The NSIS development kit installer sets up your computer so that you can compile a .nsi file by simply right-clicking on it in explorer, and selecting 'compile'.
\b The /V switch followed by a number between 0 and 4 will set the verbosity of output accordingly. 0=no output, 1=errors only, 2=warnings and errors, 3=info, warnings, and errors, 4=all output.
\b The /O switch followed by a filename tells the compiler to print its log to that file (instead of the screen)
\b /PAUSE makes Makensis pause before quitting, which is useful when executing directly from Windows (the auto-installed shell extensions use it).
\b /NOCONFIG disables inclusion of [path to makensis.exe]\\nsisconf.nsh . Without this parameter, installer defaults are set from nsisconf.nsi. See NSIS Configuration File.