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phly95
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MSI

Could you please make a converter to convert portable apps to msi?

Mir
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why?

msi is microsoft's new installer format. its mostly NT based and will only work on 2kpro and above. there is no known benifit of having the portableapps installer be a .msi. there isnt a .msi executable program as its a installer format no different to a .cab for Windows CE.

phly95
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msi not to install but to run

msi is not to install it but to run it on library computers(exe blocker). I found a tool to convert this but it doesn't look in the folder where the required files are. http://www.qwertylab.com/FreeTools.aspx is where the tool is, just have a built-in file browser in the msi file so specify where to find the files and also convert any other exes in sub-folders to msi

Mir
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as i stated

there is no point in convertting a .exe to a special .msi. there is no benifit. sure your library has a .exe blocker but they have that for a reason. .msi is primarly used as a installer for microsoft products. even wikipedia agrees with me that its a WINDOWS INSTALLER format. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.msi

the .msi format is also propriatary.

Edit found this information out via my computer...

Windows ® Installer. V 3.01.4001.5512

msiexec /Option [Optional Parameter]

Install Options
| /i>
Installs or configures a product
/a
Administrative install - Installs a product on the network
/j [/t ] [/g ]
Advertises a product - m to all users, u to current user
| /x>
Uninstalls the product
Display Options
/quiet
Quiet mode, no user interaction
/passive
Unattended mode - progress bar only
/q[n|b|r|f]
Sets user interface level
n - No UI
b - Basic UI
r - Reduced UI
f - Full UI (default)
/help
Help information
Restart Options
/norestart
Do not restart after the installation is complete
/promptrestart
Prompts the user for restart if necessary
/forcerestart
Always restart the computer after installation
Logging Options
/l[i|w|e|a|r|u|c|m|o|p|v|x|+|!|*]
i - Status messages
w - Nonfatal warnings
e - All error messages
a - Start up of actions
r - Action-specific records
u - User requests
c - Initial UI parameters
m - Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
o - Out-of-disk-space messages
p - Terminal properties
v - Verbose output
x - Extra debugging information
+ - Append to existing log file
! - Flush each line to the log
* - Log all information, except for v and x options
/log
Equivalent of /l*
Update Options
/update [;Update2.msp]
Applies update(s)
/uninstall [;Update2.msp] /package
Remove update(s) for a product
Repair Options
/f[p|e|c|m|s|o|d|a|u|v]
Repairs a product
p - only if file is missing
o - if file is missing or an older version is installed (default)
e - if file is missing or an equal or older version is installed
d - if file is missing or a different version is installed
c - if file is missing or checksum does not match the calculated value
a - forces all files to be reinstalled
u - all required user-specific registry entries (default)
m - all required computer-specific registry entries (default)
s - all existing shortcuts (default)
v - runs from source and recaches local package
Setting Public Properties
[PROPERTY=PropertyValue]

Consult the Windows ® Installer SDK for additional documentation on the
command line syntax.

Copyright © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

phly95
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wrong link

look at later post and it'll say to go to http://www.fileguru.com/Free-Exe-To-Msi-Converter/info instead, sorry, the preview picture looked VERY similar to the software I was using so I couldn't tell the difference. This one does take all exes.

Ken Herbert
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Double-clicking a .doc file

Double-clicking a .doc file opens Word or OpenOffice or LibreOffice (or whatever else you use) and then shows you the document.

In a similar manner, double-clicking a .msi file opens a program called msiexec.exe, which then uses the information stored in the .msi to install an app.

.msi cannot be used for anything other than installation, so what you are asking for is unfortunately impossible.

phly95
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then how does the converter work, if it is impossible

the converter works fully, and the program runs, the only problem is that it doesn't bundle the files required to run, if you can make the single exe contain the required files inside that will work perfectly with the converter or make a built-in file browser in the program if it doesn't find the folder so you can redirect it to the right place. I've actually used this for single exe files and it worked flawlessly and it takes a short moment to start (says "preparing to install" for a few seconds).

Ken Herbert
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As stated numerous times

As stated numerous times above, .msi is an installer format, not an executable format. It is made for installing programs, not actually running them.

If you also look on the converter's site, it states "A free tool to quickly convert .exe setup application to a msi package".

Notice the words ".exe setup application", as in installer-type executable, not all executables.

phly95
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but I'm using it as executable and it DOES work

I know it's meant to make installers but it works on other apps too, just try it, it really works. All I want is single exe file and I can convert it myself.

Ken Herbert
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Ok, I can tell you why what

Ok, I can tell you why what you are trying is working:
The .msi file bundles the .exe into it because it can't tell the difference between an application named setup.exe or an installer named runme.exe. When you run the .msi files you are making, all you are doing is telling msiexec to configure nothing on the system and then run the .exe.

Have you actually tried running one of your converted .exes at the library? I'm just interested to know if msiexec would be a workaround for the exe blocker since it actually runs the .exe within the .msi file.

Unfortunately though, making a portable app into a single .exe would be at best difficult for most apps, impossible for others. The reason portable apps work as portable as they are is because of the AppNamePortable.exe file. It would also have to be done on a per-app basis, which would be very time consuming.

I am wondering what would happen though if you changed the AppNamePortable.exe and Appname.exe both to .msi, and changed the relevant .ini entries to call AppName.msi instead of AppName.exe.

phly95
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Acctually,

I used a different converter, which is here: http://www.fileguru.com/Free-Exe-To-Msi-Converter/info sorry, it looked so similar in the preview picture. This one DOES work on all exes.

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