk installation of many different software at once.
  3) Anyone can create silent installer with their own custom settings. 
  4) Automatical uninstaller since you know exactly which files/keys are being created.
  5) No toolbar/crapware even by mistake.
   </code></pre>
I just thought of it so wondering what other hackers think of it. Does anything like this exists? Are there any holes in my theory? Would love to hear what other hackers think of it!<p>The idea behind it is to create an community style website (that extends Ninite) for just about any software. Where users can submit their own installers for free software (like CCleaner, OrbitDownloader, DoPDF, etc).
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iamdave
<http://www.landesk.com/products/software-distribution.aspx>

LanDesk does this. Used it extensively as a build engineer at a call-center
some years ago.

