InstallShield INS

Revision as of 17:03, 12 March 2023

InstallShield INS is a compiled installation script for the InstallShield installation software for Windows. The file is usually named "setup.ins", though other filenames are possible.

Sometimes, the real setup.ins file is contained in an InstallShield Z archive of the same name.

See also InstallShield INX (successor?).

See InstallShield for more InstallShield formats.

Identification

There seem to be three main versions of INS format. We'll name them based on the year they first appeared, pending determination of the versions of InstallShield that produce them.

The "1993" format starts with bytes ff ff 0c 00 ?? 00 34 12. The only observed values of the "??" byte are 14 and (rarely) 15.

The "1995" format starts with bytes b8 c9 0c 00 ?? 00 34 12. The only observed values of the "??" byte are 16 and 1c.

The "1997" format starts with bytes b8 c9 0c 00 ?? 00 01 00. The only observed values of the "??" byte are 49 and 50.

Sample files

1993 format:

• Always Arthur → SETUP.INS
• abds11_1.zip → SETUP.INS
• dbdef1.zip → SETUP.INS
• Personal Computer World Interactive - Disk No. 3 - November 1996 → pcwnov96/MULTI/ORCHESTR/SETUP.INS

1995 format:

• cachek14.zip → SETUP.INS...
• gte32r12.zip → SETUP.INS

1997 format:

• GDIDB3.ZIP → setup.ins
• ct300b12.zip → setup.ins

Links

• InstallSHIELD Script Cracking, a tutorial