Wishlist: Setup.exe extractor

[omega]

Most of what I download these days uses the Inno Setup installer. As
I so dislike having to deal with letting installs run their routines,
the program I would want /most in the world/ would be an extractor\unpacker
(as exists for other installers) for Inno setup.exe files.

My search has been futile, and the statement by Jordan Russell, Inno's
developer, convinces me that no such tool is currently available.

http://www.jrsoftware.org/iskb.php?extract
<quote>

FAQ: Can I manually extract files or other information from a compiled
setup.exe?

Last Updated: 2003-11-20 05:11 GMT by Jordan Russell

Martijn Laan created a tool called Inno Extractor which did this for
Inno Setup 1.3.x, but it proved to be difficult to maintain because the
format of Inno Setup's internal structures change with almost every
release.

There is no equivalent tool for later Inno Setup releases.
</quote>


Jordan Russell makes his source code available.[*] So I would think that
part is at least a start, if any programmer were to tackle anew the project
of creating an extractor.

--
Karen S.

[*]
http://www.jrsoftware.org/files/is/license.txt

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inno Setup License
==================

Except where otherwise noted, all of the documentation and software
included in the Inno Setup package is copyrighted by Jordan Russell.

Copyright (C) 1997-2003 Jordan Russell. All rights reserved.

This software is provided "as-is," without any express or implied warranty.
In no event shall the author be held liable for any damages arising from
the use of this software.

Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
including commercial applications, and to alter and redistribute it,
provided that the following conditions are met:

1. All redistributions of source code files must retain all copyright
notices that are currently in place, and this list of conditions without
modification.

2. All redistributions in binary form must retain all occurrences of the
above copyright notice and web site addresses that are currently in
place (for example, in the About boxes).

3. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software to
distribute a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation
would be appreciated but is not required.

4. Modified versions in source or binary form must be plainly marked as
such, and must not be misrepresented as being the original software.


Jordan Russell
jr AT jrsoftware.org
http://www.jrsoftware.org/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Steven Burn]

Most of what I download these days uses the Inno Setup installer. As
I so dislike having to deal with letting installs run their routines,
the program I would want /most in the world/ would be an extractor\unpacker
(as exists for other installers) for Inno setup.exe files.

</snip>

Karen,
I'll be more than happy to take a look at the source code. However,
I have a feeling it is going to be a waste of time, simply because the
installer changes with each new version and as such, you'd need to account
for every single version of Inno in the extracter (not an easy feat).

--
Regards

Steven Burn
Ur I.T. Mate Group
www.it-mate.co.uk

Keeping it FREE!

Disclaimer:
I know I'm probably wrong, I just like taking part ;o)

 

[Roger Spencelayh]

Most of what I download these days uses the Inno Setup installer. As
I so dislike having to deal with letting installs run their routines,
the program I would want /most in the world/ would be an extractor\unpacker
(as exists for other installers) for Inno setup.exe files.

My search has been futile, and the statement by Jordan Russell, Inno's
developer, convinces me that no such tool is currently available.

This question gets asked on the Inno newsgroups quite regularly, and the
answer every time is No.

A couple of the arguments against it is that one reason to extract the
files is hack into the setup of a program to bypass serial number or
other install protection. The other reason I think was quoted is no other
installer has that option, so it's not something Jordan needs to add to
match the competition.

 

[omega]

This question gets asked on the Inno newsgroups quite regularly, and the
answer every time is No.

A couple of the arguments against it is that one reason to extract the
files is hack into the setup of a program to bypass serial number or
other install protection.

The freeware I download, it wouldn't have serial number or install
protection. I want something that would make up for the omission by
freeware authors of offering a no-install alternative. I do not like
to have a mystery setup.exe who may be planning to write to (mess up)
my system files directory, with no warning. And who will be quite likely
at minimum to follow the trend of forcibly littering my startmenu and
registry.

The other reason I think was quoted is no other
installer has that option, so it's not something Jordan needs to add to
match the competition.

I wouldn't expect Jordan himself to do the work of such a project. How
the existence of an Inno extractor could compromise the security of things
like trialware, I do not understand what's involved. (I see only his note
in the help file about the password option for the setup.exe being a
lightweight measure.) Perhaps I'll one day try to read those newsgroups.

 

[omega]

Karen,
I'll be more than happy to take a look at the source code. However,
I have a feeling it is going to be a waste of time, simply because the
installer changes with each new version and as such, you'd need to account
for every single version of Inno in the extracter (not an easy feat).

Thanks, Steven, but if anyone were to take it on, I'd think it would have
to be their one, single project. We need you to continue developing 40+
different programs at a time.

 

[Steven Burn]

Thanks, Steven, but if anyone were to take it on, I'd think it would have
to be their one, single project. We need you to continue developing 40+
different programs at a time.

</snip>

hehe ;o)

it's actually 40+ different programs, and 2 brand new online services aswell
now )

http://forums.it-mate.co.uk

http://ihost.it-mate.co.uk

--
Regards

Steven Burn
Ur I.T. Mate Group
www.it-mate.co.uk

Keeping it FREE!

Disclaimer:
I know I'm probably wrong, I just like taking part ;o)