Summary

This article explains how to extract files from a compressed installer

Synopsis

When authoring an update, especially a patch, you are required to point to the previous product version *.msi file(s). If you authored a setup.exe for the previous install, the MSI and supporting files need to be extracted. This article discusses how to extract the files.

Discussion

The following information provides the steps necessary to extract an .msi from a setup.exe:

1. Run setup.exe at the command line with the /a switch.

   The /a switch causes Setup.exe to perform an administrative installation. An administrative installation copies (and uncompresses) your data files to a directory specified by the user. This extracts the *.msi file from it.

2. To run an administrative installation, run a command line similar to the following:
   1. msiexec /a Package.msi
   2. If a setup release includes a Setup.exe generated by InstallShield - Windows Installer Edition, administrators can use the /a argument at the command line to perform the administrative installation.
3. The Welcome panel of an administrative installation appears. The Network Location panel of an administrative installation allows the administrator to specify where to extract the uncompressed image of the setup program.
4. After the administrator clicks Install, the Windows Installer Service extracts an uncompressed installation image at the specified location.An administrative installation does NOT install the product on the target system.
5. You may now author your update using the extracted .msi file from the specified location.

Additional Information

The information contained with in this article is intended for MSI based installations.

See Setup.exe and Update.exe Command-Line Parameters face="Times New Roman"> for more information.