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Decompiler Installshield Scripting

How to Decompile Installshield Scripting Files

Installshield is a popular tool for creating software installers and packages. Installshield scripting files are files that contain the logic and instructions for the installation process. These files have the extension .rul or .ins, depending on the version of Installshield used.

Sometimes, you may need to decompile these files to view or modify their source code. For example, you may want to fix a bug, add a feature, or reverse engineer an old installer. However, decompiling Installshield scripting files is not an easy task, as there is no official tool or documentation for doing so.

In this article, we will explore some of the methods and tools that can help you decompile Installshield scripting files.

Method 1: Extracting the .ins file from the setup.exe

If you have a setup.exe file that was created with Installshield, you may be able to extract the .ins file from it. The .ins file is a binary file that contains the compiled Installshield script. To extract the .ins file, you can use a tool called Universal Extractor, which can extract files from any type of archive[^1^].

After downloading and running Universal Extractor, you can select the setup.exe file as the input file and choose a destination folder for the output files. Then, click OK to start the extraction process. If successful, you should see a file named setup.ins in the output folder.

Method 2: Decompiling the .ins file to .rul file

Once you have the .ins file, you can try to decompile it to a .rul file, which is a text file that contains the Installshield script source code. However, this is not an official or supported process, and there is no guarantee that it will work for all versions of Installshield.

One of the tools that claims to decompile .ins files is Installscript Decompiler[^3^], which is an open source project hosted on GitHub. According to its description, it can decompile .ins files created with Installshield versions 5.x to 11.x. However, it has not been updated since 2016, so it may not work with newer versions of Installshield.

To use Installscript Decompiler, you need to download and compile its source code using Visual Studio. Then, you can run it from the command line with the following syntax:

InstallShieldDecompiler.exe <input.ins> <output.rul>

For example:

InstallShieldDecompiler.exe setup.ins setup.rul

If successful, you should see a message saying \"Decompilation complete\" and a .rul file in the same folder as the .ins file.

Method 3: Using other tools or resources

If none of the above methods work for you, you may have to resort to other tools or resources that can help you decompile Installshield scripting files. Some of these are:

Contacting Installshield support or community[^2^] and asking for their advice or assistance.

Contacting Stefan Kruger, an Installshield consultant and expert who may be able to help you with your project.

Searching for similar projects or samples on GitHub or other online platforms that may have used or decompiled Installshield scripting files.

Searching for backups or source repositories of your original project that may contain the .rul or .ism files.

Conclusion

Decompiling Installshield scripting files is not a straightforward or simple process. It requires some knowledge and skills in reverse engineering and programming. It also depends on the version and type of Installshield used to create the installer. Therefore, it may not be possible to decompile every Installshield scripting file successfully.

However, there are some methods and tools that can help you in this task, such as extracting the .ins file from the setup.exe, decompiling the .ins file to .rul file using Installscript Decompiler, or using other tools or resources that can assist you. We hope this aa16f39245