All of the information below is re-produced from the Microsoft online MSDN library and this info together with a wealth of other information can be found at Microsoft. As they keep changing their sites I have not included a link. Just to to Microsoft's support & do a search.

Using the CAB Wizard
The Windows CE operating system uses a .cab file to install an application on a Windows CE–based device. A .cab file is composed of multiple files that have been compressed into one file. Compressing multiple files into one file provides the following benefits:

All of the application's files are present.
You can prevent a partial installation.
You can install your application from several sources, such as a desktop computer or a Web site.
Use the CAB Wizard application (Cabwiz.exe) to generate a .cab file for your application.

To create a device-specific .cab file for an application
Create an .inf file with Windows CE–specific modifications.
Optionally, create a Setup.dll file to provide custom control of the installation process.
Use the CAB Wizard to create the .cab file, using the .inf file, the Setup.dll file, and the device-specific application files as parameters.

Version

The [Version] section is required and specifies the creator of the file and other relevant information.

CESignature = "$Windows CE$"

signature_name

INF_creator

The following code example shows a typical [Version] section.

CEStrings

The [CEStrings] section is required and specifies string substitutions for the application name and the default installation directory.

InstallDir = default_install_dir

app_name

default_install_dir

The following code example shows a typical [CEStrings] section.

DefaultInstall

The [DefaultInstall] section is required and describes the default installation of your application.

[CESelfRegister=self_reg_DLL_filename[,self_reg_DLL_filename] ; new key

shortcut_list_section

setup_DLL

self_reg_DLL_filename

The following code example shows a typical [DefaultInstall] section.

SourceDiskNames

The [SourceDiskNames] section is required and describes the name and path of the disk on which your application resides.

[disk_ordinal= ,disk_label,,path]

The following code example shows a typical [SourceDiskNames] section.

2 = ,"MIPS files",,mips ; Using a relative path

SourceDiskFiles

The [SourceDiskFiles] section is required and describes the name and path of the files in which your application resides.

[filename=disk_number[,subdir]]

The following code example shows a typical [SourceDiskFiles] section.

DestinationDirs

The [DestinationDirs] section is required and describes the names and paths of the destination directories for your application on the target device.

[DefaultDestDir=0,subdir]

Note Windows CE does not support directory identifiers.

subdir

The following code example shows a typical [DestinationDirs] section.

CopyFiles

The [Copyfiles] section, under the [DefaultInstall] section, is required and describes the default files to copy to the target device.

[destination_filename,[source_filename],[,flags]]

The source_filename parameter is optional if it is the same as destination_filename.

flags

COPYFLG_WARN_IF_SKIP 0x00000001 Warn a user if an attempt is made to skip a file after an error has occurred.

COPYFLG_NOSKIP 0x00000002 Do not allow a user to skip copying a file.

COPYFLG_NO_OVERWRITE 0x00000010 Do not overwrite an existing file in the destination directory.

COPYFLG_REPLACEONLY 0x00000400 Copy the source file to the destination directory only if the file is already in the destination directory.

CE_COPYFLG_NO_DATE_DIALOG 0x20000000 Do not copy files if the target file is newer.

CE_COPYFLG_NODATECHECK 0x40000000 Ignore date while overwriting the target file.

CE_COPYFLG_SHARED 0x80000000 Create a reference when a shared DLL is counted.

The following example is a typical [CopyFiles] section.

AddReg

The [AddReg] section, under the [DefaultInstall] section, is required and describes the keys and values that the .cab file adds to the device registry.

[registry_root_string, subkey,[value_name], flags, value[,value]]

registry_root_strings

HKCR The same as HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

HKCU The same as HKEY_CURRENT_USER

HKLM The same as HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

value_name

flags

FLG_ADDREG_NOCLOBBER 0x00000002 If the registry key exists, do not overwrite it. This flag can be used in combination with any of the other flags in this table.

FLG_ADDREG_TYPE_SZ 0x00000000 The REG_SZ registry data type.

FLG_ADDREG_TYPE_MULTI_SZ 0x00010000 The REG_MULTI_SZ registry data type. The value field that follows can be a list of strings separated by commas.

FLG_ADDREG_TYPE_BINARY 0x00000001 The REG_BINARY registry data type. The value field that follows must be a list of numeric values separated by commas, one byte per field, and must not use the 0x hexadecimal prefix.

FLG_ADDREG_TYPE_DWORD 0x00010001 The REG_DWORD data type. Only the non-compatible format in the Win32 Setup .inf documentation is supported.

The following code example shows a typical [AddReg] section.

CEShortcuts

The [CEShortcuts] section, a Windows CE–specific section under the [DefaultInstall] section, is optional and describes the shortcuts that the installation application creates on the device.

[shortcut_filename,shortcut_type_flag,target_file/path[,standard_destination_path]]

shortcut_filename

shortcut_type_flag

target_file/path

standard_destination_path

The following code example shows a typical [CEShortcuts] section.

Sample .inf File

The following code example shows a typical .inf file.

Creating an .ini File for the Application Manager

The .ini file contains information that registers an application with the Application Manager. The .ini file has the following format:

CabFiles = cab_filename [,cab_filename]

component_name

descriptive_name

uninstall_name

install_directory

icon_filename

icon_index

device_filename

cab_filename

Sample .ini File for application manager

The following code example shows a typical.ini file.