Silent Install Helper brings silent batch installation of software to Windows

Silent Install Helper is a unique program for Windows that enables you to batch install and remove programs on the operating system while revealing useful information about each program that you load in its interface.

Windows users have a couple of options when it comes to deploying multiple programs on the system. It is probably easiest if you deploy portable programs as you can just drop them somewhere on the system and be done with it, but if software needs to be installed, it becomes less intuitive quickly.

You can use programs like Chocolatey or Ninite for that, but they may not support programs that you want to install.

Silent Install Helper is a free open source program for Windows that comes to the rescue. Start the portable program after download to load the main interface that you use to configure jobs.

Select Installer > Add Installer or Installer > Add Folders of Installers to get started. The former option lets you select a single installer from the local system while the latter crawls the selected folder for installers and adds them all to the interface.

Detailed information about each installer is displayed in the program interface afterwards. This includes the installer type, size, date and whether it contains unwanted software.

While the program may not detect unwanted software in all installers, it may help you detect these programs prior to installation.

A right-click on a program installer displays options to customize it. You may for instance use the menu to add custom installation commands, run commands before or after installation of the program, send simulated keystrokes, or set the "unwanted software flag".

Once you are done adding and configuring installers, you use the Tools menu to generate a cmd file or a WPI config file which you then use to install all selected programs silently on systems.

The program adds silent switches automatically to programs which you can verify when you open the cmd file after its creation.

It needs to be noted though that this works only if the installer is known yb Silent Install Helper. The program supports a wide variety of popular installers including Inno Setup, Smart Installer, various archive installers, InstallShield or MSI files.

Uninstall on the other hand works similar to the removal of programs in Windows but with the added benefit that silent uninstalls are supported.

Silent Install Helper displays all installed programs on the system giving you options to remove individual programs or multiple programs in one fast operation. Simply select one or multiple programs from the list, right-click on the selection afterwards and select the regular uninstall method or quiet uninstall instead.

Please note that quiet uninstall is only supported by select installers and won't work if you have selected programs that use unsupported installers.

The application displays additional useful information and options in two additional tabs. The compatibility mode tab lists programs and shortcuts that run in compatibility mode, for instance as admin, in a select resolution or with disabled themes.

Unwanted Software on the other hand provides you with options to automatically close processes or windows. This has been designed to prevent incompatibilities with software running on a system and not to block adware in installers from being deployed on the system.

Verdict

Silent Install Helper is a useful program. Not only can it be used to create batch installation files for programs that you want to install silently on a machine running Windows, it highlights unwanted software in installers on top of that.

Add to that options to add custom commands to the process, and to create cmd and WPI config files, and you have got a powerful tool at your disposal for that task.

The interface displays incorrectly at times though and you will find a couple of spelling errors in the program as well. Other than that, it works surprisingly well and without issues.