I am trying to diagnose a MSI using ORCA and I want to know the list of all the files that the installer installs.
I saw a "File" table after opening the MSI in ORCA but I want to confirm if the information about all the installed files is presented there and how I could decipher it.
What is a fool proof way of enlisting all the files that the MSI installs?
There isn't a fool proof way because MSI has several mechanisms to conditionalize which files get installed and to modify where they get installed to at runtime.
One thing you can do is extract the MSI by performing an administrative installation.
msiexec /a foo.msi TARGETDIR=C:\EXTRACTHERE /qb
This should give you a good idea of everything the installer can install. It won't reveal any directory redirects, conditional installations, Duplicated Files or resources modified by custom actions.
One of the good third-party Windows Installer tools may be your most effective solution for creating and trouble shooting your package. Orca.exe has the advantage of be included for free in the SDK, but may be difficult to use. Another option is to enable verbose logging on user's computer when troubleshooting deployment and also try using the Wilogutl.exe tool.
The verbose log includes an entry for each feature and component the installation package may install. The log tells what the state of that feature or component was prior to the installation, what state was requested by the installation, and in what state the installer left the feature or component. Please see the MSDN documentation about Checking the Installation of Features, Components, Files for more information.
Wilogutl.exe assists the analysis of log files from a Windows Installer installation, and it displays suggested solutions to errors that are found in a log file.
You need some software which works by snapshot principle. It scans system (files, registry) before installation and after, these snapshots equates and you receives result.
I am using free tool Panda Quickshot, also can try SysTracer (not free). Or find something in google.
