Easy installation method for windows/ Batch Reference needed?

Question

I have a bunch of files that I need to be able to transport and install quickly. My current method for doing so is moving a flash drive with a readme file of where stuff goes whenever I need to move stuff, which is rather inelegant and cumbersome.

My idea for a solution would be to write up a quick script to move files around that I could just click on. I've done some bash scripting before but batch scripting is a little odd to me. Does anyone have a good online reference guide I could use?

An alternative soulution I could accept would be a program that makes an installer for you, though I'm a bit against that as I would lose a lot of control. However, I'd be alright with it if it was extremely simple,

Answer 1

Sounds like robocopy tool is exactly what you need. Very powerful replication command-line tool.

• MS TechNet reference,
• Wikipedia article about robocopy,
• Full command switch guide,
• Batch scripting guide.

Answer 2

I like to use VBscript for this kind of thing. The VBS engine is on every recent windows machine and the language is a little more like real programming than a batch script.

Also, if your installer grows to require WMI functions too, this becomes a piece of cake.