Q: Updating ClickOnce application manually Some time ago I've released a desktop application using the ClickOnce installer. I packaged the installer files in a ZIP file and uploaded that to a 3rd party website from where people can download it. It was configured not to check for updates automatically. I now want to release an update for this application, so I tried to publish the application through Visual Studio's publishing wizard again and run that new installer. I now get the error that I cannot run the installer because the application was previously installed from a different location. Putting my installer in that previous location (I retrieved it from some log file the installer presents you) makes it work again.
This is a restriction I do not wish to enforce on people who download the new version of the application. Is there a way for me to update the application by having them download an updated installer and run that from basically any location on their hard disk?
I realize I've probably used ClickOnce in a completely wrong way, but if there's no way to do what I want, what do you suggest is the best course of action to get my application updated?

A: Use //localhost/CD/ as your Update location. This will tell the ClickOnce setup to look for the most recent manifest in the user's local "current directory". The change in manifest is what indicates that there's an update.
In Visual Studio, it's under Project Properties > Publish > Updates...

A: you can publish your updated app to the new location, and then, publish a whole different application which asks the users to uninstall the current installed one and reinstall the new.
the 'whole different' app will be published to the current update folder. this way, your users will be get the instructions on how to get the newly published app.
