MAKEMSI quickly and reliably creates MSI files in a non-programmatic way\Windows Installer BasicsMerge Modules

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Windows Installer Basics: Merge Modules

A merge module is a way of making parts of an MSI reusable so that you can easily produce a "part" that others can use in their MSI. You should always look for merge modules for external vendor files such as "msvcr80.dll", if a merge module exists always use it!

You can use the "MergeModule command" to include merge modules and see the "Making Merge Modules" section for details about creating them in MAKEMSI.

Some (relatively few) merge modules require configuration.

Most merge modules seem to be badly written and at a minimum you can expect many validation messages (errors as well as warnings), see the "Common Merge Module Issues" section for a list of issues I have seen.

Links to Merge Module Resources

Some links to merge module related resources and downloads are:

• 
  Links to many resources and locations of merge modules you can download (from many vendors), some specific pages:
  • Main Merge Module Page
  • Merge Module Bugs Bulletin

• 
  Good list of links to places where you can download merge modules.

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