While there are plenty of utilities available to extract the contents of an MSI file, you can do it straight from the command line without using some third party application. These directions have been updated to show this works in both Windows 7 and Vista. Here’s how:
First, access an elevated command prompt, to do this:
1. Click the Start button.
2. Click All Programs.
3. Go into Accessories.
4. Right-click on Command Prompt.
5. Select Run as administrator.
6. When the UAC Prompt appears, click Continue.
Once you have your elevated command prompt, input the following:
msiexec /a filepath to MSI file /qb TARGETDIR=filepath to target folder
using the desired locations to fill the above mentioned filepaths.
(Example: msiexec /a c:\testfile.msi /qb TARGETDIR=c:\temp\test)
Press the Enter button on your keyboard.
If you have entered the command correctly, the MSI file’s contents will be extracted.
