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What is silent installation? Silent installation: Windows, Microsoft Office

Today, many users are faced with the situation when when installing a software product it is suggested to use Silent Install mode (silent installation). What is a silent installation and how to produce it for different types of software will now be considered. In addition, let's look at some of the problems that can arise when using such a process.

What is silent installation?

Silent installation (based on the interpretation of this term) is quite specific, but very convenient process.

Roughly speaking, for the same MS Office product, a silent installation is that the package is installed in the background while the user quietly rest peacefully. In other words, its participation is limited only to running the installation file, and the entire process from the beginning to the complete completion will be done without its direct intervention in the installation process.

For an ordinary user, this approach to installing software of any type is a real find - this is not discussed.

The basic types of silent installation

If we talk about the processes themselves, they can be classified by the type of installers and how to run the installation distribution.

To date, the most common installation modules are the following:

  • Install Shield.
  • NSIS.
  • WISE Installer.
  • Inno Setup.

In most cases, they are used for silent installation for Windows systems. As for running the installer, there are three main methods:

  • Command line with silent install attribute;
  • Executable files of formats COM and BAT;
  • Self-extracting SFX archives and the like.

Windows: silent installation

For the installation of Windows operating systems, the use of MSI and MSU format files is provided (the second type is an installer of system updates). It is believed that the quiet installation of RUS-versions of the system (Russified interface) is done in this way, but only with the use of a special key.

Typically, modifications of programs or systems that support this method of installation are marked with the word unattended. If you use the QB silent installation key during the installation of the system, the user will be able to observe all the actions that occur.

If the QN key is used, an even quieter installation is assumed, when the installation itself as a "Wizard" or an icon in the system tray is not displayed on the screen, and the process itself can be seen only in the "Task Manager". But this applies to Install Installer.

In the case of an installer like Inno Setup, the SP attribute is used as the silent installation key. To recognize the installer, when running the executable file, use the combination Alt + Space, then the corresponding menu will appear on the screen, where you need to select the "About" section or something like that.

Microsoft Office Product Installation

For Microsoft Office, a silent installation is also provided. If you use SFX-archive, the problem disappears by itself.

However, usually after downloading the office package, even from the official site, the installation file is a regular "exeshnik", which should be launched. In normal mode (even if you start on behalf of the administrator) get a quiet installation will not work. Here the command line is useful.

Installing programs using attributes on the command line

What is a silent installation in this case? This is the launch of a file indicating its location on the hard disk or removable media using a special attribute.

So, for example, for any program that is installed using an executable, the command in the console might look something like this:

C: filename.exe / S (this attribute is used for the NSIS collector).

In any case, for each particular type of installer, there is its own attribute. There is still a whole set of commands, but it does not make sense to bring them all for the average user, since it raises legitimate doubts that an untrained user will try to cancel the installation or use not a standard silent installation, but even less noticeable. For a general understanding of the situation, these explanations are sufficient.

Instead of an afterword

Some software may not support silent mode. For example, you can often see problems with the corporate version of the Avast antivirus. Even the use of SFX-archive does not lead to anything.

The way out of this situation can be the use of configuration files, the instructions of which can be read on the website of the software developer. As a rule, these are executable files of BAT or COM format. Here, only installers are able to pick up instructions for silent installation only if the directory file is in the same directory as the installer.

But this is not the end of the problem. For example, some portable versions of programs (in particular, Mozilla Firefox) may stop recognizing the configuration settings contained in INI-files. In addition, many experts to create self-extracting archives with a distribution package recommend using the 7Zip archiver, and not more popular utilities such as WinRAR or WinZIP. Here the main point is the fact that 7Zip supports the maximum compression technology, which is not provided for in other programs (it is simply not supported for them, and an error appears when trying to unpack, as if indicating a violation of the integrity of the archive).

What is a quiet installation, we figured out. It remains to add that here only general material was given for the first acquaintance with such technologies. If the user needs to more fully study all aspects related to silent installation, it is better to read additional materials related to each type of installers.

And, of course, it is difficult to name a silent installation a special innovation, but its advantages for an inexperienced computer user are undeniable, because you will not have to interfere with the installation of any software. In addition, depending on the complexity of the software and the size of the distribution, the installation process can take quite a long time. But there's nothing you can do about it, so you'll have to wait.

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