🚀 go-pugleaf

"Vanguard" <vanguard@mail.invalid> wrote in 
news:L_udnZNuH91GcVzbnZ2dnUVZ_sGvnZ2d@comcast.com:

> "none" wrote in message 
> news:0sidnb5gdramKlzbnZ2dnUVZ_j-dnZ2d@giganews.com...
>>
>> "Vanguard" wrote:
>>>
>>> "hmmm" wrote ...
>>>>
>>>> I'm looking to see what files comprise the compacted exe file 
>>>> before
>>>> I install it.
>>>
>>> You won't tell what files created after running an .exe.  Seeing 
>>> what
>>> files are in a .zip file, even one wrapped with the self-extract 
>>> .exe
>>> code, only shows you the files needed to do the INSTALL.  It shows 
>>> you
>>> nothing about what files actually get CREATED by the install.
>>>
>>> Use VMWare Server, VPC, ShadowSurfer, or Windows SteadyState to see
>>> what gets installed (provided you have a tool to log the current 
>>> state
>>> and then show you the difference after the install).
>>
>> Thanks for the info.  You refreshed my memory and I recall that even 
>> the
>> filenames that are extracted are shortened versions of what is 
>> actually
>> installed.
>>
>> What is the best tool that will create a snapshot (filename, version 
>> #,
>> date and time created) of all the OS files, and then do a compare 
>> for
>> changes afterward.  I know Nirsoft.net has something similar, but 
>> that's
>> just for dll files.
> 
> The install program can create files, it can use the included files 
> along with other data to construct the *new* files created during the 
> install, or it can modify a file after extraction, even an .exe.  Some 
> but not all files in the .zip file may end up in the installation. 
> Some files are not in the .zip file and are created or modified.
> 
> I use an old program called InstallWatch from epsilonSquared.com to 
> track changes to my system from an install.  You take a snapshot 
> before, do the install, and then analyze the current state (after 
> install) against the snapshot.  I don't bother loading it to use its 
> auto-detect mechanism to track installs.  I just manually do a 
> snapshot, install, and do the analyze afterward.  There might be 
> better programs around but this usually fits my need.  This one hasn't 
> been updated in several years.  ZSoft's Uninstaller is newer (more 
> recently updated) but its recorded log of system changes for analyzing 
> an install is much harder to read than the tree hierarchy shown in 
> InstallWatch.  I just tried ZSoft Uninstaller in a VM using VMWare 
> Server and didn't care for it, plus I don't want an alternative 
> uninstaller.
> 
> 

Have you tried Sandboxie?

I find it's an invaluable tool for analyzing software. 


-- 
Dustin Cook
Author of BugHunter - MalWare Removal Tool - v2.2c
email: bughunter.dustin@gmail.com.removethis
web..: http://bughunter.it-mate.co.uk
Pad..: http://bughunter.it-mate.co.uk/pad.xml