How to create an update package using installation project

Question

I've packaged my vb.net project with an installer project and installed it on my pc. Now, how can I make an update patch if I want to update my installed program? I'm using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. I've tried to Google on this issue but instructions are unclear to me.

Answer 1

One way to do it is as follows:

If the installer package installs your application into the fixed location, ie when user can't select where to install, you can always have your update package go to that same location and replace your assemblies.

If the location is dynamic, your initial installation needs to leave some registry keys/values related to the location. Then your update package can get the location from the registry and replace the assemblies based on that data.