I've heard you more experienced guys say that you can tell which switch a program uses for silent install just by looking at the setup.exe file. Care to let us all in on the secret?

I am interested in this too. Still waiting.

1. The icon, some installer have a standard icon type, to that installer type.
2. File properties. Look in the version tab for clues.
3. But I just right click and use Identify Installer in CMenu.

And from knowing the installer type you can determine the switch? Does each installer have a standardized silent switch?

yes and yes. Major types like Installshield, Wise, NSIS..etc have standard switches to suit each of their type. How do you think Identify Installer come up with switches. They are standard, for their type.

Most of the time, you can easily tell the switches of an installer by just looking at it's icon. For example, Wise, NSIS, Innosetup, Tarma, and MSI's have their unique and distinctive icons. However, it is not 100% reliable because anyone can replace the icons.

NEVER heard of that one, but it exists indeed...

This installer is used by what applications?

Hi Bâshrat the Sneaky.

This installer is becoming popular now. Y! Tunnel and other chat programs use it (YaZak and YahELite).

I usually go by icon... And for custom icons I go by resource strings and the like.
You know... There's something to be said for a man who thinks looking at resource strings is an easy and healthy way to detect installer switches.