The Sysinternals set of freeware utility programs is a great software package. Once you have started using them it is almost impossible to get along without them.
Whenever I get to a new PC, one of the first things I do is to install e.g. the Process Explorer from Sysinternals. However, installation always requires some manual operations as the programs are delivered in zip-files and without installation programs. Another issue for lazy people like me is that the author Mark Russinovich quite often update the programs with new great functionality and checking for this and doing the manual update can be a bit tedious.
Due to this I created SISetup, a small program that facilitates installation of an arbitrary number of the Sysinternals utilities. Once installed it is also very easy to check for updates of these programs and when available the update will be installed automatically. I also wanted the program to be as simple as possible with no fuzz and to run without any prerequisites i.e. unzipping of the packages should be made by the program itself. The program is quite small, only 108 KB.
If you like me are addicted to the Sysinternals utilities you may find use for SISetup.
SISetup runs on any version of Windows, from Windows 95 to Vista. Please note however that most Sysinternals programs require at least Windows 2000.
An Internet connection is required when running SISetup.
No specific package download is required, you just start the program from the link below. You can choose to either run the program directly or download it for a first virus check or alike. When starting the program for the first time you will get the usual warnings about running an unsigned application.
SISetup will install itself into a folder named Sysinternals in the "Program Files" directory. It will retrieve it's initial default settings from this site, see more in the technical details section below.
Click here start and install SISetup
Once started the program will display the following dialog:
Here you choose which programs to install and if you want them to start
automatically whenever you log onto Windows. This first time the list will
contain a default set of Sysinternals applications. You can modify the list of
applications via the contents of the settings data text file described below.
Once you press the OK button, SISetup will connect to the
Sysinternals web site and download the specified applications. The packages are
then unzipped and startup menu entries are created for each of the installed programs
in a sub menu named Sysinternals. This menu also contains a sub menu for
SISetup. In there you find entries for checking for updates of the installed
programs, installing more programs and for uninstalling everything, see below.
Whenever launched SISetup will display the progress of its operations in a text window:
When the "Install more" entry is selected the same dialog is shown as during the first installation. When selecting new programs these will be installed. All already present programs will be updated when applicable. If a previously installed program is deselected then it will be removed from the installation.
All installed Sysinternals programs are put in individual subdirectories to the SISetup installation directory.
During any update or installation operation SISetup will normally also check for updates of itself and apply these when applicable. This function can be disabled via the settings data file.
When running the installed SISetup for the first time you will most likely get the following warning:
Unless you want this to happen whenever you start SISetup, deselect the "Always ask..." check box.
Current version is 1.1.1, dated September 24, 2008.
Version history:
1.1.1 2008-09-24
Just a minor bug-fix update. The main entries in the start menu were not always
updated correctly.
1.1.0 2008-09-18
This version has the following new items:
1.0.1 2008-02-08
This is a minor update of the original 1.0.0 version. It handles the fact that
the files in some of the Sysinternals zip archives now have read-only
attributes. This caused an error during the update operation in the previous
version.
1.0.0 2007-12-09
First public release
SISetup is controlled by a data file named SISetup.txt which is located in the same directory as the program itself. When missing a default one will be retrieved from this site.
The syntax for this file is fairly straightforward, click here to view the default one. Up to 15 Sysinternals utilities can be added.
It is possible to have your own default data file e.g. for a specific set of programs within a group of people. Just place a copy of "SISetup.exe" together with your specific version of "SISetup.txt" to a public directory and let everyone install from there. In this case this version of the data file will be used as the default.
All registry settings and shortcuts are made on user level hence no admin privileges should be required.
Possible proxy server settings defined in Internet Explorer are used for SISetup's Internet connection when applicable.
SISetup uses the unzip function from the INFO-zip open source code.
SISetup is freeware i.e. you can use it free of charge and no registration is required.
Please note that SISetup is not connected to Sysinternals or Microsoft in any way.
Any type of feedback as well as support questions can be sent to the author Peter Lerup
at the following addresses: peter@lerup.com
SINCE THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE, THE INFORMATION AND CODE PROVIDED IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL PETER LERUP BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF PETER LERUP HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY.