Extracting MSI from .exe

[#1]

I understand I can extract the MSI from any setup.exe that was built with Install shield. When I took your class I was told the command line argument was "/b". But that does not seem to work. Does anybody know the answer to this?

[RobertDickau]

Perhaps try setup.exe /a...

[#3]

When the application is installed (Acrobat Reader) I can see the install shield imprint on all the forms, etc. But I still cannot extract the MSI from the exe (neither /b or /a worked). Is there a registry entry or any other way to tell if there is an MSI?

[RobertDickau]

Hmmm... One simple way, I suppose, is to run the complete installer, and then look at the Add/Remove Programs entry for the product; if there are separate Change and Remove buttons, the product is pure MSI; if there's a single Change/Remove button, it's not pure MSI...

[#5]

Can you define what you mean by "pure MSI"? Could the vendor have used your software to create an exe but not have created an MSI first?

[RobertDickau]

The InstallShield Professional product line creates installation programs that don't use Microsoft's Windows Installer service (MSI), but instead use a different installation engine---if the vendor used InstallShield Professional, there's no MSI database involved.

InstallShield Developer, part of AdminStudio, does create MSI-based installation packages.

(The Repackager part of AdminStudio is for migrating non-MSI installers to MSI format, for better compatibility with Active Directory/Group Policy, and that sort of thing.)