Application Switches - Contributions Only

7-Zip

Switch: -y /q /r:n
Full syntax: 7Zip.exe -y /q /r:n
Extraction needed: ?


Adobe Reader 6.0 Basic and Full

Switch: -p"-s /v\"/qn\""
Full syntax: AdbeRdr60_enu_full.exe -p"-s /v\"/qn\""
Extraction needed: No
Note: Creates a Cache folder in the Windows directory, use a RD command to remove this directory. (rm /? in command prompt for more info)


Adobe Acrobat 5.1

Switch: -R to create ISS file.
Full syntax: See http://www.MSFN.org/unattended/xp/applicat...stallshield.htm
Extraction needed: Yes


Alcohol 120%

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: setup.exe /qn
Extraction needed: ?


ACDsee 6.02

See: http://www.MSFN.org/board/index.php?showtopic=12161&st=0


Adobe Photoshop 7 & 8

See: http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=10552


AVG Anti-Virus

See: http://www.MSFN.org/board/index.php?showtopic=10705&st=0


Avant Browser

See: http://www.MSFN.org/board/index.php?showtopic=10712&st=0


Boot XP

Switch: /S
Full syntax: bootxpsetuprc2.50.exe /S
Extraction needed: ?


Connectix Virtual PC IS Script

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: ISScript8.Msi /qn
Extraction needed: ?


Connectix Virtual PC

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: CVPC.msi /qn
Extraction needed: ?


Command Prompt Explorer Bar 1.1
Switch: /qn
Full syntax: Cmdbar.msi /qn
Extraction needed: ?


ConTEXT 0.97

Switch: /verysilent
Full syntax: context.exe /verysilent
Extraction needed: ?


Customizer XP 1.8.5

Switch: /VERYSILENT /SP-
Full syntax: cstmizxp_reg.exe /VERYSILENT /SP-
Extraction needed: ?


DUMeter 3

Switch: /VERYSILENT /SP-
Full syntax: dumeter3.exe /VERYSILENT /SP-
Extraction needed: No


Daemon Tools

Switch: /qn /Reboot=Suppress
Full syntax: daemon.msi /qn /Reboot=Suppress
Extraction needed: Yes


eMule

See: http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=10756


Easy CD Creater 5.0

Switch: /s /v/qn
Full syntax: setup.exe /s /v/qn
Extraction needed: ?


Foobar2000

See: http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=10958


Google Toolbar

Switch: /s /qn (or /q /d)
Full syntax: GoogleToolbarInstaller.exe /s /qn
Full syntax: GoogleToolbarInstaller.exe /q /d
Extraction needed: No
Note: /d installs Google Toolbar without Advanced Features


Jasc Paint Shop Pro

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: JPSP8.msi /qn
Extraction needed: ?


Journal Viewer 1.5

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: JV.msi /qn
Extraction needed: Yes


Kazaa Codec Pack

Switch: /silent
Full syntax: kcodec210.exe /silent
Extraction needed: ?


Logon Loader

Switch: /VERYSILENT /SP-
Full syntax: Logon_Loader_2.1.0.exe /VERYSILENT /SP-
Extraction needed: No


MCAffe Viruscan 8

See: http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=10946


mIRC

See: http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=10723


Microsoft Visual Basic 6 Runtimes

Switch: /Q
Full syntax: vbrun6.exe /Q
Extraction needed: ?


MusicMatch Jukebox

Switch: /s
Full syntax: MusicMatch.exe /s
Extraction needed: ?
Note: User Registration screen pops-up.


MagicTweak

Switch: /silent
Full syntax: MT270.exe /silent
Extraction needed: ?


Messenger Plus 2.54

Switch: /SilentInstallNoSponsor or /SilentInstall
Full syntax: msgplus254.exe /SilentInstallNoSponsor
Extraction needed: No
Notes: Opens IE and MSN Messenger after installation.


Nero Burning ROM 6.0

Switch: /SILENT /NOREBOOT /SN=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx /WRITE_SN
Full syntax: Nero6xxxxx.exe /SILENT /NOREBOOT /SN=xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx /WRITE_SN
Extraction needed: No
Notes: Only works for Nero 6.0.0.23 and onwards. Use /HELP for more switches.


Norton Systemworks 2003

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: Setup.exe /qn /Reboot=Suppress
Extraction needed: ?


OpenOffice 1.10

See: http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=12044


Partition Magic 8.0

Switch: /s /v/qn
Full syntax: setup.exe /s /v/qn
Extraction needed: ?


PowerDesk 5.0

Switch: /S /N /LANG=ENG
Full syntax: PD5.exe /S /N /LANG=ENG
Extraction needed: ?


Perfect Disk 6

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: pdwks60.msi /qn
Extraction needed: ?


PC Cillin

Switch: /qb REBOOT=Supress
Full syntax: pcc.msi /qb REBOOT=Supress
Extraction needed: ?


PowerDVD 5

Switch: -R to create ISS file.
Full syntax: See http://www.MSFN.org/unattended/xp/applicat...stallshield.htm
Extraction needed: ?
Also see: http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=11115


Quicktime 6

Download full installer. Create a QuickTimeInstaller.ini with the following:

[QTSETUP] 
license_option=0 
no_dialogs=true 
registration_dialog=false 
supress_speed_dialog=true 
install_qtjava=false 
install_qd3d=true 
show_sample=false 
show_readme=false 
show_programfolder=false 
install_qtinfo=true

Full Installer and QuickTimeInstaller.ini must be in same directory.


QuickTime Alternative

Switch: /VERYSILENT /SP-
Full syntax: quicktimealtxxx.exe /VERYSILENT /SP-
Extraction needed: No


QCD Player

Switch: /S
Full syntax: qcd411.exe /S
Extraction needed: ?
Note: use Taskkill /F /IM QCDPlayer in addition.


RealPlayer One v2

Switch: -s
Full syntax: RealOnePlayerV2GOLD_en.exe -s
Extraction needed: ?


Real Alternative

Switch: /VERYSILENT /SP-
Full syntax: realaltxxx.exe /VERYSILENT /SP-
Extraction needed: No


Resplendent Registrar 3.21

Switch: /S
Full syntax: regist.exe /S
Extraction needed: ?


SpywareBlaster

Switch: /verysilent
Full syntax: spywareblastersetup.exe /verysilent
Extraction needed: ?


Sygate Personal Firewall

Switch: /QN Reboot=Supress
Full syntax: spf.exe /QN Reboot=Supress
Extraction needed: No


SiSoft Sandra Pro MAX3

Switch: /VERYSILENT
Full syntax: filename.exe /VERYSILENT
Extraction needed: ?


TuneUp Utilities

Switch: /q
Full syntax: filename.exe /q
Extraction needed: No | If you do, then use TU2003.msi /qn


TweakXP Pro 2.0

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: tweakxp.exe /qn
Extraction needed: ?


Tweaknow PowerPack

Switch: /VERYSILENT /SP-
Full syntax: setup.exe /VERYSILENT /SP-
Extraction needed: ?


TightVNC

Switch: /silent
Full syntax: filename.exe /silent
Extraction needed: ?


WinISO 5.3

Switch: /VERYSILENT /SP-
Full syntax: WinISO.exe /VERYSILENT /SP-
Extraction needed: ?


WMP 9 Bonus Pack

Switch: /q
Full syntax: WMP9Bonus.exe /q
Extraction needed: ?


Windows XP Support Tools

Switch: /qn
Full syntax: Suptools.msi /qn
Extraction needed: ?


WinAmp 2.91 / 5.0

See: http://www.MSFN.org/board/index.php?showtopic=12364&st=0 and http://www.MSFN.org/board/index.php?showtopic=11803&st=0 and http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=12160


WinZip

See: http://www.MSFN.org/...showtopic=10618


Yahoo Messenger 5.6

Switch: /s
Full syntax: yahoomessenger.exe /s
Extraction needed: No.
Notes: Download full install, not web install. Use Taskkill /F /IM YPager in addition.


Alcohol can be installed and registered doing the following

Use Switch: /qn

copy and paste to create regfile:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120%\Info]
"UserName"="yourusername"
"Company"=" yourcompany"
"SerialNo"="yourserialno."

Install the app, then run the regfile replacing the appropriate


Google Toolbar

Switch: /d /q
Full syntax: GoogleToolbarInstaller.exe /q /d
Extraction needed: No
Notes: /d will install the toolbar without it's advanced features and is optional. [EDIT] CASE IS VERY IMPORTANT! I tried it with /Q /D and it did not work. With /q /d it worked great.


AVG Anti-Virus

$OEM$\$1\Install\Applications\AVG7\

Inside the AVG7 folder you put extracted AVG setup files.
Then you have to make a file named avgsetup.ini and put the following in it:

HIDE:
DONT_START_APPS:
NO_WELCOME:
LOG: "C:\AVG7INST.LOG" 
NAME: "UserName" 
COMPANY: "Company" 
LICNO: "Serial"

The AVG7 folder should now have the following;

avgsetup.exe
avgsetup.ini
files.dat
setup.dat
setup.lns
license_sk.txt
license_us.txt
license_cz.txt
license_fr.txt
license_ge.txt
readme_ge.txt
readme_cz.txt
readme_fr.txt
readme_sk.txt
readme_us.txt

I tried removing the text files but AVG wouldn't install so just leave them.

Then add this to your app install file;

ECHO.
ECHO Installing AVG Anti-Virus 7.0.197...
SET SETUP="%systemdrive%\Install\Applications\AVG7\avgsetup.exe"
[COLOR=blue]%SETUP% /SCRIPT_FILE "%systemdrive%\Install\Applications\AVG7\avgsetup.ini" %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
[/COLOR]

The part in blue is one line.

If you want to get more technical get the freeware app AVGADMIN 7.0.195


NOD32 Antivirus

Here is the procedure for NOD32 Antivirus. It should work for Smart Security too.
1. If you have an existing NOD32 installation with your login and password for updates you need to export your settings (setup-imort/export settings)
2. The result should be an XML file, rename it to cfg.xml
3. Download MSI instalation file from ESET webpage, rename it to nod32.msi
4. Using 7zip pack these 2 files together, the result should be nod32.7z
5. Download the attachment of this post - config.txt
6. Download this file - 7zS.sfx
7. Now you should have 3 files in 1 directory nod32.7z config.txt and 7zS.sfx
8. Open comand prompt in that directory and type "copy /b 7zS.sfx + config.txt + nod32.7z NOD32.exe"
9. It will create NOD32.exe - your switchless installer
10. Follow the link in previous post to make an addon. Your entries file should look something like this:

[general]
builddate=12.04.2010
description=Antivirus and antispyware protection
language=English
title=ESET NOD32 Antivirus Business Edition
version=4.2.40
website=http://www.eset.sk/
[EditFile]
I386\SVCPACK.INF,SetupHotfixesToRun,AddProgram
[AddProgram]
NOD32.exe

--------

Config file:

;!@Install@!UTF-8! 
Title="NOD 32 Antivirus Business Edition"
Progress="no"
ExecuteFile="msiexec.exe"
ExecuteParameters="/i nod32.msi /qn" 
;!@InstallEnd@! 

Unattended/silent installations of many popular Windows applications

Introduction

The goal of this document is to collect instructions for performing unattended/silent installations of many popular Windows applications. Such instructions are useful for automating these installations.
A quick word on terminology: Strictly speaking, an unattended installation is one which does not require user interaction, and a silent (or quiet) installation is one which does not display any indication of its progress. However, most people use these terms interchangeably.
Here, we are interested not only in performing unattended installations, but also in waiting for those installations to finish and suppressing any reboot they might want to perform. This is necessary for reliably installing multiple applications.

---

General information

There are several systems which vendors use to create installers for their applications. To make an educated guess about how to run an installer unattended, you need to know which system was used to create it. Sometimes this will be obvious from the installer's splash screen; sometimes you can figure it out by running strings; and sometimes you will have to guess.
Of course, you can try running the installer with the /? switch to find out which other switches it supports. But if you really expect this to work, then you have not been using Windows for very long. In my experience, the odds are about 1 in 4 that /? will tell you anything at all, even when there is something to tell.

MSI packages

Microsoft's own Windows Installer Service is the nominal standard, and if everybody used it, there would be no need for this document. Unfortunately, Microsoft invented it too late.
The package files have a .msi extension, and you manipulate them using the msiexec utility.
For installation, use the /i and /qb switches. Use the /l* switch to produce a log file. You can provide named options (or "properties") at the end of the command line; which properties are supported depends on the package. For example, this command:

msiexec /qb /l* perl-log.txt /i ActivePerl.msi PERL_PATH=Yes PERL_EXT=Yes

...is how you install ActiveState Perl, instructing the MSI package to add Perl.exe to your PATH and to associate .pl files with it. (See below for more on Perl.)
Perhaps the most important common property is the REBOOT property, which you can use to suppress any automatic reboot the MSI package might try to perform. So in general, you want to provide the /i, /qb, and REBOOT=ReallySuppress parameters to msiexec.
msiexec can do many other things, like uninstall software or apply patches. Neat, huh? Too bad nobody uses it.

InstallShield

InstallShield is one of the oldest and most widely used application packaging systems.
Installers created by InstallShield recognize the /r, /s, /sms, /f1, and /f2 switches. The installer itself is invariably named setup.exe.
To perform a silent installation, you need an InstallShield "answer file", customarily named setup.iss. Some applications ship with such a file, but if yours does not, you can use the graphical installer itself to create one.
Here is how it works. Run the installer with the /r ("record") switch. Proceed through the dialogs and complete the installation. This will create a setup.iss file and place it in the C:\WINDOWS directory (yes, really). This file will include all of your responses to the InstallShield dialogs, allowing you to perform unattended installations as if you were giving the same answers again. Simply copy setup.iss to the same directory as the installer executable.
Once you have a setup.iss file, run the installer with the /s ("silent") option. This will perform an unattended installation.
Unfortunately, the installer will fork a separate process and exit, meaning it will return immediately even if you run it under start /wait. This makes it useless for scripting purposes. Luckily, there is another switch, /sms, which will cause the installer to pause until the installation completes.
Hence, for an InstallShield application, you want to provide both the /s and the /sms switches.
The /f1filename switch allows you to specify a fully-qualified alternate name for the setup.iss file. Note that there must be no space between the /f1 switch and the file name. This switch works both with /r to create the file and with /s to read it.
The /f2filename switch specifies a log file. Once again, there must be no space between the switch and the file name.
WARNING: Be careful what characters you use in these file names, because InstallShield silently strips certain non-alphanumerics (like hyphens).
Oh, one more thing. The /r and /s switches only work if the release engineer is competent. Many packages have "custom dialogs" which are not supported by setup.iss, which means the dialogs will always appear no matter what you do. For such packages, I suggest asking the vendor to fix their installer. If that does not work, I suggest doing what you can to deprive them of business.

PackagefortheWeb

InstallShield has a relatively new add-on product called PackagefortheWeb, or PFTW for short. This is basically an InstallShield tree bundled up as a single-file executable.
When you run this executable, it extracts a bunch of files to a temporary directory and launches the setup.exe within.
The PFTW package recognizes the /s and /a ... switches. The /s switch instructs the PFTW package to run silently, although this does not necessarily mean that the underlying setup.exe will run silently.
The /a ... ("add") switch allows you to add switches to the command line of the underlying setup.exe process. You may provide any of the normal InstallShield switches here, including /r, /s, and /sms.
Thus, to automate the installation of a PFTW package named foo.exe, you would first perform one installation by hand to create the answer file:

foo.exe /a /r /f1c:\temp\foo.iss

Then, to install the package completely silently, you would run:

start /wait foo.exe /s /a /s /sms /f1c:\temp\foo.iss

The first /s is only needed for a completely silent installation. If you leave it off, the PFTW package will show you a status bar as it extracts the InstallShield tree to the temporary directory.

InstallShield with MSI

Recent versions (7 and above) of InstallShield's tools are able to produce MSI files. Read InstallShield's documentation for full details.
These MSI files may be shipped alone or with a setup.exe installer. These installers in turn come in two flavors, called "InstallScript MSI" and "Basic MSI". InstallScript MSI uses the traditional InstallShield switches. Basic MSI is another story.
To perform an unattended installation using a Basic MSI installer, you provide the /s /v"..." switches, where ... represents any additional switches you want to pass down to msiexec. These should include the /qb (or /qn) switch to make the installation non-interactive, so a minimal invocation would be:

setup.exe /s /v"/qb"

Just to make things interesting, any of these mechanisms might be combined with PFTW. For example, I eventually figured out that the IBM Update Connector requires these flags for unattended installation:

updcon532.exe /s /a /s /v"/qb"

The first /s tells the PFTW installer to extract silently. The /a tells it to provide the remaining switches to the underlying setup.exe. The second /s tells setup.exe to run silently, while the /v"/qb" tells it to pass /qb to msiexec, which causes msiexec to run non-interactively but display a basic interface.
Are we having fun yet?

Wise InstallMaster

InstallMaster from Wise Solutions is a competitor to InstallShield. You can usually identify the installers it produces by running "strings" on the executable and grepping for "Wise".
InstallMaster installers are supposed to recognize the /s switch to perform a silent installation. And in my experience, they generally do. But there is no way to set options, and the exit status is meaningless.
NOTE: This product has been rebranded the "Wise Installation System". Don't let them confuse you.

Inno Setup

Inno Setup is an open source competitor in this space. You can usually identify the installers it creates by running "strings" on the executable and grepping for "Inno".
Inno Setup installers use the /silent switch for unattended installations.

Nullsoft Scriptable Install System

The Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS) is another open source installation system. It was created by the WinAmp authors to distribute that application, but it is now a general-purpose system which anyone might use.
When an NSIS installer runs, it creates a little window which says verifying installer: N%, where N counts from 0 to 100. So you can recognize these installers by this behavior. (Actually the verification procedure is optional, but most installers have it enabled. As an alternative, you can run "strings" and grep for "NSIS"...)
NSIS installers recognize /S for silent installation, /NCRC to suppress the CRC (verification) step, and /D=dir to specify the "output directory", which is where the program will be installed. These options are case-sensitive, so be sure to type them in upper case.
Incidentally, all /S does is change the installer script's SilentInstall attribute from "normal" to "silent". What effect this has, exactly, depends on the person who wrote the script. If /S does not perform a silent install, consider submitting a bug report to the installer's creator.

Microsoft hotfixes and older packages

Most Microsoft hotfixes respond to the /? switch, but they do not always tell you everything.
According to KB article 816915 and KB article 824687, Microsoft is moving towards standardized packaging and naming for hotfixes. But they are not done yet.
Modern hotfixes support /passive (formerly /u) for unattended installation, /norestart (formerly /z) to suppress the automatic reboot, and /n to skip backing up files needed for uninstalling the hotfix.
Some hotfixes use an old Microsoft packaging technology called "IExpress", whose switches are more-or-less documented in KB article 197147 and an old USENET post. These installers first extract some stuff to a temporary folder and then run a command from inside that folder. They support the /t:path switch to specify the temporary folder name and the /c:command switch to specify the command to run. Specifying just /c suppresses running the command at all, so you can use /c /t:path to extract the hotfix just to look at it.
These packages support the /q switch for quiet operation, except sometimes you have to use /q:a instead. They also support the /r:n switch to suppress the reboot. Sometimes these do not work and you have to fiddle with the /c:command switch; see the second "NOTE" in KB article 317244 for an example.
Leave it to Microsoft to make systems administration an experimental science.

If all else fails...

If the application simply has no unattended installation procedure, you can create your own. I prefer to avoid these approaches if at all possible, since they are relatively unreliable and difficult to maintain.

Repackaging

There are several tools around which can take a snapshot of a machine's state before and after a manual installation, compute the differences between the states, and bundle them up as an "installer". The Wise product line provides good support for this, and Microsoft's free tool (recently updated) provides bad support for it.
The problem with this approach is that it fundamentally cannot work reliably. An installer's behavior may depend on the exact initial state of the machine, such as the OS version or the presence/absence of other installed software. So the repackaged installer will almost never do exactly the same thing that a fresh installation would, unless the target machine is completely identical to the original machine.
In addition, for every new release of an application, you will need to repackage it again. And there are other disadvantages which even Microsoft recognizes.
For these reasons, I think repackaging is a very bad idea and I advise against it.

AutoIt

AutoIt is a free tool which can simulate key presses and mouse clicks, following a script customarily named with a .aut extension. Most installers have a sufficiently simple and consistent interface that a very short AutoIt script suffices to automate their installation.
The AutoIt distribution includes very good documentation. You can copy the AutoIt.exe program wherever you like (say, Z:\bin) and invoke it standalone.
AutoIt scripts do have drawbacks.
First, you must be careful when upgrading to new releases of an application, since the installer's UI may have changed.
More worryingly, AutoIt scripts are theoretically unreliable because they do not let you determine when a sub-process has exited. You can tell when AutoIt itself exits, but that is not the same thing at all. For example, an installer's last window might disappear while the installer was still working. Your master script, waiting only for the AutoIt executable, would then proceed, starting another installation or rebooting the machine.
AutoIt provides Run and RunWait primitives, but it does not provide a way to wait for the termination of an application which was invoked by Run. If it did, this race condition could be avoided.
In practice, it does not matter much, because most installers do finish their work before destroying their last window. Just make sure your .aut script uses WinWaitClose to wait for that last window to vanish.

---

Specific applications

Exemple:

• setup.exe /q
• setup.exe /qn
• setup.exe /silent
• setup.exe /s
• setup.exe /NoUserInput
• setup.exe /unattended
• setup.exe /CreateAnswerFile
• setup.exe /quiet

7-zip

Availability	Open Source
Details	As far as I know, 7-zip is the only open source competitor to WinZip. It uses its own self-extracting installation scheme. For unattended operation, run it with switches -y /q /r:n. Yes, that is "dash-y slash-q slash-r-colon-n", as described here and here.
Example	7-zip.bat

---

Acrobat Reader 5.1

Availability	Free Download
Details	This is a simple PFTW installer. First, download the full installer package from Adobe. Run: AcroReader51_ENU_full.exe /a /r /f1c:\acrobat.iss Complete the installation manually. When you are finished, the installer will write the c:\acrobat.iss answer file. Copy this file and the package itself to Z:\packages. Then, to perform unattended installations, run: AcroReader51_ENU_full.exe /a /s /sms /f1Z:\packages\acrobat.iss
Example	acrobat-reader.bat

---

ActiveState Perl (ActivePerl)

Availability	Open Source
Details	Just download the MSI file, which you already know how to handle. Most of the available properties are documented, except for PERL_EXT, which tells the installer to make ActivePerl the default handler for .pl files.
Example	perl.bat

---

Adobe Reader 6.0

Availability	Free Download
Details	Unlike Acrobat Reader, this new release does not use InstallShield's PackageForTheWeb. Instead, it uses something called the "Netopsystems FEAD optimizer", whose command-line switches are documented nowhere. However, Adobe provides silent installation instructions in their knowledgebase articles 53446 and 53495. Viewing these requires registering for an account with the "Adobe Solutions Network"; how annoying. Briefly, the magic invocation is: AdbeRdr60_enu_full.exe -p"-s /v\"/qn\"" Alternatively, you can get hold of the MSI file with a quick hack. If you start the installer and wait for it to finish extracting files, you will find it creates a folder named %SystemRoot%\cache\Adobe Reader 6.0\ENUBIG. (SystemRoot is normally C:\WINNT or C:\WINDOWS.) This folder contains the complete uncompressed tree, including an MSI file named Adobe Reader 6.0.msi. So just copy the ENUBIG folder to, say, Z:\packages\AdobeReader60, and you can perform unattended installations like any other MSI package: msiexec /qb /i "z:\packages\AdobeReader60\Adobe Reader 6.0.msi"
Example	adobe-reader.bat
Thanks to	Nils Østbjerg

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AT&T Global Network Dialer

Availability	Free Download (direct link to FTP site), but requires the service.
Details	The downloaded installer is named ncsetup.exe; you probably want to rename it to att-5.0.8.2.exe or somesuch. Running "strings" on the executable reveals that it was created by Wise Installmaster, so the /s flag will do the trick.
Example	att.bat

---

Cygwin

Availability	Open Source
Details	Cygwin has its own installer (setup.exe) with no unattended mode. In fact, the package selection portion cannot be performed with the keyboard; only with the mouse. However, Cygwin's setup.exe does allow you to download everything during one run and install it during another. So to automate the installation of a subset of packages, you simply Run the installer once by hand to download just the packages you want. Write an AutoIt script to run the installer in "install from local package directory" mode, clicking in the right spot to select "All Packages". (UPDATE 1: Seth de l'Isle found a way to install Cygwin without using AutoIt. He sent these observations and his complete instructions to the mailing list.) (UPDATE 2: There is some evidence that Cygwin eventually will have command-line switches to permit unattended installation.)
Example	cygwin.aut, cygwin.bat, sshd.bat

---

DirectX 8.1

Availability	Free Download
Details	The downloaded installer is named DX81NTeng.exe. Run DX81NTeng.exe /c /t:path to extract the tree to path. From that tree, run dxsetup /silent /install.
Example	directx81.bat

---

Emacs

Availability	Open Source
Details	Binary distributions of Emacs for Windows are distributed as .tar.gz files with names like emacs-21.3-i386.bin.tar.gz. You need to extract the tree somewhere like C:\emacs-21.3, then run the bin\addpm.exe helper to add the Emacs icon to the Start menu. Using 7-zip, extraction takes two steps: One to extract the .tar file from the .tar.gz file, and another to extract the distribution itself from the .tar file.
Example	emacs.bat

---

LeechFTP v1.3.1.207

Availability	Free
Details	Development on LeechFTP ceased a while ago, but many people still like it for its size, speed, simplicity, and robustness. The only problem is that the automatic "checking for software update" feature will always fail because the update server is gone. Users can disable this feature in the "options" menu; it only checks once a week, and it does not hurt anything anyway. Leech can also just be installed on a test machine and the contents of the Program Files\LeechFTP directory moved from system to system. It creates registry entries for each user that runs it, but the defaults are very sensible. The only trick is to make sure that all users can write to "LeechFTP\default.lfq" (default queue file). This file gets clobbered and recreated by each user. The simplest approach is probably to use a cacls line to give "users" the ability to "change" the entire directory.
Example	(copy folder to C:\Program Files\LeechFTP) cacls "C:\Program Files\LeechFTP" /t /e /g users:c

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Lotus Notes (technically IBM/Lotus, but who cares)

Availability	The software is a commercial product; the incremental update installers are available for download.
Details	The master setup.exe is just an InstallShield executable. Use the /s /sms (and perhaps the /f1) switches. The incremental installers, on the other hand, respond to /?. For unattended installation, provide the /nouser switch. Note that each incremental installer only works for the immediately preceeding version of Notes, so you must apply each of them in order.
Example	notes.bat

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MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components)

Availability	Free Download
Details	Typical random Microsoft package. For unattended install, run with /q /c:"setup /qn1".
Example	mdac.bat

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Microsoft Internet Explorer

Availability	Free Download
Details	After downloading IE6setup.exe issue the following command to download necessary files for installing. IE6setup.exe /c:"ie6wzd.exe /d /s:""#E" To perform an unattended installation, run IE6setup.exe from the \ie6sp1 directory with the /q and /r:n options.
Example	ie6.bat

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Microsoft .NET Framework

Availability	Free Download
Details	Click the "IT Pros" link on the .NET Framework Redistributable page to download dotnetfx.exe. Run dotnetfx.exe /q /c:"install /q" to perform a silent installation.
Example	dotnet.bat

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Microsoft Office 2000

Availability	Commercial
Details	This is a fun one. To perform unattended installations of Office, you need to create what Microsoft calls an "Administrative Installation Point". This is basically a copy of the CD-ROM, modified to incorporate your license key and organization name. From the top-level of the first Office CD-ROM, run: setup.exe /a data1.msi Just answer all the questions about license keys and such, and the installer will create your Administrative Installation Point. The data1.msi file within will work like any other MSI package. The Office installer has many public properties. They are documented in KB article 270920, although a better description can be found in the setupref.xls spreadsheet in the Office Information download from the Office Resource Kit toolbox. I happen to like the settings ADDLOCAL=ALL, REBOOT=ReallySuppress, NOUSERNAME=TRUE, ALLUSERS=1, and DISABLEADVTSHORTCUTS=1. Your mileage may vary. Note: To create an Administrative Installation Point, you must have the Retail or Enterprise edition of Office 2000, not the OEM edition. And for Office XP, only the Enterprise edition will do. If you try to use the OEM edition, the setup.exe /a process will appear to work, but it will actually just scribble uselessly over the root directory of the current drive. (Hint: You can correct this behavior by using the Office Resource Kit to create a transform file which changes the OEMRelease property from 1 to 0. But you did not hear this from me.) Of course, you will want to apply all of Microsoft's updates, because Office is riddled with security holes. There are two ways to do this. One is to follow Microsoft's Administrative Updates Journal. Here you will find "administrative" versions of the updates which you may apply directly to your Administrative Installation Point, so that all installations performed from that point will have the updates incorporated already. Be aware that some updates (e.g., the View Control Security Update) have no administrative version; such updates must be applied on each client. If you have applied any administrative updates to your installation point, your users will not be able to use the Product Updates section of Microsoft's web site to install updates themselves. Microsoft figures that if you apply any updates administratively, you want to apply all updates administratively. If your users (like mine) prefer to administer their own systems, they may find this annoying. The other way to update Office is to apply the normal version of each update on each client. The only hard part here is figuring out how to install them in unattended mode, because each update is a little different. The example script below should provide a decent starting point, and might even be current.
Example	office2k.bat, officexp.bat

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Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0

Availability	Commercial
Details	This is another fun one. You might try following the directions in KB article 195828. If you do, you will be disappointed, because smsinst.exe forks and exits immediately, rendering it useless for scripting. The KB article's instructions for using the acost.exe tool to configure which components to install is still accurate, however. Luckily, by running "strings" on smsinst.exe, we can learn that all it does is run regedit /s key.dat and then fire up acmboot.exe. The key.dat file is just a simple registry patch to trick acmboot.exe into thinking that the GUI portion of Setup has already run. You must provide the /k switch to acmboot.exe to specify your license key (sans hyphens). Having installed Visual Studio, you probably want to install the latest service pack (SP5 as of this writing). To perform an unattended installation of SP5, run setupsp5.exe /qn1. You may also provide the /g switch to specify a log file. But oh, if only it were that simple. If you are installing on Windows 2000, you will find that the /qn1 switch does not actually work, because the installer insists on popping up a useless warning that your version of MDAC is out-of-date. The solution to this? Update MDAC to the latest version before trying to install the service pack. So, the full unattended procedure for installing Visual C++ 6.0 is: Run regedit /s key.dat Run start /wait acmsetup.exe /k license-key Reboot Update MDAC to the latest version Run start /wait setupsp5.exe /qn1
Example	vs6.bat

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MSDN Library

Availability	Subscription based, although you can browse it online.
Details	NOTE: The following applies to the April 2002 and October 2002 editions of the MSDN Library. I make no promises about other editions, although I would be happy to hear about your experiences with them. The good news is that the MSDN Library comes with an MSI package. The bad news is that when you try to install it with msiexec, a little dialog box appears telling you to run the provided setup.exe instead. Naturally, this setup.exe responds to /? with "Incorrect command line parameters", so you have to guess what it wants. It turns out that it will take any arguments you give and pass them on to msiexec. So we can just run setup.exe /qb and be done with it, right? Wrong. Before running msiexec, setup.exe forks itself into the background, so start /wait returns immediately instead of waiting. But we do not give up so easily. If you run setup.exe with the /l*v logfile option, you can learn quite a bit about what it is doing. In particular, you can discover that setup.exe simply passes a SETUP_EXE=yes property to the underlying msiexec process. In other words, all you have to do is run msiexec /qb /i msdn.msi SETUP_EXE=yes, and the installation proceeds without a hitch. You may be wondering: If setting one useless property is all setup.exe does, why does Microsoft want you to use it? The answer is that the MSDN Library requires IE6, and setup.exe will install it for you if necessary. So, you should make sure you have IE6 installed before you attempt this procedure, because I have no idea what will happen otherwise. Incidentally, this will perform a "Default" installation of MSDN Library, which means that most of the files will not be installed locally but rather loaded from the source directory as required. So choose the path to that msdn.msi package carefully, because that is the path MSDN will search whenever it needs something. (Hint: If you would rather perform a "Full" installation so that all files are copied to the local machine, add INSTALLATION_TYPE=Full to the command line.)
Example	msdn.bat

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Mozilla

Availability	Open Source
Details	For unattended install, run with -ma and -ira options. This is not exactly well-documented; this old USENET post is all I can find. I am not sure what -ira does, exactly, but without it the Mozilla installer fires up Mozilla just before exiting. This is annoying because the windows Mozilla creates can interfere with other things, like AutoIt scripts. With -ira, this does not happen, and I have noticed no bad side-effects, so there we are. (If anybody has definitive information here, I would love to hear it.) Many thanks to Marcus Greil for pointing out the available options.
Example	mozilla.bat

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NAI Virus Scan

Availability

Commercial

Details

This product ships with an ordinary MSI package which can be installed in the usual way, but to preconfigure when/what/how to scan you have to do some more work. You need to download the "Installation Designer" to do this. After installing the "Installation Designer", run it and give it the original .msi file to customize. The easiest approach is to install the VirusScan software on that very computer and configure it to your liking. When you get about halfway through the "Installation Designer", it will give you the option to export the settings from the local computer. The original installer is a .msi file plus several other files and directories. When you finish creating your "custom" installer it will be a "self contained" .msi file that has no external dependencies.

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OpenOffice.org

Availability	Open Source
Details	(NOTE: This is not pretty. There is a project at http://installation.openoffice.org/ which is supposed to improve matters.) OpenOffice.org uses a custom installer which it inherited from StarOffice. The installation can be automated using a "response file", which is more-or-less documented in the StarOffice 5.2 Administration Guide and the StarOffice 6.0 Administration Guide from Sun. A minimal response file appears to consist of an [Environment] section with settings for InstallationMode and DestinationPath. I have no idea why the destination path is needed; you would think it would have some kind of default. Unfortunately, this only does a proper installation for the current user, not for all users. The closest thing I have found is to manually create a shortcut on the "All Users" Desktop and in the Start Menu; this is what the example script does. By default, OpenOffice installs a "QuickStarter" which runs every time you log in; it has a little icon which shows up in the system tray. I hate things like that, so the example openoffice.txt file shows you how to turn it off. For a more complete discussion of these issues, see this thread on the OpenOffice.org forum. Note that OpenOffice 1.1 has some improvements over 1.0, so read the discussion to the end.
Example	openoffice.bat, openoffice.txt

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PHP

Availability	Free Download
Details	Uses Wise Installmaster, so responds to the /s switch. Unfortunately, the PHP folks seem to have done something wrong, because the installer still pops up a dialog box for the "IIS Scriptmap Node Selection". I have reported this as a bug and hope to see them fix it someday. Meanwhile, an AutoIt script seems the best approach. NEWS FLASH: I am now unable to reproduce this problem under Windows XP. Or maybe it has something to do with the IIS version. Either way, I need to investigate further. So many broken installers, so little time...
Example	php.bat, php.aut

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SecureCRT

Availability	Commercial Product
Details	Not free and version 4.0 has recently come out (2002-Nov-7), but a very good terminal program. Actually requires no "official" installation to work normally. Just copy the correct contents into a directory and create a shortcut for it. The first time it is run it asks for a location to store profile data; just accept the default.
Example	xcopy /i /c /e /y /h "Z:\packages\SecCRT" "C:\Program Files\SecureCRT 3.4.1" copy "C:\Program Files\SecureCRT 3.4.1\SCRT.lnk" "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SecureCRT.lnk"

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Shiva VPN client

Availability	Commercial Product, but not for long
Details	(Note: Shiva was bought by Intel a few years ago. Intel rebranded the product line "Intel Netstructure" and then decided to terminate it. But we still use it where I work.) This is an InstallShield installer, but it has custom dialogs so the /s switch does not work. An AutoIt script is the only way to go.
Example	shiva.bat, shiva.aut

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Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE), aka. Java Virtual Machine (JVM)

Availability	Free Download (Click on the J2SE version you want, then select the JRE download)
Details	This is an Installshield with MSI installer. Sun displays pleasant originality by providing instructions for silent installation. I like to use: [jre].exe /s /v"/qb IEXPLORER=1 MOZILLA=1 NETSCAPE6=1 REBOOT=ReallySuppress" As far as I can tell, it does no harm to request support for all of the browsers even if some of the browsers are not installed.
Example	sun-jre.bat
Thanks to	Bret Tragni

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TightVNC

Availability	Open Source
Details	This is an Inno installer, so just use the /silent switch. (TightVNC's own installation instructions say to use /sp- /verysilent, but I have not found this to be necessary.)
Example	tightvnc.bat

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Timbuktu Pro

Availability	Commercial
Details	Netopia provides an MSI package. Use it with standard arguments to perform a silent install. It is possible to set which accounts can log in, passwords, security settings (everything in the "Setup" menu) ahead of time so you do not have to configure them manually for each install. Timbuktu uses a file named tb2.plu in the application directory to record all the settings from the "Setup" menu. So, to create an installer with your custom settings: Install Timbuktu on a machine. Manually change all the settings to your liking. "Exit and Shutdown Timbuktu Pro" so it will save the current configuration. Copy the file tb2.plu from the application directory (typically C:\Program Files\Timbuktu Pro) into the install directory structure you obtained from Netopia. There is a subfolder called Program Files\Timbuktu Pro; overwrite the version of tb2.plu which is there.
Example	msiexec /i "Z:\packages\TimbuktuPro_5.1(900)\TimbuktuPro.msi" /qn

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Windows 2000 Support Tools

Availability	Free Download
Details	Run the installer with the /X switch (figured out by running "strings"). The installer will prompt for a directory to which it will extract the tree. Inside the tree will be an MSI file named 2000rkst.msi.
Example	support-tools.bat

How to Install Windows XP/Vista/Seven/Linux Using TFTP

1.  Download TFTPBoot.exe(154MB) (Download) and save it somewhere convenient.
2. Open TFTPBoot.exe and extract the contents to the root of your C: drive. You should then have a folder structure that looks something like this:
3. Open the tftpboot folder and double-click on tftpd32.exe.
4. When Tftpd32 opens, click the “Settings” button at the bottom. Change the settings to match these*:
5. Press “OK” to return to the main window. Click the “DHCP Server” tab.
6. Once again, make sure your settings match those below, then press “Save.”

1. Close Tftpd32.
2. Disable any firewalls (including Windows’ built in firewall) on the computer with Tftpd32. Set the network adapter on your computer to have a static IP address of 192.168.1.5.
3. Connect the computer with Tftpd32 installed and the computer you are trying to boot together with a crossover Ethernet cord. (It is possible to do this through a more sophisticated network, but a direct connection with a crossover cable is by far the easiest)
4. Run Tftpd32.exe again.
5. Turn on the computer you are trying to boot, and select the option to boot from the network (called PXE). The method varies from computer to computer, but generally you tap one of the function keys (F12 for example) right after turning the computer on. You will then see a message asking you to press F12 to continue booting from the network. Quickly press F12.
6. Windows PE will now load. It may take some time, but eventually you will be presented with a command window (black box with white writing). DO NOT close tftpd32.exe or disconnect the crossover cable.

*Later version of TFTPd32 contain more options than seen here. These additional settings may allow the TFTP process to work with a wider range of computers, but may also introduce problems. For example, those that contain a “DHCP Settings” section need to have all of the DHCP options unchecked to work. If you choose to use a version of TFTPd32 other than that which comes in the package from this page, you’ll need to experiment with all the settings.
You are now in Windows PE and can do what ever you need to do including formatting disks. If you want install an operating system, keep reading.
Now that you are in Windows PE, do the following to install an operating system (such as Windows XP or Vista):

1. Put the operating system installation CD in the same computer as Tftpd32 is installed on. Share the CD-Rom drive (how you accomplish this varies by Windows version). Give it a share name of “CD” and make sure “Everyone” has read permission for it.
2. Go back to the target computer and in the command prompt window, type Type “net use y: \\192.168.1.5\cd”
3. You will be prompted for a user name. Type, “\192.168.1.5\User Name” replacing “User Name” with the name of a user account on the computer with the shared CD-Rom drive.
4. You will then be prompted for a password, enter the password associated with the user name you used above.
5. You should see “the command completed successfully.” Type “y:” and press enter. Type “setup” and press enter. The setup program on the CD will then load and you will be on your way to installing a new operating system.

While the new OS is installing, be sure to not remove the Ethernet cable or the installation CD.
Once the installation is complete, revert any changes you made to your computer: stop sharing the CD-Rom drive, re-enable your firewall, and reconfigure your network adapter to the IP settings it had before.

How to Connect your Dreambox to your PC

You might want to connect your dreambox to your PC for a number of reasons; stream MP3s or movies from your PC to the dreambox, record from the dreambox to a shared folder on your PC, to update the image, services or bouquets, etc.

What is needed

If your dreambox is going to be connected straight to your PC then you will need a crossover ethernet cable. This is not the same as a standard patch ethernet cable that you get with your router or cable modem, the send and receive wires are crossed, hence the name. This cable is more commonly used to connect ethernet equipped PCs together without a hub or router. But we need it to connect to the dreambox as well.

Configuring your PC

One side of the crossover cable needs to be connected to your PC, obviously. Most PCs only have one ethernet connection and it’s usually used for the internet connection. It’s advisable to buy a second network card and keep it solely for the use of the dreambox, these are about £5 from your local computer shop. But this guide will show you how to connect it to you existing ethernet connection.
I’m using Windows XP Pro but the steps may be different for other operating systems.
Go to the Control Panel then Network Connections. Find the ethernet connection that you would use for your internet. Right click it and select Properties. Scroll down to ‘Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)’ and select Properties. If you do use this connection for your internet then it should have the ‘Obtain an ip address automatically’ selected. Change the settings so that it looks like this…

Select OK and reboot your PC. Remember at this point you will not have any internet access so make sure you have a copy of all the guides and tools that you need. Or connect your modem via USB.

Configuring your Dreambox

I will use an enigma image in this example, neutrino can also be used and the same values should be used although the menus may look different and be in a different place.
Go to Menu > Setup > Expert Setup > Communication Setup
Change the settings to look like this…

Select Save and exit from the other menus.

Connecting to the Dreambox

To connect to the dreambox we are going to use an FTP Client. There are many programs available for this, FlashFXP, CuteFTP, Filezilla and SmartFTP are some examples. For this guide we are going to use FlashFXP.
Once you’ve downloaded it, run the flashfxp.exe file and the program will load.
In the left window is where the dreambox file system will appear after we connect. In the right window is your PC file system. Treat both windows like any other windows explorer window. To transfer files between the dreambx and PC, cimply drag the file from one window to the other and wait for it to transfer. The bottom left window shows a history of the files transferred and the progress of current files during transfer.
Near the top, on the toolbar, you should see an icon with a lightening strike on it, click it and choose ‘Quick connect’ (you can also press F8 on your keyboard). Configure the options to look like this…

Server or URL: 192.168.1.101
Username: root
Password: dreambox
Port: 21
Click Connect.
You should now see the file system of the dreambox on the left, i.e. /bin, /dev, /etc, /hdd, /sbin, /var, etc etc.
Congratulations - you are now connected to your dreambox.

Default Router Sagem Passwords

We have collected a list of every known default password for every router that we can find. If you do not know your routers password you can reset it to factory defaults and then use the default password that you find in this list.

Pick your Router's Manufacturer

Sagem
Model	Default Username	Default Password
fast 1400w	root	1234
FAST 1400	admin	epicrouter
F@st 1200 (Fast 1200)	root	1234
Livebox	admin	admin
Livebox-Fast-3202	admin	admin
Fast1500WG	NONE	blank
Fast3302	admin	admin
FAST-3001	blank	blank
LiveboxTP-Fast3202	admin	admin
Livebox-Fast3202	admin	admin
Livebox-7359	admin	admin
Fast2504	admin	sky
Fast-2404	admin	admin
2804STC	unknown	unknown