Extracting files from a MSI file.

Today I was looking for a way to extract files from a msi installation package when I found a blog just explaining how to do it:

msiexec /a filepath to MSI file /qb TARGETDIR=filepath to target folder

Despite the original blog title it does work with XP :) Adriano

Here we come again :) - Part II

Just a little bit more information on my new toy (the one I am planning to get)

Component	Detail
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R
Processor	INTEL Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB 1.333MHz
Memoty	8 Gb - G.SKILL DDR2 800
Cooler	ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
Power	550W - Seventeam
Keyboard	Microsoft Wireless Desktop 2000 Optico
Video Card	Geforce XFX 8600GT 256MB
HD	750GB SEAGATE

Even not being the fastest possible configuration it is a pretty good one :) Why did I need such a beast: Well, working as a software developer sometimes I find myself running Eclipse, Visual Studio as well a guest OS within Virtualbox (running VS and some other programs there also ;). So I do believe (I'm not a expert in hardware) that a 4 core processor will be helpful; in the same way, 8 GB of memory doesn't seem that much :) I considered to get a WD Raptor but it's too expansive here; also, I'll install 2 other HDs (that are sitting in my current machine) so I'll get some performance gains due to a more distributed load. Do you have a raid 0 configuration? How does it perform? Is it reliable? Right now I am considering to build a Raid 0 array also but I'm not sure. My past experience wih Raid 0 was not so good. Adriano

Here we come again :)

For some time now, my computer started to give me signs that its time is coming. It's a pity since it is only 2 years old and has a not so bad configuration. For me, it's always a dichotomy between a pain and a pleasure when I need to figure out a new configuration. Should I go for a brand computer or should I build it myself? Should I by the latest/fastest/expansive(est) :) processor/memory/whatever (in a useless try to protect my investment) or should I stick to more affordable parts? Please, keep in mind that I live in Brasil and here computers are not so cheap as in some other places. Anyway, just for fun, I am dumping all my previous computer's configuration along side my wishes for the new one:

Year	Processor	Freq.	# Core	RAM	Hard Disk	Graphics Card	Internet
1989	6502	0,75 Mhz	1	256 Kb	NA	OnBoard	NA
1992	Ciryx 486 DLC	40 Mhz	1	4 Mb	100 Mb	Trident	NA
1996	Pentium 100	100 Mhz	1	16 Mb	1.0 Gb	?	28 Kbps
1999	Athlon 400	400 Mhz	1	128 Mb	30 Gb	4 Mb	56 Kbps
2002	Athlon XP 2.1	1.8 Ghz	1	512 Mb	60 Gb	AGP 64Mb	350 Kbps
2006	Athlon 64 3.8 X2	2.0 Ghz	2	2.0 Gb	370 Gb	PCI-X 256Mb	2.0 Mbps
2008?	Core 2 Quad 9XXXX	> 2.50 Ghz	4	8.0 Gb	500 Gb	PCI-X 256Mb	6.0 Mbps

Well, what can I say? Current PC, RIP :) What do you think? Adriano