We usually cannot see the contents of an MSI (Microsoft Installer) file. For this reason, we have decided to bring you the five programs to view the contents of MSI files. In this way you can see in detail all the content of an MSI file such as DLL, EXE, OCX, TXT, etc., and know exactly what you are installing on your computer. Some of the environments in the list let you view the contents of the files from their interface, while others let you extract MSI files in batch. All programs are free for Windows operating systems.
Lessmsi
We will start with Lessmsi, without a doubt one of the best programs to view and extract MSI files. The platform allows you to extract files, view the content, query the tables (ID and binary elements, among other options) and view the summary of the file, among many other parameters. But one of the most interesting features of the environment is its integration with Windows. To use it in the operating system, you will only have to right-click on the file and from the context menu extract the content, view the summary and view the tables of the MSI file.
Universal Extractor
We continue with Universal Extractor, a simple program to view and extract MSI files. Although you will not be able to view the content of the file from its interface (you will have to extract it first), the platform allows you to extract MSI files in bulk quickly and easily (you will have to determine the input and output file for each file).
MSI Unpacker
If you are looking for a very simple tool to view and extract MSI files, you should try MSI Unpacker. A utility that has two main features: it shows the list of MSI file contents and extracts the content of MSI files in the same folder where they are stored.
MSI Extractor
MSI Extractor is a very simple tool that only extracts MSI files, so you can then view them. The platform is developed under the Pascal programming language and does not require Java or .NET Framework to run.
How to use the Orca database editor to edit MSI files
Due to the limitations of Windows Installer tools, you may at some point need to edit MSI files. This is where the Orca database editor comes into play, which is a table editing tool available in the Windows Installer SDK. You can use it to edit MSI files, view tables, view dialogs, validate, view summaries, etc.
We hope that with the five programs to view the contents of MSI files, you can know exactly the content of each installation file.
