Patch Maker can help you create update patches for existing applications. Thus, the ultimate goal of using this program is to create a setup wizard that will only update the old files instead of installing the whole software. Although programming-related issues may seem somewhat esoteric for regular users, Patch Maker can really be used by anyone thanks to the help of a wizard. When you open the application, it automatically takes you through the necessary steps. You should begin by specifying the locations of the old version and the new version of your product respectively, and you can also choose to include subfolders. Then, it is necessary to choose a language for the future setup wizard. Unluckily, it only supports English and French. You should also enter a title for your product. As a next step, you can specify any additional information you would like to appear when the user opens the updater. You can also select a window format from its full screen or normal window. Other options will let you customize the appearance, such as adding pictures and texts. Finally, you can enter the default directory where the created wizard will look for the installed version of your program.
Once you have gone through all the wizard steps, you can make any necessary changes from the program’s main screen. Different tabs can help you easily find the option you need to change. There is also a toolbar where you can find the basic operations. In addition to creating, opening and saving projects, the buttons there can also help you test the wizard before you actually create it and build the final version of your setup files.
There are certainly some aspects of updating an application that Patch Maker cannot manage well because they require changes in the Registry and not simply substituting one file by another. However, Patch Maker can come in very handy for simple updating tasks, like for example substituting an old buggy executable file with a cleaner version. The main advantage of Patch Maker is that it can identify the differences between each old file and the corresponding new one to create an updater that changes only a specific part of the old file. This is definitely a more efficient way than the traditionally used one as it allows you to create really light patch files. And even if this were not enough, it can compress the data to make them even lighter.
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