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I have an old InstallShield installer which i believe was made using InstallShield 2012. I don't have the install script code for the same. I only have exe of the installer with me.

I need to create a new installer containing some of the same features from old installer, so is there any way by which i can get the setup.rul file of the installer from its exe?

I did some googling but got no help.

SRP
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  • Off the top of my head: Contact Installshield support, they might have better advice? [Check with Installshield community](https://community.flexera.com)? [Check with Stefan Kruger - Installshield consultant](https://www.facebook.com/stefan.krueger)? Check any source repositories you can find based on `setup.exe` timestamp? (search for `*.rul`, `*.ism`, or similar as relevant). Check backups? Check backups of setup developer PC? [Check github.com even](https://github.com/search?q=setup+extension%3Arul)? (for samples of similar tasks). Check external media, email attachments, network shares... – Stein Åsmul May 31 '19 at 11:57
  • Thanks @Stein Asmul, I tried all of the things except checking with InstallShield community and checking with Stefan Kruger.. – SRP May 31 '19 at 14:12
  • Added some further comments below. – Stein Åsmul May 31 '19 at 17:53

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Setup.exe Extraction: If you run an extraction of your setup.exe, do you get an *.ins file?

Decompiler: I believe there are some hacky solutions to decompile *.ins to *.rul. I do not have such a tool, nor have I ever tried one and I can't recall seeing any trace of them for a whole decade. Perhaps Installshield support can help?

Alternatives: Off the top of my head: Contact Installshield support, they might have better advice? Check with Installshield community? Check with Stefan Kruger - Installshield consultant? Check any source repositories you can find based on setup.exe timestamp? (search for *.rul, *.ism, or similar as relevant). Check backups? Check backups of setup developer PC? Check github.com even? (for samples of similar tasks). Check external media, email attachments, network shares, etc...

Stein Åsmul
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  • Asmul, Yes, I have *.ins with me and i also tried it to reverse engineer and decompile it using the tools mentioned in the link but the tools seems to be too old. kind of supports till v6.0 and less, However i have raise the ticket on IntstallShield and will wait for their reply now. – SRP Jun 04 '19 at 08:19
  • If this is an MSI wrapped in a setup.exe there is also the **`dark.exe`** tool from WiX that will allow you to decompile the MSI to WiX markup. That does not decompile the Installscript custom action code though (which is why I didn't mention this "option"). – Stein Åsmul Jun 04 '19 at 09:57