MSI Explorer: Free Tool to Analyze and Edit Windows MSI Files
Most of developers are quite familiar in creating MSI or Setup for our applications. By using a MSI, they can make sure all dependencies for running the application will be placed properly. MSI is the best option available on Windows OS for packaging and distributing our application. For .NET developers, Visual Studio presents lot of features in creating setup and deployment projects for application.
But, there are no built-in tools in Visual Studio to look into the MSI contents. And that too, to make a small change in MSI, it requires rebuilding the entire Setup Project.
That’s why our friend “Sateesh Arveti” @ TechNet Blogs has created an application “MSI Explorer” that analyzes the MSI and gives the details of it along with capability of updating it without rebuilding.
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Features List:
- It allows to look into the contents of the MSI
- It allows to export the contents of the MSI
- It allows to update commonly changing properties without rebuilding it
- Easy to use UI.
- Now, Updating an MSI is quite simple
Simply use Browse option and click on Analyze for analyzing the selected MSI in the tool. Output will be like this, when we open MSI:
By using this application, we can easily view and update the MSI without extra effort.
Thank you so much for a such helpful utility.
Can you please let me know how could I understand how the particular msi file is created. I mean I have the source code files and its relevant msi file , but the solution is having multiple nos of projects. So which projects and in what sequence the projects and their files are utilized in creating the msi file.
Thanks again!!!!
Regards,
Sameer
Orca is already available from microsoft.
You invented the wheel again 🙂
I’m attempting to modify some registry settings for an .msi for my company. I was able to export the registry settings to my desktop and changed the IP information to the new info, but I’m not sure how I get that back in to the .MSI. This is my first time using this application.
Thanks,
Nice to view, it appears to have no ability to update entries. Why do you suggest it does and waste peoples time downloading this.
The download link is for MSI Analyser, but the link is dead. An alternative link can be found at Sateesh Arveti’s blog blogs.technet.microsoft.com/sateesh-arveti/2010/11/20/msi-explorer/
badly required for this tool.
How, exactly, is this tool installed?
To me it seems the “commit changes” is doing nothing. I tried to change some item, but nothing is changed when I select the option.