XCOPY deployment

XCOPY deployment is a term used to describe a software application's ability to be installed onto a Microsoft Windows system simply by copying files.

In contrast, the installation of a typical Windows application will require a significant number of additional steps before the application is ready to be used. Most of this additional work involves, directly or indirectly, adding or modifying entries in the Windows Registry. Even when an application uses ordinary files for its own data, many common facilities provided by Windows require some type of "registration" step before they are available to programs. Usually, one or more specialized tools (such as Windows Installer or NSIS) are used to help coordinate these (often complex) operations.

ee also

*Software deployment
*Xcopy

External links

* [http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B326355&x=12&y=16 How to deploy an ASP.NET Web application using Xcopy deployment]
* [http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa302347.aspx .NET Development: Determining When to Use Windows Installer Versus XCOPY]
* [http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235291(VS.80).aspx Visual C++ How to: Deploy using XCopy]