Stripping spyware from downloads

[Railman5]

Ever downloaded a screensaver or something and when you unzip and install it asks to install other stuff like toolbars etc.

is there a way to strip out all this spyware stuff using some extract method?

Thanks for help

Edited December 20, 2005 by Railman5

[MCT]

some installers (inno setup for instance uses 3rd party tools like inno unpack which will allow u extract inno setups)

[Railman5]

Thanx MCT

I shall investigate that option.

don't you just hate all this unwanted freeware stuff!

Cheers

[LLXX]

some installers (inno setup for instance uses 3rd party tools like inno unpack which will allow u extract inno setups)

innounp is one of them, it's quite popular since Inno setups tend to be very common. For other installers you'll have to use some other unpacker.

Then you just find the install script and manually install whichever portions you want, following the directions of the script.

[Esoy]

some installers (inno setup for instance uses 3rd party tools like inno unpack which will allow u extract inno setups)

Would you please suggest me this kind of tools for NSIS packages?

[LLXX]

Currently, there are no unpackers for the NSIS, but since it's open-source it shouldn't be too difficult to write one. Besides, the installer itself already contains the decompressor code.

If you know the compression method used and have a decompressor for that method, it's possible to unpack the thing manually... and an automated approach shouldn't be too far off. I've unpacked many unknown installers manually this way.