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A friend recently had an interesting problem - he wants to promote the use of podcasts to instructors as a component of courses taught online, and identified the excellent, open-source Audacity as their Windows tool of choice. However, as he began writing documentation for installing and using Audacity, he realized many instructors would be immediately turned off by the complicated installation process required to set Audacity up for exporting projects as mp3 files - many instructors who could otherwise be taught how to record and save projects would not understand how to unzip LAME, copy the DLL file into Audacity’s folder, then point Audacity to the lame encoder. Instead of writing thorough documentation that would likely daunt non-savvy instructors, I suggested an alternative - creating our own installer. It worked so well, I thought others might benefit from the idea.

First, a word about licensing.
I originally wanted to provide the one-step Audacity/LAME installer as a downloadable file, but started reconsidering after looking into license issues. Audacity and LAME are themselves covered by GPL/LGPL and therefore are re-distributable; however, I can’t tell what the SetupStream license terms are, and the patent mess covering the mp3 format may prevent distributing a package that installs Audacity with built-in mp3 output. Since I can’t really tell, I listed the steps required to make your own installer, and you can choose how you use or distribute it.

Step 1
First, I downloaded the tools I’d need. Since I was creating a custom installer, I needed the zipped version of Audacity, not their installer. Additionally, I needed LAME and an installation creator with the ability to insert registry keys. After trying a couple install creators, I chose SetupStream - it’s easy to use, freeware and offers a wide array of features, including all those I need.

• Audacity 1.2.6 - look under “Optional Downloads” for the zipped version
• LAME 3.97 - I used the 3.97 bundle available at RareWares (direct download link)
• SetupStream 2.082

Step 2
Next, some preliminary steps: unzip Audacity into its own folder, then unzip the file lame_enc.dll from the LAME zip file into the the same folder that contains Audacity.exe. Install and start SetupStream, select Create New Setup and click Next.

Step 3
SetupStream now prompts for basic program information - enter at least the program name and version, select Announce as Application (I’ll explain more about this feature later) and click Next.

Step 4
Now we add the files to be installed. Due to a quirk with SetupStream, to maintain folder structure each sub-folder has to be independently added to the project; otherwise, all files in sub-folders will be installed into one main root folder. We’ll start with the files contained in the main Audacity folder: click Add, enter <Install Root>\ in Destination Folder, click Browse and Add Folder Content, then select the folder containing our unzipped Audacity files and click OK. SetupStream will prompt to include files in subdirectories, click No Change the text in Destination Folder to <Install Root>\Languages, click Browse and Add Folder Content, then select the Languages subdirectory in our unzipped Audacity folder, and click No to prevent subdirectories from being included. Repeat the process for the Nyquist and Plug-ins subdirectories, first changing the text in Destination Folder then adding the files. When finished, click OK then Next.

Step 5
SetupStream now prompts for any registry changes the installer should include. Audacity stores the location for the lame encoder (the lame_enc.dll file) in the registry; if that registry key doesn’t exist, Audacity will prompt the user for this file. By inserting this registry key as part of the installation process, the end-user suffers one less confusing step. Click Add, then select or type the following values:

• Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
• Path: \Software\Audacity\Audacity\MP3\
• Key: MP3LibPath
• Value: C:\\Program Files\\Audacity\\lame_enc.dll
• Type: String

Step 6
SetupStream now prompts for a License Agreement - you can leave this blank.

Step 7
SetupStream now prompts for Windows Compatability and whether to Require Reboot. Leave All Versions checked and Require Reboot unchecked, then click Next.

Step 8
SetupStream next prompts for the Default Destination Folder - enter <ProgramFiles>\<AppName>, leave Enable Serial Checking unchecked and click Next.

Step 9
SetupStream now prompts for start-up shortcuts. In my opinion, it’s a good idea to at least insert a short-cut on the Start > Programs menu, as most computer users look there for programs, and possibly also on the Desktop. To avoid cluttering a user’s Desktop, I instructed SetupStream to add a short-cut only on the Start menu by clicking Add, then selecting or entering the following values:

• Location: <StartMenu>\<AppName>
• Target: <InstallRoot>\audacity.exe
• Parameters: left this value blank
• Caption: Audacity
• User-specific Short-cut Icon: left this value unchecked and blank

Step 10
SetupStream now prompts for any DLL or OCX files to register - leave this blank.

Step 11
SetupStream now prompts for any Additional Commands to execute post-installation or pre-uninstallation. Leave these blank.

Step 12
SetupStream next prompts for the location and type of install file to create. I directed the finished installer to a folder on my desktop, chose Web as the installation type (CD will create a root folder complete with autorun.ini file) and left Unattended Setup blank. Click Next to compile the installer, Finish to exit the program and enjoy your new, easy-to-use Audacity and LAME installer!

Screenshots of the resulting installation program:

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