[gcb0]

i use one program with frequent updates which distributes from sourceforge.

the installer is a piece of work.

first, it is a fake-installer (that installs nothing) with the actual installer inside. that program first offers you "standard" and "advanced" fake-install options (remember, it install nothing)... when you click "advanced" it now shows 3 checkboxes, checked, that will 1. install a browser toolbar, 2. set your default homepage, 3. set your default search engine. You uncheck them all and click accept (it is also showing a terms and conditions). now it will show something like "also install this tracking or browser or i don't even know what it was?" and there is only the same buttons as before on the fake-installer: "decline" and "accept". Now you have to remember to go against all your knowledge of install wizards and click the left button "decline" to proceed with your desired program only. now you click accept or finish, don't remember, one last time, and the fake-installer forks to the actual installer that you wanted from the beginning.

[userbinator]

Opening in 7-zip and extracting the contents manually has worked in the past for me when encountering such things.

(Incidentally, many people don't know that 7-zip can extract installer executables and various other formats too...)

[stinos]

UniExtract is another one. But none of them open all types of installers afaik. Another possibility for msi is msiexec /a PathToMSIFile /qb TARGETDIR=DirectoryToExtractTo. Actually before installing anything at all I usually try some of these to get a portable app. It's amazing how many installers out there are bascially just automatic single-directory extractors which also happen to add some regsitry entries.

[psykovsky]

So does WinRar and Ubuntu's Archive Manager.

[gcb0]

i tried with winrar. i don't think it worked.

[NamTaf]

Find a different program. Refuse to support developers who use such underhanded tactics

[jacquesm]

It's not the developers of the program that caused this, it's the packagers of the software at the distribution point that do this. Beware where you lay blame in situations like these, sometimes the developers are totally unaware that someone is 'wrapping' their installer with another one, and even when they are aware they are not always in a position to do something about it.