PS without BS: Let's play "Where's that MSI?"

That infamous folder c:\windows\installer can take up a lot of space and resources, more importantly, it's cryptic when you see a bunch of numbered MSI and MSP files.

What is this good for?
Well, my favorite reason is that on occasion you can find the MSI of a software package that may require a manual install. This may allow you to deploy it silently. Apart from that, you may be looking to clean up your disk.

I threw a script together to try making some sense of it all.

 
$Files=gci -Path $env:windir\installer\*.msi 
ForEach ($file in $files) { 
try { 
$WindowsInstaller = New-Object -ComObject WindowsInstaller.Installer 
$MSIDatabase = $WindowsInstaller.GetType().InvokeMember("OpenDatabase","InvokeMethod",$Null,$WindowsInstaller,@($File.FullName,0)) 
$Query1 = "SELECT Value FROM Property WHERE Property = 'ProductName'" 
$Query2 = "SELECT Value FROM Property WHERE Property = 'ProductVersion'" 
$Query3 = "SELECT Value FROM Property WHERE Property = 'ProductCode'" 
$View = $MSIDatabase.GetType().InvokeMember("OpenView","InvokeMethod",$null,$MSIDatabase,($Query1)) 
$View.GetType().InvokeMember("Execute", "InvokeMethod", $null, $View, $null) 
$Record = $View.GetType().InvokeMember("Fetch","InvokeMethod",$null,$View,$null) 
$Value = $Record.GetType().InvokeMember("StringData","GetProperty",$null,$Record,1) 
$View = $MSIDatabase.GetType().InvokeMember("OpenView","InvokeMethod",$null,$MSIDatabase,($Query2)) 
$View.GetType().InvokeMember("Execute", "InvokeMethod", $null, $View, $null) 
$Record = $View.GetType().InvokeMember("Fetch","InvokeMethod",$null,$View,$null) 
$Value2 = $Record.GetType().InvokeMember("StringData","GetProperty",$null,$Record,1) 
$View = $MSIDatabase.GetType().InvokeMember("OpenView","InvokeMethod",$null,$MSIDatabase,($Query3)) 
$View.GetType().InvokeMember("Execute", "InvokeMethod", $null, $View, $null) 
$Record = $View.GetType().InvokeMember("Fetch","InvokeMethod",$null,$View,$null) 
$Value3 = $Record.GetType().InvokeMember("StringData","GetProperty",$null,$Record,1) 
write-host $file','$Value','$value2','$value3 
} 
catch { 
Write-Output $_.Exception.Message 
} 
}

This script will give output that will explain the actual MSI file in CSV format. So, if you are looking for a reinstall, or even to install, this script should get you on your way. Here is the sample output.

C:\WINDOWS\installer\2b1add.msi,Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management - Client,4.3.160.0,{2376566F-5F86-40BD-B51E-B0D7F02A5C77}
C:\WINDOWS\installer\3d71cb48.msi,Adobe Reader XI MUI,11.0.00,{AC76BA86-7AD7-FFFF-7B44-AB0000000001}
C:\WINDOWS\installer\409e40a.msi,Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.6161,9.0.30729.6161,{9BE518E6-ECC6-35A9-88E4-87755C07200F}
C:\WINDOWS\installer\42a77a14.msi,Orca,4.0.6001.0000,{4F34C602-4D6D-470D-A2A0-59E4F25DDBF2}

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Comments

• Anonymous
  July 24, 2017
  The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 24, 2017
    Thank you, Steve, appreciate it. Do keep in mind that PSRemoting will need to be enabled on the remote system, as I know places who disable it for the sake of security.
• Anonymous
  July 28, 2017
  great stuff thanks