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Question:

Set File Properties on Self-Extracting EXE?

Nov 14 '12 at 15:19

My question is how can I set the file properties on the generated self-extracting EXE? I want to be able to set the File Description, File Version, Product Name, Product Version and Copyright fields.

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Answer

It's possible to edit the properties of an EXE after it's been created using a tool such as HeavenTool's "Resource Tuner", available at http://www.heaventools.com/download-resource-editor.htm

The "Resource Tuner" is not freeware, but may be evaluated for 30-days, and can be licensed for a reasonable price ($39.95 at the time of this writing).

However, the EXE must first be modified prior to editing with Resource Tuner. The compressed data must be detached from the EXE, then it's possible to edit with Resource Tuner, and then the compressed data may be re-attached. I wrote a simple command-line utility program to do the detach and re-attach. It is a Windows executable named "SfxUtil.exe" and may be downloaded here:

http://www.chilkatsoft.com/download/SfxUtil.zip

Download and unzip to any directory. The SfxUtil.zip contains a single file: SfxUtil.exe. Start a DOS prompt and cd to the directory where SfxUtil.exe is located. Run these commands to detach and re-attach:

SfxUtil detach a.exe a.dat

SfxUtil attach a.exe a.dat

The 1st command detaches the compressed data from "a.exe" and saves the compressed data to "a.dat". The "a.exe" is now an executable that may be edited with Resource Tuner.

The 2nd command re-attaches the compressed data ("a.dat") to "a.exe". After re-attaching, the self-extracting EXE is ready to distribute.

Finally, use this latest version (v14.5 of the Zip-2-Secure-EXE utility)
https://www.chilkatsoft.com/ChilkatSfx.asp