What's the best way for a .NET windows forms application to update itself?

Question

I use a home-grown system where the application updates itself from a web service. However, I seem to remember something in the original .NET sales pitch about auto-updating of components being a built-in feature of .NET. What are the best practices for having an application update itself and/or the assemblies it uses?

Answer 1

You may want to take a look at the Click-Once technology. Some great examples in these references.

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/install/QuickClickOnceArticle.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163973.aspx

Answer 2

Will ClickOnce do everything you want?