Create self-extracting package using built-in Windows tool

Microsoft Windows comes with a handy tool for us to create self-extracting/self-installing package.

There are a lot of applications for us to zip/unzip files/folders, some of them even let users to create self-extracting package. Winzip, WinRar, and 7-zip are among the famous applications which provide these features. But, do you know that Windows actually comes with built-in tool to do this?

Steps

1. Go to Start -> Run -> type “iexpress“.
2. An IExpress Wizard will popup. Choose “Create new Self Extraction Directive file” and press Next.



3. Choose “Extract files only” and press Next. Then give your package a name.
4. After you name your package, press Next for the following dialog boxes, until you asked to add files into your package.
5. Here, i had added 2 files. After you add your files, press Next to continue.



6. Press Next for the following dialog boxes. After that, provide target path and filename for your package, and you can choose to either create a Self Extraction Directive file or not. This is to let you modify the package in future.
7. Done. Now you created a “xxx.exe” package which will extract to targeted location when launch.