This is part of my series on How to Install Windows Applications Silently.

This program doesn’t have silent install options, so I use AutoIT to install it. Here’s the AutoIT script:

$title1="AbsoluteFTP®"

Run  ("aftp18.exe")
WinActivate ($title1)
WinWait  ($title1, "Welcome!")
ControlClick ($title1, "&Next >>", "Button1" )
WinWait  ($title1, "Select Directory")
ControlClick ($title1, "&Next >>", "Button1" )
WinWait  ($title1, "Install Icons?")
ControlClick ($title1, "&Next >>", "Button1" )
WinWait  ($title1, "Select Profile Options")
ControlClick ($title1, "&Next >>", "Button1" )
WinWait  ($title1, "Ready to Install!")
ControlClick ($title1, "&Finish", "Button1" )
WinWait  ($title1, "Success!")
ControlClick ($title1, "View ReadMe file now", "Button3" )
ControlClick ($title1, "OK", "Button1" )

Save the above in a text file called AutoIT.au3, and place it in a directory with the AbsoluteFTP executable, which should be named aftp18.exe. Install the program and then configure it to your liking, including licensing information, and any presets you would like all users to have. Once you’ve done this, export the registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Van Dyke Technologies\AbsoluteFTP\License] to a file called HKLM.reg. This will contain the registry information for your licensing. To save your other settings, copy the following files from %ProgramFiles%\AbsoluteFTP\:

• AbsoluteFTP.DAT
• AbsoluteFTP.dmp
• AbsoluteFTP.IDX

If you will be running this on a computer where the users only have ‘user’ permissions (ie they cannot make changes inside the AbsoluteFTP folder), then you will need to open the permissions on that folder for the program to work properly. To do that, create a text file called Security.inf and add the following:

[Unicode] Unicode=yes [Version] signature="$CHICAGO$" Revision=1 [File Security] "%ProgramFiles%\AbsoluteFTP",2,"D:PAR(A;OICI;FA;;;BA)(A;OICIIO;FA;;;CO)(A;OICI;0x1301bf;;;WD)(A;OICI;FA;;;SY)(A;OICI;0x1200a9;;;BU)"

Now, to tie it all together, create a text file called Install.bat, and add the following:

@ECHO OFF ECHO Installing AbsomµçWFReEЧ7F'B÷v—BâåÆWFö—C2WFö—BæS0ЦÖ÷fR"VÆÇW6W'7&öf–ÆRUÇ7F'BÖVçUÆ'6öÛ^uteftp.lnk" "%allusersprofile%\start menu\programs" del "%allusersprofile%\Desktop\absoluteftp.lnk" /Q rd "%allusersprofile%\start menu\programs\absoluteftp" /S/Q copy AbsoluteFTP.* "%ProgramFiles%\AbsoluteFTP\" /y regedit /s HKLM.reg ECHO Updating Security Template secedit /configure /cfg Security.inf /db %temp%\secedit.adb /log %temp%\scelog.txt /verbose Echo Updating Policy del %temp%\secedit.adb del %temp%\scelog.txt gpupdate exit

Here’s what the script does, you can remove any lines that are not necessary in your situation:

1. Don’t echo every line to the screen
2. Echo a description of the purpose of the script
3. Have AutoIT run the script to install AbsoluteFTP
4. Move the shortcut for AbsoluteFTP from the Start Menu to the Programs folder within the Start Menu
5. Delete the shortcut that was created on the desktop
6. Remove the AbsoluteFTP folder created in the Start Menu’s Programs folder (we already have a shortcut there)
7. copy the three files that contain the program settings to the AbsoluteFTP folder
8. Have Regedit add the registry settings contained in the HKLM.reg file
9. Echo message that the Security Template is being updated
10. Update the Security Template with the info in Security.inf
11. Echo message that the Group Policy is being updated
12. Delete temp file
13. Delete temp file
14. Tell the local GPO to update
15. Exit the script