Installing an Installshield .exe without switches

(imported topic written by mvm-upenn91)

We’re trying to install Microsoft Reader, which uses an Installshield .exe that doesn’t seem to support any switches. So, even launching from the command line, the interface pops up. Knowing that, we still used the Windows Software Distribution Wizard to create a task. It downloads and extracts just fine, but when we try to install it with BigFix like so:

wait __Download\MSReaderSetupUSA.exe

the action begins and we see the “action running” BigFix popup, but the Installshield interface doesn’t open and the action status remains “Running” until we kill the Installshield process in the client computer. My guess is that this because SYSTEM is doing the installing rather than the currently logged-in user. We can’t use the RunAsCurrentUser, though, because our user doesn’t have Admin privileges and we really don’t want to give them out.

Is there any way to install it, either silently or with some user interaction, that doesn’t require Admin privs, and maybe doesn’t require RunAsCurrenUser?

(imported comment written by NoahSalzman)

I’m no Installshield (or app packaging) expert… however, you might try this:

  1. Launch MSReaderSetupUSA.exe

  2. Go past the UAC dialog but pause once the blue Installshield window is up in the background

  3. Navigate to your Temp directory… in my case this was c:\Users\Noah\AppData\Local\Temp

  4. Find a recent temp directory that contains “Disk1” (the setup.ini will contain “Microsoft Reader”)

  5. Copy the Disk1 folder somewhere else.

You now have an Installshield setup.exe that you can manipulate. Start with the Installshield tips on

this page

.

(imported comment written by mvm-upenn91)

No dice, Noah… running through the installation doesn’t generate a folder or file in the temp directory (I checked at each step of the installer).

(imported comment written by NoahSalzman)

Well, it did for me…

Start the installer under Vista or Windows 7, launch the Task Manager, get Properties on Setup.exe (via right click), and check the path in the Location field. That should lead you to the “Disk1” folder.

(Anyone know how to get the path of a running executable in XP?)

(imported comment written by NoahSalzman)

Here is a way to get the path of running executables on XP:

WMIC path win32_process get Caption,Processid,Commandline

(imported comment written by mvm-upenn91)

Ah, there we go. It was in the temp folder within my admin account’s profile, not my normal user account’s profile. Thanks! I’ll see where it goes from here…