There are tons of ways. Pretty much all of them require a second executable. Here is the source used for updating programs on our Intranet. There is update detection code in each executable. When that executable detects that there are updates available, it notifies the user. When the user says "Update," the program launches the updater and closes. This isn't the cleanest or most secure code, but it works.
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Net
Public Class frmMain
Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form
#Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "
Public Sub New()
MyBase.New()
'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.
InitializeComponent()
'Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call
End Sub
'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
If disposing Then
If Not (components Is Nothing) Then
components.Dispose()
End If
End If
MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
End Sub
'Required by the Windows Form Designer
Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer
'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.
'Do not modify it using the code editor.
Friend WithEvents Button1 As System.Windows.Forms.Button
Friend WithEvents RichTextBox1 As System.Windows.Forms.RichTextBox
Friend WithEvents ProgressBar1 As System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar
Private Sub InitializeComponent()
Dim resources As System.Resources.ResourceManager = New System.Resources.ResourceManager(GetType(frmMain))
Me.Button1 = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Me.RichTextBox1 = New System.Windows.Forms.RichTextBox
Me.ProgressBar1 = New System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar
Me.SuspendLayout()
'
'Button1
'
Me.Button1.Enabled = False
Me.Button1.FlatStyle = System.Windows.Forms.FlatStyle.System
Me.Button1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(360, 8)
Me.Button1.Name = "Button1"
Me.Button1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(72, 32)
Me.Button1.TabIndex = 2
Me.Button1.Text = "Launch"
'
'RichTextBox1
'
Me.RichTextBox1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(8, 48)
Me.Ri
