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I downloaded a large EXE file, but when I try to install it, during the installation process an error message said that some components are corrupted or missing, although the software is compatible with my OS.

Now I don't want to download the software again, because I have a slow connection (128 kbit/s ADSL). Is there any way to repair the EXE file without redownloading it again?

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Is there an MD5 or other checksum available for the file you're downloading? – slhck May 3 '11 at 16:51
yes but md5 in my file is different from original one – Anees Bakrain May 3 '11 at 17:45
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4 Answers

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No. : (

But you can try downloading it from a different place, or via a different method - there are several, like FTP/HTTP/Torrent .

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Definitely no. If the checksum doesn't match, then the smallest bit error in any file makes it unreadable. That's why there are checksums.

Certain compression utilities can add cyclic error checks in order to compensate for this, so that's why it's a better idea to compress or split a large file first before downloading. In some cases you can then even try to repair broken files, or at least detect it's broken.

For the next time, just use the checksum or look for another way to download the file, it all depends on what it actually is.

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As mentioned, there is no (practical) way to “repair” an installation program, especially if the file is the right size.

If it is incomplete (and usually this is the case), something that you can try is to cut the file back by some (it depends on how big the file is, say for example the last 5%), then use a program like WGET to re-download the file, continuing from that point on instead of from the beginning.

However this is in no way guaranteed to work since the corruption could easily have happened earlier in the file (often the file has a chunk missing from somewhere in the middle), and you could end up having to re-download the whole thing anyway.

If the file is of a decently significant size, a better option could be to look around for a TORRENT file that includes the file. Then you can load it into a BitTorrent client and point it at your file, then re-check. It will then indicate any parts of the file that are correct and allow you to re-download only the parts that are bad from a P2P network.

You can also try doing the same thing with the donkey network with eMule: search for the file, import your existing one, re-check, then resume the corrupt chunks.

Again, it depends on the file in question, specifically how big it is and how popular/available it is. If you want, you can say what file it is to get specific help/instructions.

Finally, yet another option is to try opening the file using an archiver (specifically 7-Zip). Then you can examine the contents (assuming that it is an executable archive) and perhaps extract (most of) the contents manually. Of course, if the file is corrupt, then you probably won’t be able to get all the files anyway.

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Nice explanation +1 – slhck May 4 '11 at 10:14
My corrupted exe file exactly is vmware.exe workstation,I want to try the way of using torrent but i need more details about this way. – Anees Bakrain May 4 '11 at 12:21
@Anees, Well that should be pretty easy. (1) See if VMWare has torrents available (some companies use torrent networks to distribute their software, especially big ones). (2) I doubt that VMWare would use torrents, so do a search for a torrent that contains your EXE file on a site like isoHunt (make sure to search for the full, actualy filename and toss in the version. Sort by seeds (the S column), then get the torrent with the most seeds. (3) In a BitTorrent program (µTorent is a small, popular one) and open the .torrent file in it. – Synetech May 5 '11 at 2:03
(4) In the torrent program, point the EXE file to your corrupt copy (in µTorrent, select the torrent, click the Files tab, right-click the EXE file, select Relocate, and select your corrupt file). (5) Re-hash the torrent (in µTorrent, right-click the torrent in the list and select Force Recheck. (6) Confirm that the file is at least partially downloaded (in µTorrent, select the General tab and make sure that a bunch of the file in question is deep blue). (7) Start the torrent and wait for it to complete the corrupt parts (you can see how much needs to be re-downloaded). – Synetech May 5 '11 at 2:07
BTW, some people may complain that you’ll be at risk of getting a virus by using torrents, but the fact is that if you get a torrent that contains the same file as you downloaded from VMWare, then the file should ostensibly be clean (you can confirm that it’s the same file if it shows up in the torrent program as having a bunch of completed blocks, and after you finish downloading, you can check the MD5 against that provided by VMWare). Also, to be extra careful, you can discard any extra files contained in the torrent since they could be infected (eg a crack). – Synetech May 5 '11 at 2:10
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You'll have to download it again, but if you use a download manager like FlashGet (or wget if you feel like learning its myriad of options) then you can resume it in the event your download fails or gets cut off.

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I used Internet Download Manager to download the file...how can i resume from the specific point? – Anees Bakrain May 4 '11 at 12:24
I haven't used that specific program so you'd have to consult its documentation. FlashGet explicitly supports pausing and later resuming downloads. – ultrasawblade May 4 '11 at 13:53
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