- New New per-file Override Archive Filename option: store a file inside the 7-Zip archive under a different name or relative path than its source file, without keeping a manually renamed copy on disk. Configured from a new Archive Name tab in the File Properties dialog, with the final packaged name shown in italics in the File Manager
- New New Uninstall a Previous Version custom action: automatically removes a previously installed version before installing the new one, waiting for the uninstall to actually finish and reporting its outcome in
%PBPREVUNINSTRESULT%so the project can react conditionally (for example, to defer a reboot until installation completes) - New New Before Welcome Screen custom action event, running after the setup language has been selected (so
%SELLANG%and%PBLANGID%are resolved) but before the welcome screen is displayed. Ideal for language-dependent logic that must run before the first screen appears - New Directive files (
.pbd) can now set the Modern Interface header image through the newWizHeaderImagekey in the[General]section; theWizSplash,WizBanner, andWizHeaderImagepaths may also be given relative to the directive file's folder - Improved Updated the embedded 7-Zip / LZMA SDK to version 26.02 across both extraction engines
- Fixed Fixed digital signing failing on large packages (roughly 300–400 MB and above), where the signing tool was terminated before it could finish hashing and timestamping the file. The signing timeout is now configurable in Environment Options → Code Signing (in seconds; default 300; 0 = no timeout)
- Fixed Fixed a crash when opening a directory-based
.pbpxproject whose_pbprojdatafolder was empty or incomplete; Paquet Builder now reports a clear error naming the missing file instead of crashing - Fixed Fixed extension-less files (such as Adobe CMap resources) being dropped from packages compiled on the command line when a folder was added with a
*.*wildcard. Command-line builds now include exactly the same files as the graphical interface - Fixed Fixed the
insert=startposition being ignored when adding a custom action through the MCP server or the built-in AI assistant (actions were appended at the end instead of inserted at the start)
Changelog
A complete history of every Paquet Builder release.
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Version 2026.1
Read announcement- New Native parsing of the
/LCID <num>command-line switch in both installer and uninstaller for multi-language projects; no longer requires thelanguage-from-command-line.xmlcustom action template - New Native parsing of the
/sand/silentcommand-line switches in both installer and uninstaller with exact token matching (no sub-string false positives), enabled by default and toggleable from the Progress Monitor settings - New Pre-compile validation for component references in shortcuts and registry entries: missing or misspelled component names are reported immediately with a complete list of bad references instead of after several minutes of code generation
- New New "Don't Show Again" button in the Additional Packages startup dialog so optional addons stop reappearing every session until a newer version is released
- Improved Enriched runtime crash diagnostics: error messages now include the exception code, resolved fault address, and a stack trace of the calling frames
- Fixed Fixed a critical regression in 2026.0 that caused
error -5 (can't open archive)when extracting multi-volume installers - Fixed Fixed a critical regression in 2026.0 causing random Access Violation crashes at runtime in 64-bit installers (typically right after extraction, when writing uninstall entries or component registry values); root cause was format-string injection
- Fixed Fixed empty "Available Scripts" dropdown in the Call C Function custom action editor when the Developer Options page had not been opened yet in the session
- Fixed Fixed hyperlinks in installer screens (License Agreement, WebView2 and Markdown content) opening a blank Edge window under UAC Over-The-Shoulder elevation
Version 2026.0.2
- New AI-powered configuration assistant with multi-provider LLM support (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, DeepSeek, Ollama, LM Studio) for project configuration, documentation lookup, and AI-driven translations
- New MCP Server: standalone tool exposing 20 commands for AI-assisted automation to open, modify, compile, and save installer projects programmatically via Claude Code and other AI assistants
- New ARM64 native installer support: generate native ARM64 Windows installers alongside existing x86 and x64 targets
- New Installation scope system with 5 modes (None, Current User, All Users, User Choice, Automatic) with automatic path, shortcut, registry, and UAC configuration based on scope selection
- New WebView2 integration: modern HTML/CSS rendering for welcome screens, EULA, readme, and custom dialogs with automatic Markdown fallback for systems without WebView2
- New Custom CSS editor for customizing installer dialog stylesheets
- New JSign code signing support: free, open-source Java-based signing with PFX, hardware tokens (EToken, YubiKey), Azure Key Vault, AWS KMS, and Google Cloud KMS
- New Write Environment Variable custom action: set persistent Windows environment variables (user or system scope) with safe uninstall that only removes variables created by the installer
- New Directory-based project format (.pbpx): new default format stores project data as XML files instead of a single ZIP archive, with external change detection and auto-reload
- New Resource string AI translation: translate selected strings to all project languages using the configured AI provider
- New Fill Missing Strings Across Languages: propagate resource strings from one language to all others where they are missing
- New Custom actions Undo/Redo support (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y) with up to 30 levels of history
- New In-app auto-update system with background checking, release notes dialog, additional package management, and Authenticode verification; no admin elevation required for update check
- New Modernized compilation log with card-based UI, build phase stepper, collapsible sections, dark mode support, and copy path button
- New Drag-and-drop folder support in File Manager: drop folders directly into the file list with optional subfolder scanning
- New New %OSARCH% runtime variable returning x86, x64, or ARM64 based on the OS processor architecture
- New New scope runtime variables: %PBINSTALLSCOPE%, %PBINSTALLSCOPEDIR%, %PBSHORTCUTROOT%, %PBDESKTOPROOT%
- New Full directive export with 68+ parameters, component definitions, and screen templates
- New New directives for installation scope, JSign signing, and additional signing options
- New Long path support up to 2048 characters across installer and uninstaller operations
- New Resource string multi-selection support in the editor
- New Build log right-click context menu with Copy Selected Text and Copy All commands
- New ForceMarkdownViewer property on readme, license, and panel custom actions to force legacy Markdown rendering regardless of WebView2 availability
- New Completely rewritten documentation, integrated directly into the software and available online
- New Offline PDF manual available for download: Installer and SFX Creation Guide
- Improved Azure Trusted Signing rebranded to Azure Artifact Signing, matching Microsoft's rename (old directive names still accepted as aliases)
- Improved LZMA SDK upgraded to version 26.00
- Improved Modern styled message dialogs throughout the application
- Improved Improved HTML editing of dialog content (Welcome, EULA, Readme)
- Improved Component reordering now uses insert/shift instead of swap for more intuitive drag-and-drop
- Improved Improved DPI scaling for side images in modern wizard dialogs
- Improved Project format conversion between directory-based and ZIP-based formats via backstage view
- Improved Updated shipped language files synchronized with English base template for all active languages
- Fixed Fixed side-by-side configuration error when version number has fewer than 4 parts
- Fixed Fixed XML custom actions crash on non-English Windows systems
- Fixed Fixed XML custom actions crash on self-closing or missing XML nodes
- Fixed Fixed white background not applied to checkboxes and radio buttons in installer dialogs
- Fixed Fixed uninstaller temp copy not deleted for non-admin users
- Fixed Fixed access violation (crash) at end of installer/uninstaller execution
- Fixed Fixed buffer overflow in extraction loop with long destination paths
- Fixed Fixed UTF-8 encoding errors in shipped language files (French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
- Fixed Fixed resource string delete not synced across languages
- Fixed Fixed linked component file list not updated when source folder changes
- Fixed Fixed command-line compiler missing subfolder files with directive files
- Fixed Fixed component display order not correctly applied in compiled installer
- Fixed Fixed 'Add Language From File' now merges instead of rejecting duplicates, preserving existing project-specific strings
Version 2025.2
Read announcement- New Introduced a silent installation option for Paquet Builder to enable streamlined deployments
- Improved Changed project saving behavior: projects created with older versions are now consistently saved in UTF-8 format
- Improved Updated error reporting for SignTool: notification in status bar instead of error message when not found
- Improved Enhanced WebUpdate filtering: items for 64-bit (and 32-bit) systems are now properly filtered
- Fixed Resolved Unicode encoding issues with emoticons to ensure correct display in dialog boxes
- Fixed Fixed the Sleep custom action that was not working as expected with the new C compiler
- Fixed Fixed the CRC calculation in WebUpdate module: now computes CRC based on file content rather than string representation
- Fixed Minor bug fixes and optimizations
Version 2025.1
Read announcement- New Added support for Microsoft SignTool in addition to GSignCode for improved code signing flexibility
- New Implemented initial support for Azure Trusted Signing for seamless integration with Microsoft's trusted signing service
- New New directive options for SignTool and Azure Trusted Signing: SignToolCmd, TrustSignEndpoint, TrustSignCodeSigningAccountName, TrustSignCertificateProfileName
- Improved Improved error handling: fatal error changed to warning when no files are specified for compression
- Improved Updated UPX to the latest version for better compression support
- Improved Removed MPRESS as UPX now supports x64 compression natively
- Improved Updated the Shell Extension for full compatibility with 64-bit Paquet Builder
- Improved Updated label progress display to correctly show 'Code Signing XX...' during signing
- Improved Removed redundant confirmation prompt when exiting Environment Options
- Improved Updated documentation and tutorials for the new EXE digital signature options
- Fixed Resolved critical issue with password-protected PFX files: password was not restored correctly
- Fixed Fixed an issue where Paquet Builder would not sign some installers correctly with GSignCode
- Fixed Fixed unexpected unpacking error (-2147467259) when handling multivolume archives
- Fixed Fixed a bug where resource strings were not properly resolved, especially for nested references
Version 2025.0
Read announcement- New Rewritten entire UI: pages now display in tabs for a more modern and intuitive user experience
- New Switched to a new C compiler: Clang replaces PellesC, addressing compatibility issues with Windows 11 24H2 and update KB5046740
- New Adopted a new EXE linker from LLVM for enhanced installer performance
- New Official support for Windows 11
- New New Component Property: exclude the entire component from the build
- New New Directive feature: exclude a component from the build
- New Enhanced Markdown dialog boxes with image support for PNG and BMP formats
- New New support for the latest Windows Registry format (.REG 5.0)
- New Added hotkeys for improved productivity: CTRL+S, CTRL+O, CTRL+N
- Improved Updated 7-Zip and LZMA SDK to version 24.09 for improved compression and decompression
- Improved Enhanced File Manager with corrected sorting functionality and faster navigation
- Improved Improved multi-threading in extraction processes; fixed the 'Stop' button issue during full extraction
- Improved Updated %OSVER% variable, Markdown to HTML conversion engine and Rich Content editor
- Fixed Fixed: %PARAMS% now correctly preserves quotes in command-line parameters
- Fixed Fixed minor bugs
Version 2021.0
- New New 64-bit edition of Paquet Builder: removes the 4 GB memory limit for 7-zip compression
- New New modern wizard theme for installers looking like recent Windows 10 themes
- New Markdown now used for rendering rich content in dialog boxes instead of RTF
- New New rich content editor with WYSIWYG mode or markdown syntax
- New Full support for PNG image format in addition to BMP
- New New custom action: Check for a running process
- New New path variable: LOCALAPPDATALOWDIR
- New Disable custom actions without removing them in the editor
- New New security option: Force integrity check at startup
- Improved Improved file manager with sorting by names, paths, sizes and types
- Improved Installer EXE files now linked with DYNAMICBASE, NXCOMPACT and SEH protection flags
- Fixed Fixed: OR operator (varORBool) did not work properly in some cases
- Fixed Fixed: WOW32 key read and write issues
- Fixed Fixed: 'Cannot change Visible in OnShow or OnHide' error
Version 2020.1
- Improved Internal DLL files are now loaded with absolute paths to prevent possible DLL hijacking
- Fixed Minor improvements and optimizations
Version 2020.0
- New New custom action 'Refresh Windows shell icons'
- Improved Improved UI with new light and dark themes
- Improved Improved file scanning for folders
- Fixed Fixed random crashes with Windows 10 May 2020 update (build 2004)
- Fixed Fixed 'fields in action boxes filled in black' with custom Windows theme
Version 2019.1
- Improved Directives: ProjectTemplate can now contain directive variables
- Improved Automatic retry for code signing if first attempt fails
- Fixed Fixed: some package configurations could not create sub folders when extracting
- Fixed Fixed: some registry entries under Windows 7 x64 were not correctly created
Version 2019.0
- New New custom action: Ask User Multiple Choice (Drop down)
- New Select, copy, cut, paste or delete several custom actions at once
- New Extended registry access with 64-bit branch support
- New New 'Volatile' property for volatile registry keys
- Improved Upgraded to 7-Zip and LZMA SDK 19.00
- Improved Major improvements for 4K and high DPI screens, multiple monitors
- Fixed Fixed: uninstaller Uninst.exe file was not removed when run silently
Version 2018.1
- New New scrollbar replacement for the main navigation tree
- New New Custom Action template to retrieve exact Windows 10 version number
- Fixed Fixed: long extraction passwords were not correctly encoded
- Fixed Fixed crash on some CPUs
Version 2018.0
- New New variable operations: trim whitespaces, string length, extract substring
- New Packages can execute apps as un-elevated process (standard user rights)
- New New event for custom actions: After Shortcut/Registry Creation
- New New %USERPROFILE% pre-defined variable
- Improved Fully compatible with all recent Windows 10 updates
- Improved Improved decompression speed thanks to 7-Zip and LZMA SDK 18.05
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