CompressionBest Installer Compression

An installer's packaging can vary a lot, depending on the goals it has to meet. The installer may be required to allow running the product directly from a CD or DVD, it may need to be as small as possible for quick online downloads or to be a standard MSI for corporate network deployment. Advanced Installer supports all these scenarios and more, allowing you to select the best installer compression for your situation.

Advanced LZMA compression

Advanced Installer brings you one of the best compression algorithms in the industry. We have partnered with the authors of the much acclaimed 7-Zip compression utility to deliver incredible compression rates for your installers.

  • Highly recommended for web-deployed installs where size is critical
  • Multi-core aware for fastest compression and decompression times
  • LZMA2 algorithm takes advantage of more than 2 cores

JAR packing with Pack200

Starting with Java 5, a new packing tool for JAR files was made available. Advanced Installer helps you use Pack200 to pack the JAR files in your Java application installers. Coupled with LZMA compression, this can reduce their size to less than 20% of the original size.

FileOriginal sizeRegular (CAB) compressedPack200 + LZMA
rt.jar (JRE 1.6)39.2 MB (100%)11.7 MB (30%)3.64 MB (10%)

Standard Windows CAB compression

Using the standard Windows archive format has the following benefits:

  • Can be embedded into MSIs without the help of an additional EXE bootstrapper
  • Very fast compression and decompression
  • Fairly good compression rates

A Smart Cabbing algorithm checks that files with the same source are included only once in the generated CAB file, thus ensuring a minimal installer size without needlessly wasted space.

Unpacked image based installs

For software delivered on CDs or DVDs Advanced Installer can create uncompressed images which can not only be installed but also run directly from the installation media. Images can also be compressed on the fast setting for a perfect trade off between size and install speed, resulting in a Vista-like image based installer.

  • Ability to run products directly from CD/DVD or install them
  • Easy to create multi-volume CD/DVD installs
  • Powerful, customizable, Windows 7-Ready AutoRun and launcher
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This feature is available starting with the Professional Suite. See more features.