Examine/Decompile a Setup Program

[Jeremy H]

I have the source for an application, and I have an (older) setup/installation program for that application, but I don't have any instructions on how to create the installation package/setup program, and I want to recreate it, updating the software with new versions. I assume that this program was initially created by the foxprow setup wizard. Is there any way to unpack it or decompile it, so I can have access to all of the files included, and any pre/post processing commands/programs/scripts?

Thank you.

 

[Mike Lewis]

You say you have the source. So do you know how to convert that into an executable? If so, then you can create a Setup program using any of several tools. You are not stuck with the old setup wizard.

VFP9 comes with a cut-down version of InstallShield, which many people here use to create a Setup. Another option is Inno Setup, which I would recommend. In both cases, you would have to create a "package" or script from scratch, but there are plenty of people here who can help with that.

Mike

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Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[Mike Lewis]

Another option would be to use your existing Setup program (the one you use to distribute the old version of your app). Then create a new version of the executable, and distribute that to the users, who will use it to overwrite the old EXE. (This assumes that the EXE is the only think that has changed in the distribution.)

Mike

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Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[Chris Miller]

You assume the setup ws done with the setup wizard. Well, that was available up to VFP6. Since VFP7 foxpro comes with the installshield express version Mike Lewis already mentioned. Installshield also uses projects for creating a setup, so such installshield projects would be upgraded with a new EXE file and then build a new setup.exe

If you have Installshield Express installed on the development computer, it should list recent/last projects it was used for and you could find the setup project there, if there's nothing listed you could look for ISM files, that's the file extension that compares to VFP's PJX project files for the setup.

Otherwise, I think there are tools enabling to detect changes a setup does by doing system snapshots (of the fie system and the registry, mainly) to be able to make a diff before/after a setup. That would help you figure out what the old setup you have does at all.

https://www.martau.com/

Total Uninstall can monitor new installations.

The "Monitored Programs" module helps monitor any changes made to your system during the installation of a new program...

That does not only allow the complete uninstall, but know what files a new setup you create must have as files and what registry changes, if at all, are necessary from a setup. That wouldn't give you any pre or post installation scripts, but tell you what changes scuh scripts effectively make. It's not free, but should be worth it for your company to revive a badly documented application and enable its continuation.

Chriss

 

[Gerrit Broekhuis]

Hi Jeremy,

In case you want to learn or create a new installer that you can maintain and understand you may take a look at InnoSetup. It’s free and very well documented with lots of samples available from many sources. Google is your friend.

You will find users on this forum and also on foxite.com.

Regards, Gerrit