So, i recently downloaded morrowind, but i cant open the setup.exe file because i am not the administrator. I was wondering if there was a way to decompress the contents online?

when green flag clicked
decompress setup.exe
set [.zip] to [yes]
compress as .zip
save to .zip

What? You can not decompress .exe files. You will need the administrator's password to run the program.

BookOwl wrote:

What? You can not decompress .exe files. You will need the administrator's password to run the program.

I dont think so, there are working tools that are available to download, but they also require installation. I just want to know if there is a website kind of like “ConvertFiles” or “CloudConvert”, but just for exe files.

EXE files are in executable formats, not a compressed format. If you try to decompress it, it will most likely fail. If it does somehow “decompress” it, what you end up with will be absolutely useless and take up more space than neccessary.

I think what you are looking at online are tools for hackers and modders who want to modify executable files.

EDIT: apparently it does work for some Windows EXEs. Ignore my posts.

If I understand correctly, you've got some sort of installer that's bundled up all nifty into a nice little exe file. So, it's not as much that you need to decompress it (into, say, its source) but to somehow extract the files without putting them in their place (which, without being an administrator, you can't do.) Short of running it in some sort of sandbox or VM, I'm not sure that's possible, although I am by no means an expert on anything Windows. Additionally, it's possible the files aren't even self contained and when you run the installer they are downloaded from some server. Unfortunately, I don't think I can help with this - see if there's a “files only” type download for the package, I guess, or ask someone you trust that has admin on their own computer (if there's no way you can get it in yours) to unpackage it and send you the files - beating in mind there could be thousands.(thanks, not-self-contained-executables-on-windows!)

jTron wrote:

If I understand correctly, you've got some sort of installer that's bundled up all nifty into a nice little exe file. So, it's not as much that you need to decompress it (into, say, its source) but to somehow extract the files without putting them in their place (which, without being an administrator, you can't do.) Short of running it in some sort of sandbox or VM, I'm not sure that's possible, although I am by no means an expert on anything Windows. Additionally, it's possible the files aren't even self contained and when you run the installer they are downloaded from some server. Unfortunately, I don't think I can help with this - see if there's a “files only” type download for the package, I guess, or ask someone you trust that has admin on their own computer (if there's no way you can get it in yours) to unpackage it and send you the files - beating in mind there could be thousands.(thanks, not-self-contained-executables-on-windows!)

It would probably still require admin permission to manually put the files in their proper places. I don't recommend trying to put an installation onto your own computer by using copies of all of the files installed onto your friends computer either.

You sure can't get someone to enter the password when you try to run the setup?

I think Visual Studio 2012 Express can open .exe files depending on what's inside them. I've done it before in the past with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate.
Of course, it needs to be downloaded, and it isn't light (a whopping 607.8 MB file).
As far as I'm aware, I don't know of any .exe decompilers online.

EXE's are compiled and it is practically impossible to decompile them effectively.

What you want to do is not possible, very likely. It'd be easier to just get the password.

Try using the open archive command in 7-zip

NoMod-Programming wrote:

Try using the open archive command in 7-zip

Yeeeeah, that won't work.

Zeusking19 wrote:

NoMod-Programming wrote:

Try using the open archive command in 7-zip

Yeeeeah, that won't work.

That surprisingly works on more file types than you think.
I think it actually works on a select few .exe files.

Sonickyle wrote:

I think Visual Studio 2012 Express can open .exe files depending on what's inside them. I've done it before in the past with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate.
Of course, it needs to be downloaded, and it isn't light (a whopping 607.8 MB file).
As far as I'm aware, I don't know of any .exe decompilers online.

Additionally, I'm pretty sure you need an admin password to install Visual Studio

I know that 7Zip would work, but i do not have it.

Ask the admin's permission
Or try to get a portable edition that isn't a scam

Sonickyle wrote:

Zeusking19 wrote:

NoMod-Programming wrote:

Try using the open archive command in 7-zip

Yeeeeah, that won't work.

That surprisingly works on more file types than you think.
I think it actually works on a select few .exe files.

Yes. Sometimes it will decompress the files from the installer as well as some extra files. Some programs need registry keys as well.

I did not expect this many replies, but i will try 7zip.

People, I know I'm late but EXE's aren't like mac .app files. They can't be decompressed, because they aren't even compressed in the first place. Apps need to run as an administrator to access restricted areas that it needs to change. You can try opening the EXE in a hex editor, going byte by byte trying to find the one value that says if it needs Admin privileges or not, but this will take days.
(myedx is a backup for myed which will be back on boxing day )

when green flag clicked
forever
You can't decompress EXE's
You can try to edit it but this will take days.
end

izyd01 wrote:

I did not expect this many replies, but i will try 7zip.

++ for 7-zip

myedx wrote:

People, I know I'm late but EXE's aren't like mac .app files. They can't be decompressed, because they aren't even compressed in the first place

Some exes double as archive files. You can do it because some archive formats, such as zip, have the header at the end of the file, and don't care about what's at the beginning since offsets are relative. Thus if you simply append a zip file to an existing exe file, you have yourself a magic file that is both a zip and an exe. Also, the exe format itself can also have sections for storing certain types of data, such as image resources or manifest files.

myedx wrote:

Apps need to run as an administrator to access restricted areas that it needs to change. You can try opening the EXE in a hex editor, going byte by byte trying to find the one value that says if it needs Admin privileges or not, but this will take days.

Also not quite true. All you need to do is find the windows manifest portion of the exe file (7-zip can probably do it for you) and replace the xml attribute for requesting admin (I forget the details)

$(".box-head")[0].textContent = "committing AT crimes since $whenever"

MegaApuTurkUltra wrote:

Also not quite true. All you need to do is find the windows manifest portion of the exe file (7-zip can probably do it for you) and replace the xml attribute for requesting admin (I forget the details)

Please elaborate?

852719 wrote:

MegaApuTurkUltra wrote:

Also not quite true. All you need to do is find the windows manifest portion of the exe file (7-zip can probably do it for you) and replace the xml attribute for requesting admin (I forget the details)

Please elaborate?

The last time I did this was many, many years ago when I actually needed to because I hadn't yet figured out how to boot off a USB drive and replace magnify.exe with cmd.exe… (hence “I forget the details”). I'm sure a Google search will help you

$(".box-head")[0].textContent = "committing AT crimes since $whenever"