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Questions tagged [self-extracting]

A self-extracting archive is an archive that doesn't require any special application to extract its contents.

Unlike "normal" archives, which need a special application to be packed, unpacked or modified, a self-extracting archive is an application that contains both the archived data, and the logic to extract it.

The biggest advantage of this approach is the lack of need to download additional software to unpack the data.

However, such archives may be a security threat, because the user can't really know what is inside of it until he runs the application, which may potentially contain dangerous code.

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How do I silently install a 7-zip self-extracting archive to a specific directory?

The Ruby Devkit is a 7-zip based self-extracting archive. I would like to invoke it silently without having to install 7-Zip to extract the files to a folder of my choosing, so that I can script the installation. I imagine it to be something…
Jay Godse
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How do I make a self-installing executable using WinRAR?

I've seen executables that extract themselves and run a compressed setup.exe afterwards: a double click on the file uncompresses it and then runs the formerly compressed setup.exe. How can I accomplish this? I would like to use WinRAR, how can I…
user1207416
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What is the difference between 7zip's 7z.sfx and 7zsd.sfx?

I can't figure out what the difference is between the 7z.sfx file available with 7zip and the downloadable 7zsd.sfx from the developer's site, which is not bundled with 7zip. The 7z.sfx appears not to honor my request to include the config.txt file…
Sn3akyP3t3
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self-extractor that will extract and run a file

i have two files, an EXE an DLL the exe is a build of a vb.net application and i need the DLL in there too what i want is a self extractor that will put these files together, then when run it will extract them and immeidately run the EXE is there a…
Alex Gordon
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How does Burn in WiX 3.6 bundle MSI files into an .exe?

I'm interested in knowing how WiX is bundling the EXE files created with Burn. I know that creating a self-extracting EXE file is pretty straightforward, having done it a million times in WinRAR. What directory is the EXE file being unpacked to, and…
Douglas Mendizábal
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The magic number in GZip header is not correct. Make sure you are passing in a GZip stream.(.exe file)

I want to extract a exe file. The exe file contain some files and folders. When I try to extract the file using winrar it gets extracted but when I am trying to extract the exe file using some examples I am getting this error: The magic number in…
Mohd Zubair
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Java: creating self extracting jar that can extract parts of itself out of the archive?

I know how to create a executable .jar file. There are many examples of that on the internet. What I am wondering, is if anyone knows of a way that a executable .jar file can auto extract out parts of itself to the "running directory"? So, instead…
djangofan
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Creating self-opening documents

I'm working on a project that has a proprietary file format. The project has a large install-necessary program and a smaller viewer that requires no install. I would like to be able to export files from my main application that are 'self opening'…
DanTheMan
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Deploy ClickOnce online installation filetree as a single .exe file for installing offline

Any ideas how to pack ClickOnce online installation filetree in a single .exe file for installing offline? I know it's not designed for this purpose, but using Windows Installer is NOT an option for me, because I need just to RUN the app without any…
ptkvsk
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How to extract WinZip Self-Extracting exe in silent mode

I have create a exe file using WinZip Self-Extractor. It extracts the file in UI mode, that is while dobule click the setup a new window opened that shows unzipping setupname.exe. I need to extract the same exe in silent mode which should not show…
user3309953
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Self-extracting script in sh shell

How would I go about making a self extracting archive that can be executed on sh? The closest I have come to is: extract_archive () { printf '' | tar -C "$extract_dir" -xvf - } Where contains a tarball with…
user2064000
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What is a good free utility to create a self-extracting executable with an embedded file version?

According to the answers to this question, I cannot embed a file version in my .msi file. The installer that I give the client needs to have a file version. So, what I want to do is create a self-extracting executable containing the msi file and…
Blorgbeard
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7zip command line self extractor not asking for path

I've created my self extracting .exe file from 7zip command line using the 7z a -sfx commands but when I run this from windows explorer it does not ask me for the location to extract the files to, it just places it inside…
user845176
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Removing "This program might not have installed correctly" warning from SFX

I am creating a self extracting executable, which is not an installer. It's a standalone exe, but it uses the app.config as a file based resource so I need to have it be a self extracting executable (Cannot avoid requirement that it must be one file…
user3517454
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How do i protect my sfx from being opened by other winrar, winzip, 7zip applications?

How do i protect my sfx from being opened by other applications like winrar, winzip, 7zip, etc? I want to add password if it is opened by other applications like winrar? My sfx should never ask for password if it is directly executed. I tried…
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