Problem:
You need to extract an .msi file from an .exe installer.
EXE setup file Advanced Installer comes with a Setup program which can be used as a Bootstrapper. This is useful if you want to create an EXE installation package or if your package has some prerequisites.
Solution:
There are at least three ways of solving this problem, but none of them is universal. You might need to go through all of them to find the one that works for the EXE installer that you have.
CodeTwo strongly advises against extracting (and using) MSI files from the EXE installers of the CodeTwo software. Unless the product website allows such an operation (or unless you are instructed/allowed to do so by CodeTwo Support), use the .exe setup files.
The first method is based on the fact that most installers extract their .msi files to the temporary files folder during the installation process. To extract an MSI file from an EXE installer, you need to:
- Launch your .exe file.
- When you see the first prompt (e.g. a question about whether you want to continue installation, accept a license agreement, etc.), do not click anything in this window and do not close it.
- Open Windows Explorer, type %temp% in the address bar and press Enter.
- Sort the files in the folder by the modification date. The newest file on the list should be the .msi file you are looking for.
- Copy the MSI file to a safe location before you close the installer prompt window (see step 2). Be aware that if you close the installer window, the MSI file will be immediately deleted from the temporary files folder.
The second method uses a free third-party tool called 7-Zip to browse the content of the .exe installer file. Follow the steps below.
- Download 7-Zip from this page and install it.
- Right-click on the .exe file (from which you want to extract an .msi file) and from the shortcut menu choose 7-Zip > Open Archive.
- Do not extract any files yet. Instead, browse and look for the folder MSI within the contents. It might take some time to find this folder because it is not always located directly in the root directory (its location may vary depending on the installer).
- When you locate the MSI folder, you will notice that it most likely does not contain any .msi files, but a file or files with no extensions and rather cryptic names such as 132. Despite these misleading names, these are actually the MSI files you are looking for.
- Drag and drop these files to any desired folder or select them and extract them with 7-Zip. Close 7-Zip after that.
- Change the names of the extracted files so that they include the .msi extension.
- If there are two files, the larger one is the 64-bit installer, and the smaller one is the 32-bit version. Use the one you need.
The third method works with InstallShield based projects. To get the MSI file from your EXE installer, you need to:
- Log on to a computer where the software (the installer of which you would like to access) is not installed. This is because this method forces the uninstalling process to trigger extraction of the .msi file. If you already have this software installed, this method will remove it, which might not be desired.
- Run Windows Command Prompt (cmd) (in Windows 10: open the Start menu, type cmd and press Enter) and go to the folder where your EXE file is located.
- Execute the command below: replace <file.exe> with the name of your .exe file and <target-folder> with the path to the folder where you want the .msi file to be extracted (for example C:Folder).
As described in this thread, the switches for the command above do the following:
- /s /x - silently (/s) uninstalls (/x) the product from the system;
- /b - defines the target path for the .msi file;
- /v - passes desired arguments to the installer. In this case, the argument is /qn - it disables GUI and any prompts.
How-To Geek Forums / Windows XP
How do I extract drivers from *.exe files
(10 posts)Hi, I'm trying to slipstream using Nlite, as per the guide. And I've run into two problems.
(I'm doing this on my old computer, making the disk to use on the new computer).
(I'm doing this on my old computer, making the disk to use on the new computer).
Problem One:
I downloaded all the necessary drivers from the Dell site for my new computer and put them into a file Called Dell Drivers - they are all *exe files.
I downloaded all the necessary drivers from the Dell site for my new computer and put them into a file Called Dell Drivers - they are all *exe files.
So when I use Nlite and get to the part where I'm choosing the folder with the drivers in it, Nlite doesn't 'find' any drivers (because they are still in the *.exe files.
So I need to extract them, but not sure if I extract them that they will execute themselves into my old computer system.
How do I solve this problem?
Problem Two:
I copied all the files from my XP disk and put it into a folder called: Temp windows xp folder.
When I started Nlite and chose the folder, after Nlite did its thing, it showed 'arabic' as the language instead of English.
I copied all the files from my XP disk and put it into a folder called: Temp windows xp folder.
When I started Nlite and chose the folder, after Nlite did its thing, it showed 'arabic' as the language instead of English.
How do I get Nlite to recognize that this is an English version of XP?
Thanks so much. I would love to get going on this. Spent hours combing the net and these forums for answers.
P.S. this is so that I can just have xp on my new computer (and not any vista). So its a clean install with the necessary drivers.
On behalf of all the regular posters here at HTG, I'd like to extend my sincere apologies that you didn't get an answer in the requisite amount of time before becoming 'very disappointed'.
Unfortunately, due the amount of threads on this forum and the small amount of regular posters it is not possible for all the questions to be answered within 1 day or even a few days in some cases.
I agree it is a little disappointing when a thread isn't answered within a day though but that is how things work.
To answer your question you can use a program like 7-Zip to extract files from exe archives.
Here is how with 7-Zip:
1. Download and install 7-Zip from http://www.7-zip.org/
2. Open 7-Zip and browse to the folder containing the exe.
3. Right click on the exe file and click 'Open Inside'.
4. Double click a folder inside if needed to get to the files.
5. Select the files you need by clicking on them while holding down the ctrl key.
6. Right click on the selected files and click 'Copy To'.
7. Type a path or click on the '...' button to browse for a folder.
8. Click Ok.
I agree it is a little disappointing when a thread isn't answered within a day though but that is how things work.
To answer your question you can use a program like 7-Zip to extract files from exe archives.
Here is how with 7-Zip:
1. Download and install 7-Zip from http://www.7-zip.org/
2. Open 7-Zip and browse to the folder containing the exe.
3. Right click on the exe file and click 'Open Inside'.
4. Double click a folder inside if needed to get to the files.
5. Select the files you need by clicking on them while holding down the ctrl key.
6. Right click on the selected files and click 'Copy To'.
7. Type a path or click on the '...' button to browse for a folder.
8. Click Ok.
jd, sorry for jumping in. But I have the same problem. I want to move all my installed programs that I downloaded from the web (all those nice little helpers - about 30 of them) to another computer at another location. If I understand your procedure right, all it takes is to put the .exe into a .zip folder and they are 'transportable'. I would then just put them on a two and a half inch disk to carry them around. Some that I downloaded came in a .zip folder and I usually kept the .zip. For those, I can just take that .zip? Do I understand that correctly?
@whs: I'm not exactly sure what you are asking or how it relates to this thread.
All files are transportable you can just copy them all to a folder on the disk and that is that.
This thread is talking about getting the drivers files out of a EXE file. Which works for EXEs that have a ZIP file within them.
All files are transportable you can just copy them all to a folder on the disk and that is that.
This thread is talking about getting the drivers files out of a EXE file. Which works for EXEs that have a ZIP file within them.
jd, I am talking about transporting programs that I downloaded and 'saved' in Downloads. I want to install them on another system without having to download them again.
@whs: Ok. For that assuming your Flash Drive is F: all you have to do is:
1. Open the Downloads Folder in one Windows Explorer window.
2. Open the F: in another Windows Explorer window.
3. In the F: window right click in the window and select New->Folder.
4. Type something like 'Download Transport' and double click it.
5. In the Downloads folder select all the files you want.
Ctrl+Click for each file or Ctrl+A to select all files.
6. Click and hold the mouse button down and move the mouse to the 'Download Transport' window and let go of the mouse.
7. Those downloads from the Downloads folder that is on the C: drive will copied to the 'F:Download Transport' folder as they are separate drives.
1. Open the Downloads Folder in one Windows Explorer window.
2. Open the F: in another Windows Explorer window.
3. In the F: window right click in the window and select New->Folder.
4. Type something like 'Download Transport' and double click it.
5. In the Downloads folder select all the files you want.
Ctrl+Click for each file or Ctrl+A to select all files.
6. Click and hold the mouse button down and move the mouse to the 'Download Transport' window and let go of the mouse.
7. Those downloads from the Downloads folder that is on the C: drive will copied to the 'F:Download Transport' folder as they are separate drives.
@ Justin :)Thank you so much for posting exactly how to use 7-Zip.
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