Extract text from compressed installer files (MS_)
To convert MS_ compressed installers to another format, you need Windows Installer or other Compressed software.
To convert other file formats to the "Compressed Installation Package" file type, you need software like Windows Installer or a similar tool.
The .ms_ file is a compressed Windows Installer package used for distributing Windows software. Developers compress standard MSI files into this format using Microsoft's MakeCAB utility to save bandwidth and reduce installer size. You cannot run an .ms_ file directly. If you double-click it, Windows will prompt an error because the operating system cannot execute the compressed blob natively. This is a major disadvantage, as it requires users to manually decompress the file using command-line tools like expand.exe before installation is possible.
To use the file, you must convert it back to a standard MSI executable or extract its contents into a standard ZIP archive. You can use extraction software like 7-Zip or WinRAR to open the archive and extract the uncompressed installer. During this process, you will not lose any data, as it is a lossless decompression.
Standard online converters usually fail to process .ms_ files. This is because the file relies on the proprietary Microsoft Compound structure designed strictly for the Windows Installer engine, rather than generic document or media standards. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your MS_ file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted MSI, CAB and RBF files.
If you want to convert MS_ file to TXT, PDF, DOC, DOCX, HTML, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, ZIP, RAR, JPG or JPEG, you can use Windows Installer or similar software from the "Software Installation Packaging" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MP4, JPEG, MP3, HTM, GIF, DOC, DOCX, PNG, TXT, WAV, PDF or JPG files to MS_, try Windows Installer or another comparable tool in the "Software Installation Packaging" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our MS_ converter.