Extracting MSI from .exe

Report Inappropriate Content · ‎Mar 21, 2003

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 · ‎Mar 21, 2003

Perhaps try setup.exe /a...

Report Inappropriate Content · ‎Mar 24, 2003

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 · ‎Mar 24, 2003

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...

Report Inappropriate Content · ‎Mar 24, 2003

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 · ‎Mar 24, 2003

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.)