a

sshDeploy/build-gui.ps1

@@ -6,15 +6,40 @@ $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
 $here = Split-Path -Parent $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path
 Set-Location $here
 
+function Test-PyInstaller($pyExe, [string[]]$pyArgs) {
+  $prev = $ErrorActionPreference
+  $ErrorActionPreference = 'Continue'
+  try {
+    & $pyExe @pyArgs -m PyInstaller --version 2>&1 | Out-Null
+    return $LASTEXITCODE -eq 0
+  } finally {
+    $ErrorActionPreference = $prev
+  }
+}
+
 $pyCmd = $null
-if (Get-Command python -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
-  $pyCmd = @('python')
-} elseif (Get-Command py -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
-  $pyCmd = @('py', '-3')
+$candidates = @()
+if (Get-Command python -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) { $candidates += ,@('python') }
+if (Get-Command py -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) { $candidates += ,@('py', '-3') }
+
+foreach ($candidate in $candidates) {
+  $pyExe = $candidate[0]
+  $pyArgs = @()
+  if ($candidate.Length -gt 1) {
+    $pyArgs = $candidate[1..($candidate.Length - 1)]
+  }
+  if (Test-PyInstaller $pyExe $pyArgs) {
+    $pyCmd = $candidate
+    break
+  }
 }
 
 if (-not $pyCmd) {
-  Write-Host "[error] Python 3 not found." -ForegroundColor Red
+  Write-Host "[error] Python 3 with PyInstaller not found." -ForegroundColor Red
+  Write-Host "        Install: py -3 -m pip install pyinstaller" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+  if ($candidates.Count -gt 0) {
+    Write-Host "        PyInstaller is missing in the Python that runs first (often 'python' != 'py -3')." -ForegroundColor Yellow
+  }
   exit 1
 }
 
@@ -23,14 +48,7 @@ $pyArgs = @()
 if ($pyCmd.Length -gt 1) {
   $pyArgs = $pyCmd[1..($pyCmd.Length - 1)]
 }
-
-$checkArgs = $pyArgs + @('-m', 'PyInstaller', '--version')
-try {
-  & $pyExe @checkArgs *> $null
-} catch {
-  Write-Host "[error] PyInstaller not found. Install with: py -3 -m pip install pyinstaller" -ForegroundColor Red
-  exit 1
-}
+Write-Host "[build] using: $pyExe $($pyArgs -join ' ')" -ForegroundColor Cyan
 
 $releaseDir = Join-Path $here 'dist\sshDeploy-gui'
 $pyiDist = Join-Path $here 'dist-pyinstaller'