Is it possible to extract contents of a ThinApp container?

Question

1. Is there possible to extract such packages made by somebody else.

2. Ok, so if there is no general way of extracting such archives, which can be a huge exe file or tiny exe starter with huge packed *.bin file with main files of an app that is to be run in portable way - is there a way to set an option in compilation *.ini file or other way to make such package able to be extracted.

I remember I read somewhere that somebody created a tiny program (in was mentioned in vmware forums as far as I can remember, it was a crude thing coded for private use and I never managed to download it) to sit with main portable application and if such application has an open/save file dialog, it is possible to navigate to that program which virtually sits in the program files alongside main app from within the main app, and such program would scan all files that it can see and somehow is able to distiguish a real file from virtual one, and save all virtual files in a structure that is similar to the initial compilation folder from which portable app was created. I know that it is a very round-about way of doing things, but maybe the only one feasible.

Nevertheless any news on this front ? Do antiviruses can somehow unpack these things ? Maybe they must buy a code or license for it from VmWare ?

Edit: I found http://communities.vmware.com/thread/257433?tstart=600 and still trying to make sense out of this. Wrong, this was about moving old version of thinapp to win7.

Answer 1

There is a way :)

After run the portable program, go to file-open or something to show you some dictionary of inside of the pack. Then go to the main virtual dictionary of the software and copy in to other path. You should do this in the virtual or portable program which is build with thinapp or other. Now close software and go to the path which you copied files there.

That's finished and you can create a new setup with these original files.

Answer 2

Ran into this myself. Building on the anonymous answer above, you can copy the directory tree for the contained app. In my case the copied files weren't where I put them, instead they were in %appdata%\thinstall\appname.

The ThinApp manual goes into further detail about where it stores files created within the VM. See chapter 5. http://www.vmware.com/pdf/thinapp50_manual.pdf

Sorry about necro'ing a post, but this is the first one I found in my search so assume it'll be useful to others.

Answer 3

If understand well the question I think you'r looking for a way to read the .dat file that thinapp generate: I renamed the .dat file to .exe then I used Universal Extractor to extract the content.