Here's your answer:
The downloadable EXE that Microsoft provide contains an
MSI file, the Windows Installer runtime, and a few other
necessary files.
The command-line switches that you can use with the EXE
are essentially parsed through to the MSI contained
within. This can prove unreliable so it would be better
and easier to work with the MSI directly. To do so, you
need to extract the MSI file from the EXE by raiding the
TEMP folder after you've started EXE installer. See below
for more details (appologies if you find this a little
too simplistic but I don't know your technical level):
1) Locate your temp folder, usually c:\documents and
settings\username\local settings\temp
2) Run the EXE installer but don't progress with the
install
3) Locate installers' temporary folder in the TEMP folder
(mine was called _is202) and copy the MSI file to another
location. Quit the EXE installation you started earlier.
There are other ways of extracting files from a self-
exracting EXE, especially if there are switches to do so.
However in this case, this method seems to be the only
way to retrieve the MSI and it is very reliable.
To install the MSI silently, use the following command
line:
msiexec /i "Microsoft AntiSpyware.msi" /qn
The will install the program with all defaults. i.e.
default install lcoation (c:\program files), default
components, etc. To tailor this install, you may need to
complete and administrative install first to another
location on your PC or a server share using the /a switch
instead of the /i switch (I'm not going to go into any
detail).
NOTES:
If you were not running Windows XP or Windows 2000, you
would need to install the Windows Installer (instmsi.exe
or instmsia.exe) before you could use MSIEXEC command.
Ensure you use quotes round the name of the MSI because
of the space otherwise you'll need to rename it to a
single word name The /qn switch installs the MSI
completely silently - you may want slightly more dialogue
so use the /qb switch if you so desire. Overall, use the
MSIEXEC /? command to find out all of the options
available (I have not touched on logging options).
Hope this is helpful to you. Apologies for sounding
patronising.
Regards
MARK
