The goal: I have an .exe file and punch of other files (img/dll/ini/exe) which it depends on in the same folder with it but I'd like to have everything wrapped in a single .exe file which I could pass around on other windows machines and fire up the underlying program by running the standalone .exe.
As a web-only developer this is a whole new foreign continent for me so I'm not sure how this idea might sound in your head - Can one include the files an .exe depends on within the same .exe file? (something like what the resource hacker tool does?)
I guess the other option would be to make another .exe container around the exising and its support files. I've found a few commercial solutions like MoleBox and ThinApp which by their descriptions offer the other option - are there any freewares out there?
I feel it would be too much to ask for a complete overview of the inner workings of creating an .exe file like that but I'd like to get some feel of the "how to" part that goes to the process.