Like most repackagers, Wise Package Studio (WPS) uses 2 snapshots of a machine to record the changes:
Take a before snapshot
Install your application and make all the changes you want (patches, tweaks, etc.)
Take an after snapshot
Compare snapshots to record changes.
Once you’ve created your MSI package you need a second PC to test it while keeping the original installation intact on the other PC. Therefore, in general, you need a minimum of 2 PCs to repackage applications effectively: a Snapshot PC and a Testing PC.
Also referred to as a “Clean Machine” or “Clean Image”, it is a minimal install of the OS and OS patches and the IE browser. We will use this image as a base to build the Snapshot PC and the Testing PC. This image should not be used prior to imaging in order to keep the registry as clean as possible. Just launching an application will populate the User hive and possible the Machine hive as well. If possible, have the OS installed by automated means (Unattended install of windows). This way, your image will always be consistent and clean of usage. We’ll explain how you can build that later.
Some applications will need another application installed before your
particular “setup.exe” will run. For those we make a
special case and install that application prior to running
SetupCapture. (ie. Some applications will need MS-Office installed as
well and for those we install MS-Office prior to running
SetupCapture.) We do not make it part of the CleanPC image.
What
follows are applicable to version 4.5 to 4.62 of Wise Package Studio.
Version 5.x is slightly different (ie no WPSclient.exe but still a
client still exists) and I will update if there is demand for it.