>>>I have been asked to create one of those auto run programs for a CD of demo software. The auto run program will simply display a window with the demo program names and corrisponding Install buttons.
>>>
>>>I would like to use VFP6 and a Top-Level-Form (hoping DCOM has been updated). Can I run a VFP6 EXE from a CD without first installing the runtime files if the runtime files are located on the CD?
>>>
>>
>>You still need to install the VFP runtime files on the target system, as well as any ActiveX components, and need to tell VFP up front not to try writing its workfiles on the CD through the TMPFILES setting in CONFIG.FPW; I'd also turn off the resource file.
>
>I don't think this is true. You can place the vfp dll's on the CD to get your Install.exe program to work. (VFP6enu.dll, vfp6r.dll and vfp6renu.dll and ofcourse foxtools.fll.) ActiveX I think will still need to be installed because of the registry thingamabob.
>

So do some of the VFP runtime components. there is no requirement that the files reside in a particular directory; the ones that are registered must reside where they were registered, and non-registered components must be somewhere on the Windows search path. The same rules apply to ActiveX components.

There is a serious consequence to not putting the components on the local system, since there are entries in the registry that point to them. Not having the components where the registry says they are will make things break. Not having the components in a writable location makes it difficult to upgrade those components at best - for example, new runtime components were needed when VS SP3 was released. Additionally, other components may rely on those registry entries when they register or install; things like the MFC runtime DLLs. YMMV.