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Trying to create MST (Transform) Files .. Help needed ..


Rez.

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Hi ..

I would say a good 80% of all my apps are in .msi format, And i would love to be able to silently install them all with a batch file. One of my problems is that I never use %ProgramFiles% which is the default location for most installers. I looked up .msi switches but couldn't find a switch to set my prefered install location. I also couldn't find a switch to include a Serial number.

A Little more reading and I stumbled upon the concept of MST (Transfrom) Files. They seem to be just what I am looking for, a way to modify the install without having to modify the actual .msi ... That's where things go South for me. I can't seem to find any information on how to create an MST. After about an hour of searching, I came across a free program called 'Installtailor' but the link was dead and apparently has ended up being incorporated into Wise Installer.

I guess the real question for me is, What do I use to create MST files? Can anyone give me any recomendations?

Thanks ..

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Hi,

just try google using "creating MST files". I quickly found these links:

http://www.itworld.com/App/60/NWW010430119954/

and here is a second link directly to this forum :realmad: and it took me 5 sec dude :-D

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=18860

which reminds me I should also take a look

Edited by embe
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I've already visited that link http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=18860 But didn't get much out of it since Mazin was talking mainly about modifying the actual MSI. Your first link however is interesting. I enjoyed reading the comparison between Wise and Installshield.

Maybe one day when I've saved a few thousand dollars, I can buy these programs and continue with my dream of applying Transforms to my .msi files ... :whistle:

Thanks for the reply ...

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to make MST files use Wise InstallTailor. With it, you run your msi installer, choose options, install location and at the end, it makes a mst file that you must use this way: setup.msi TRANSFORMS=setup.mst /qb /norestart

to get it, search google, i dont remember where i found it. its free.

to modify installer for deleting/adding custom actions or other things you must use something like Installer Design Studio, Wise Package or InstallShield...

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@dobbelina ..

Thank you very much for that link, I was under the impression that 'Installtailor' was no longer a seperate application and was now only available in 'Wise Package Studio'. I can now MST to my heart's content.

Can I use 'Orca' to edit MST files? or does it have to be one of many pretty expensive commercial apps?

Thanks again for all the help everyone ..

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@rez

you can use orca, but you need to know what you are looking for inside the msi setup tables, if not, you can loose yourself very quickly in there ;)

try using some searches to find installshield references or microsoft so you can learn some parts of an msi installer table.

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