Can regfiles be executed from sfx archives before setup runs ?
I was wondering, would this work, and if so, please correct my misstakes.

I add extracted installer files to an sfx rar archive.
Instead of pointing the "Run after extraction" path to setup.exe, I point it to setup.cmd.

In the setup.cmd I put something like this:

Would this work ?
The reason i'm doing it is because it would be neat to have it all bundled together with the sfx archive,
instead of separate regfiles.

Perhaps one could even execute several bundled sfx archives (all from one) this way ?
I assume those archives that are bundled in the "main archive" can't extract to a temp folder, but has to be extracted directly to a location somewhere... ?

Please comment, maybe the info is here somewhere, but can't find it today

It should work.

Ok, thanks.
So there's no need to put in any exotic stuff like "start /wait" between the
regfile executing and the main installer ?

I mean it should execute in the order they are listed, and wait until
each entry is fully processed before going on to the next one.

I think I saw something like this before:

i always run commands with "start /wait" just to be sure everything get done without going any further with other things in the files.

if you mean that you can make a BIG sfx archive with many sfx archives inside as well and every sfx with its own commands you can do that. i dont know why you want to do that but if you NEED to, then make sure you get all working because this way finding a problem or a spelling error in the commands will be very hard.

But a reg file takes seconds to write to the registry if it's under 50kb and that's still a lot of text.
But to be safe, use start /wait.

Ok thanks everyone for your help.
Just did a few testarchives that executes from a cmd file.
Works like a charm !

PS. I noticed if i put "@echo off" in the beginning of the cmd file, none of the entries will be shown.
Is there a way to totally disable the cmd window to come up at all ?
Kinda silent type..

use cmdow (a progra to hide the console window) search for it, i can remember where i get it. read the unattender guide, it should be there.

I already have it (from tools archive in WPI), ehh what would I put in the
cmd file to get this to work ?(an example please)
I assume cmdow.exe has to be added to the archive also.

Put this as the first line in your CMD: cmdow @ /hid

Put cmdow.exe in your system32 for global use.

Or compile the cmd into an exe with quickbfc and set it as "ghost application".

WinRar supports more than 1 "Run after extraction" command. Add further commands in the comment.

Ok, thanks for the tip.



Aha !
Didn't know that that's even better.
Just separate the commands with a , or ?

In the comment, for example:

Using the WinRar Gui, you should see the comment on the last tab when creating an SFX.

Many thanks !
Works very well. Great to know.

Whoa that was cool. I don't need that bat files anymore.

Is there something with 7z sfx?

i use just a few sfx archives but is good to know that you can run multiple commands in one sfx archive. i dont need that, but will come handy from time to time.

thanks for the tip.