Active1 month ago
Suppose you have an .EXE and you want to check if it has Command-Line Options. How can one know if the .EXE has this ability. In my case I know that Nir Sofers WebBrowserPassView.exe has the ability to start it via cmd.exe and WebBrowserPassView.exe /stext output.txt. But how can I find out if I don't know?
Tom Cerul88211 gold badge88 silver badges2323 bronze badges
How to get install Parameters for any '.exe'. Open File Explorer Browse to your exe copy cmd.exe from C: Windows System32, paste to the same directory as your '.exe' or in a parent folder,. Suppose you have an.EXE and you want to check if it has Command-Line Options. How can one know if the.EXE has this ability. In my case I know that Nir Sofers WebBrowserPassView.exe has the ability to start it via cmd.exe and WebBrowserPassView.exe /stext output.txt. But how can I find out if I don't know? RE: Do all Dell drivers silently install and fail gracefully when attempting an unattended install? We just did a test, and several drivers did not silently install with the /s switch, -s switch, /silent switch, -silent switch, or -nolic switch. Silent install Use the following command to perform a silent installation: setup.exe /s /v'/qn MANAGEMENTSERVER= SSLCERTFILE= /Lv.+! C: SISAgentSetup.log' Where is the name or the IP address of your management server, is the SSL certificate file that the manager generated, and are any of the parameters from the following list.
JohnnyFromBFJohnnyFromBF4,1791010 gold badges3838 silver badges4747 bronze badges
6 Answers
The easiest way would be to use use ProcessExplorer but it would still require some searching.
Make sure your exe is running and open ProcessExplorer.In ProcessExplorer find the name of your binary file and double click it to show properties.Click the Strings tab.Search down the list of string found in the binary file. Most strings will be garbage so they can be ignored. Search for anything that might possibly resemble a command line switch.Test this switch from the command line and see if it does anything.
Note that it might be your binary simply has no command line switches.
For reference here is the above steps applied to the Chrome executable. The command line switches accepted by Chrome can be seen in the list:
Stevoisiak7,6161212 gold badges5555 silver badges120120 bronze badges
AdamAdam2,11311 gold badge2424 silver badges2828 bronze badges
![Exe Exe](/uploads/1/2/5/0/125043333/607918632.jpg)
Invoke it from the shell, with an argument like
MarcinMarcin/?
or --help
. Those are the usual help switches.36.9k1212 gold badges9696 silver badges176176 bronze badges
Unless the writer of the executable has specifically provided a way for you to display a list of all the command line switches that it offers, then there is no way of doing this.
As Marcin suggests, the typical switches for displaying all of the options are either
/?
or /help
(some applications might prefer the Unix-style syntax, -?
and -help
, respectively). But those are just a common convention.If those don't work, you're out of luck. You'll need to check the documentation for the application, or perhaps try decompiling the executable (if you know what you're looking for).
Cody Gray♦Cody Gray201k3838 gold badges405405 silver badges488488 bronze badges
Just use IDA PRO (https://www.hex-rays.com/products/ida/index.shtml) to disassemble the file, and search for some known command line option (using Search..Text) - in that section you will then typically see all the command line options - for the program (LIB2NIST.exe) in the screenshot below, for example, it shows a documented command line option (/COM2TAG) but also some undocumented ones, like /L. Hope this helps?
Tom WenseleersTom Wenseleers3,43133 gold badges3434 silver badges8484 bronze badges
Really this is an extension to Marcin's answer.
But you could also try passing 'rubbish' arguments to see if you get any errors back. Getting any response from the executable directly in the shell will mean that it is likely looking at the arguments you're passing, with an error response being close to a guarantee that it is.
Failing that you might have to directly ask the publishers/creators/owners.. sniffing the binaries yourself just seems like far too much work for an end-user.
IzzyIzzy
Sysinternals has another tool you could use, Strings.exe
Example:
strings.exe c:windowssystem32wuauclt.exe > %temp%wuauclt_strings.txt && %temp%wuauclt_strings.txt
user8027324user8027324
Silent Install Switches For Exe Windows 7
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged command-lineexecutablecommand-line-argumentsexe or ask your own question.
Command Line Switches
Switch | Parameters | Action |
/auto <migration choice> | Upgrade; DataOnly; Clean | Automate install with migration choice for the installation. The media setup UI and progress screens are shown by default, but are automated. This switch also assumes the following default configurations: EULA acceptance, Dynamic Update is enabled, telemetry collection and upload opt-in, OOBE will be skipped, PBR will be updated or created. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade |
/quiet | N/A | The quiet flag will suppress any setup UX, including rollback UX Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /quiet |
/pkey <product key> | 5x5 product key | Supplies setup with the specified product key. This parameter is not necessary when upgrading with volume licensed media or media that contains a pid.txt in the sources folder. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /pkey ABC12-DEF34-GHI56-JKL78-MNP90 |
/showoobe <parameter> | Full; None | When /showoobe is set to Full, the end user must interactively complete OOBE. Alternatively, when /showoobe is set to None, OOBE is skipped and components are set to their default settings. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /showoobe full |
/noreboot | N/A | Setup will not automatically reboot the PC when it completes down-level OS tasks. The next time the PC is rebooted, setup will continue. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /noreboot |
/DynamicUpdate <parameter> | Enable; Disable | Specifies whether setup will perform Dynamic Update operations (search, download, and install updates). Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade DynamicUpdate disable |
/Postoobe <location>setupcomplete.cmd | Local file path or UNC network path to a file named setupcomplete.cmd | Injects setupcomplete.cmd file from the specified location. Setupcomplete.cmd is a customized script to perform tasks after the installation completes but before first user login. It is run with System privileges. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /postoobe c:scriptsetupcomplete.cmd |
/Postrollback <location> | Local file path or UNC network path to a file named setuprollback.cmd | Injects setuprollback.cmd file from the specified location. Setuprolback.cmd is a customized script to perform tasks after the installation fails and the PC has rolled back to its previous OS. It is run via RunOnce key on login and runs with same permissions as the “user” that is logging in. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /postrollback MySharescriptsetuprollback.cmd |
/installfrom <location> | Local file path or network path to a specific .wim | Specifies location for installation source media/files Example: setup.exe /auto clean /installfrom d:myWimcustomwim.wim |
/PBRUpdate <parameter> | Enable; Disable | When /PBRUpdate is set to Enable, setup will update or create the PBR partition. Conversely, when /PBRUpdate is set to Disable, setup will not update or create the PBR partition Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /PBRupdate disable |
/migratealldrivers <paramenter> | All; None | When /migratealldrivers is set to All, setup will attempt to migrate all drivers as part of the installation. In contrast, when /migratealldrivers is set to None, setup will not migrate any drivers as part of the installation. NOTE: this switch should only be used in testing and test envoriments. It should not be used in production. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /migratealldrivers none |
/installdrivers <location> | Local file path or UNC network path to a folder that contains .inf files | Setup will inject all driver .infs found in the specified location during the installation process. Setup will recursively search through all the subfolders of the specified location. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /installdrivers c:myUpgradedrivers |
/Telemetry <parameter> | Enable; Disable | When /Telemetry is set to Enable, setup will collect and upload telemetry generated by the installation. However, when /Telemetry is set to Disable, setup will not collect and upload installation-related telemetry. Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /Telemetry enable |
/copylogs <location> | Local file paths and UNC network paths | Upon failure, setup will copy or upload compressed logs to the specified location. Please note that the PC and/or user must have permission and network access to the specified file path. Alesis multimix 4 usb drivers. This command runs in the system context so may not have permissions to copy to locations that require user permissions Example: setup.exe /auto upgrade /copylogs MyShareUpgradeLogs |
Scenario-Based Usage
An admin wants to upgrade the departments PCs from Windows 7 Enterprise overnight. He does not want the setup user interface to appear, but she does want the end users to manually go through the Out of box experience (known as OOBE) experience. The following command line can be used to orchestrate the full upgrade to Windows vNext, requiring user input only once the machine reaches OOBE:
Setup.exe /auto upgrade /quiet /showoobe full
Alternatively, a deployment engineer may want to collect logs and other diagnostic information from test PCs in the event of a failure. The following command line instructs setup invoke the setuprollback.cmd script after an installation failure:
Exe Silent Install Commands
Setup.exe /auto upgrade /installdrivers c:myUpgradedrivers /postrollback c:setuprollback.cmd