msi package --- compressing files internally

[barabba]

Hello all,

I received a package from a vendor with external support files
(system32, program files, etc.). I need this MSI to have all these
files included.

Do I need to repackage the installation using the normal procedure
(setup capture - I'm using Wise Package Studio) or there is a way to
modify the existing vendor-supplied MSI in order to have these files
compressed into the MSI ? I couldn't find any options or preference
that would instruct the MSI to be compiled the way I want it...

I thank anyone can help me out !

Bye
Bar

 

[Phil Wilson]

When you say "external support files" including program files, do you mean
that every single file is external to the MSI and that there are none at all
in the actual MSI file? If so, they may have given you an administrative
image for a network or CD install. Anyway, there are some tools that let you
open an MSI file into their IDE, Wise probably does one but I don't think
it's Package Studio. Repackaging needs to be done carefully for a number of
reasons. Apart from capturing the relevant settings, different OS versions
require different Microsoft support DLLs that may or may not be part of your
MSI. Any idea why the vendor build the MSI like that with external files?

 

[mgama]

I'm not sure what you mean by "the normal procedure" but one option is to
use some of the VB scripts included in the Platform SDK to compress the
setup files into a CAB file, and embed that CAB file in the MSI.
WiMakCab.vbs is what I believe you want. The command line that you would
use would be something like:
WiMakCab.vbs C:\somewhere\myfile.msi data /C /U /E
You can replace "data" with any name you want.

If the vendor gives you an updated build in the future, then all you would
need to do is run this command on their setup again to re-package it into a
single file. And just incase someone was trying to do the opposite (extract
the files from inside of an MSI file), you could do a administrative
install: msiexec.exe /a myfile.msi

 

[Suraj Nair]

Hi

All you need to do is open the msi in Wise for Windows
Installer that comes along with Wise Package Studio and
then compile the msi again and you would have an msi with
all the files compressed in it.

The option to have the files compressed inside it is an
option in the menu item "Media Option".

I know the reply is very late but just thought of putting
it in anyway. Might help some one else.

Thanks and Regards
Suraj Nair