How to convert EXE to MSI

[Daniele]

Hello everyone.
I am looking for a simple and quick solution to the problem of
distributing applications EXE format through GPO. So we must have the
msi package. My question is this: What software do you recommend for
me to be able to quickly and easily convert exe into msi? I tried
Repackage application from AppDeploy.com but does not work with all
exe tested.
Thanks to all.
Daniel.

[Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS]]

Hello Daniele,

youi cannot convert a .exe to .msi. They are complete different. A free solution
is to use Winstall LE:
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:p2hzAInShp0J:www.softpile.com/Utilities/Miscellaneous/Review_16745_index.html+Wininstall+Le+2003&hl=de

Also one earlier version of the above tool was provided with the Windows
server 2000 installation disk.

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

Post by Daniele
Hello everyone.
I am looking for a simple and quick solution to the problem of
distributing applications EXE format through GPO. So we must have the
msi package. My question is this: What software do you recommend for
me to be able to quickly and easily convert exe into msi? I tried
Repackage application from AppDeploy.com but does not work with all
exe tested.
Thanks to all.
Daniel

[Florian Frommherz [MVP]]

Daniel,

Post by Daniele
Hello everyone.
I am looking for a simple and quick solution to the problem of
distributing applications EXE format through GPO. So we must have the
msi package. My question is this: What software do you recommend for
me to be able to quickly and easily convert exe into msi? I tried
Repackage application from AppDeploy.com but does not work with all
exe tested.

Meinolf is right, there is not an easy "conversion" to do this. At least
not with free tools. WinInstallLE Meinolf suggested is kind of a
"snapshot" tool that would perform a "before" and "after" snapshot.
Between those snapshots, you perform the actual installation of the
software product (.EXE) and it would compile an MSI file of the changes.
That works pretty well. There are other products that can do that for
you - WinInstallLE is just an example.

In the end, it is a question of how often you're going to roll out
software. If you're going down that road more often, you'll probably
want to look into more advanced deployment solutions that let you roll
out EXE files, too. They're not free but save you time to packages MSIs
yourself.

Cheers,
Florian