On 1/17/2024 8:58 AM, Newyana2 wrote:
> "Bradley" <bradley@nospam.com> wrote
>
> | What do you think about this new Microsoft MSIX Bundle installer format?
> | https://www.martinstoeckli.ch/silentnotes/silentnotes.Msixbundle
> |
>
> Microsoft have an irresistible compulsion to add "X" to everything
> at some point. The bundle version is simply a way for lazy developers
> to put all of their installers into a single file and make you download
> the whole mess, even though you can only use one of them. I'm
> guessing the developer probably got Visual Studio to do it for him
> and doesn't entirely understand it. Otherwise, why would people
> be so stupid? To save having to provide multiple download links
> on their website?
>
> The package is PKZip format. 7-zip can open it. Inside are the
> multiple msix files. If you open this one you'll see there's a
> 32-bit installer, 64-bit, and so on. The msix files themselves only
> work in Win10/11 and are basically ZIP files with XML files for
> setup settings. (Microsoft loves XML even more than X, despite XML
> being a very bloated and inefficient format as compared to
> something like ini. But MS like X's and they like to webbify anything
> they can get their hands on, so XML was a natural winner in the
> MS camp.)
>
> So you've got a wildly bloated packge, due to being forced to
> download every version, and it won't work on anything but Win10.
>
> An explanation I found said that msix is based on msi, but that's
> not true. It seems to be more like an xpi or a docx -- basically
> just a ZIP file package. The msi format is a compound storage
> file format, like .doc, and structured with a kind of sql database.
>
> I don't get why you care about this. You installed a 30+ MB
> Windows "app" to replace Notepad? I now have two Win10
> boxes going and a Win11 install just out of curiosity and to
> test my own softare. I've never even looked in the "app" menu.
> (I always install Classic or Open Shell, so thankfully I only see
> an "apps" item on the start menu.)
>
> | I doubleclicked on that ".msixbundle" and it did "something" that caused
> | Silent Notes to be "installed" somewhere but what the heck did it do?
> |
>
> Why would you download and double-click a file when you don't
> even know what it is?
>
> | I have no idea where the program went, or how to uninstall it, or what.
> | What do you think about this new Microsoft MSIX Bundle installer format?
>
> Presumably it's in the apps menu. Having never
> installed an app, I don't know how to uninstall them. Isn't
> it in the Control panel Programs and Features applet?
>
>

From inside the main DLL.
Now you know what kind of developer this is.
One of the other files said this was a "Universal App".

Build Type: ret

Tool chain:
ilc.exe : 2.2.31116.00 built by: PROJECTNREL
nutc_driver.exe : 2.2.31116.00 built by: PROJECTNREL
rhbind.exe : 2.2.31116.0 built by: PROJECTNREL
sg.exe : 2.2.31116.00 built by: PROJECTNREL

Framework:
BouncyCastle.Crypto.dll : 1.9.0.1
clrcompression.dll : 4.6.30316.01 @BuiltBy: dlab14-vs2017-6a00000B
@Branch: dev/tommcdon/uwp6.2-clrcompression
@SrcCode: https://github.com/dotnet/corefx/tree/0ff7768fac3f731acd96a46523d83cbf65690003
CommunityToolkit.Mvvm.dll : 8.1.0.1
Flurl.dll : 3.0.6.0
Flurl.Http.dll : 3.2.4.0
Microsoft.Bcl.AsyncInterfaces.dll : 7.0.22.51805
Microsoft.CSharp.dll : 4.6.30316.01
Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions.dll : 7.0.22.51805
Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.dll : 7.0.22.51805
Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll : 4.6.30316.01
Microsoft.Win32.Primitives.dll : 4.6.30316.01
mscorlib.dll : 4.6.30316.01
netstandard.dll : 4.6.30316.1
Newtonsoft.Json.dll : 12.0.2.23222
SilentNotes.Shared.dll : 1.0.0.0
System.AppContext.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Buffers.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Collections.Concurrent.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Collections.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Collections.Immutable.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Collections.NonGeneric.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Collections.Specialized.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ComponentModel.Annotations.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ComponentModel.Composition.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.ComponentModel.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ComponentModel.EventBasedAsync.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ComponentModel.Primitives.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ComponentModel.TypeConverter.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Configuration.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Console.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Core.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Data.Common.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Data.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Data.SqlClient.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.Contracts.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.Debug.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.DiagnosticSource.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.FileVersionInfo.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.Process.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.StackTrace.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.TextWriterTraceListener.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.Tools.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.TraceSource.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Diagnostics.Tracing.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Drawing.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Drawing.Primitives.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Dynamic.Runtime.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Globalization.Calendars.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Globalization.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Globalization.Extensions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.Compression.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.Compression.FileSystem.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.IO.Compression.ZipFile.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.FileSystem.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.FileSystem.DriveInfo.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.FileSystem.Primitives.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.FileSystem.Watcher.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.IsolatedStorage.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.MemoryMappedFiles.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.Pipes.AccessControl.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.Pipes.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.Ports.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.IO.UnmanagedMemoryStream.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Linq.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Linq.Expressions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Linq.Parallel.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Linq.Queryable.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Memory.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Net.Http.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.Http.Rtc.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.HttpListener.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.Mail.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.NameResolution.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.NetworkInformation.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.Ping.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.Primitives.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.Requests.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.Security.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.ServicePoint.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.Sockets.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.WebClient.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.WebHeaderCollection.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.WebProxy.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.WebSockets.Client.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Net.WebSockets.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Numerics.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Numerics.Vectors.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Numerics.Vectors.WindowsRuntime.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ObjectModel.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Private.CompilerServices.ICastable.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.CoreLib.Augments.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.CoreLib.DeveloperExperience.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.CoreLib.dll : 4.6.31009.0
System.Private.CoreLib.DynamicDelegate.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.CoreLib.InteropServices.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.CoreLib.Threading.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.CoreLib.WinRTInterop.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.DataContractSerialization.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Private.Debug.dll : 4.6.31116.00 built by: PROJECTNREL
System.Private.DeveloperExperience.AppX.dll : 4.6.0.0 built by: PROJECTNREL
System.Private.DispatchProxy.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.ILToolchain.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.Interop.Extensions.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.MCG.dll : 4.6.31116.0
System.Private.Reflection.Core.dll : 4.6.31116.00
System.Private.Reflection.Execution.dll : 4.6.31116.00
System.Private.Reflection.Metadata.dll : 4.6.31116.00
System.Private.Reflection.Metadata.Ecma335.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Private.ServiceModel.dll : 4.6.26823.01
System.Private.StackTraceGenerator.dll : 4.6.31116.00
System.Private.StackTraceMetadata.dll : 4.6.31116.00
System.Private.Threading.dll : 4.6.31116.00
System.Private.TypeLoader.dll : 4.6.31116.00
System.Private.Uri.dll : 4.6.27328.03
System.Private.WinRTInterop.CoreLib.dll : 4.6.31116.00 built by: PROJECTNREL
System.Private.Xml.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Private.Xml.Linq.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.Context.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.DispatchProxy.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.Emit.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.Emit.ILGeneration.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.Emit.Lightweight.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.Extensions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.Metadata.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.Primitives.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Reflection.TypeExtensions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Resources.Reader.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Resources.ResourceManager.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Resources.Writer.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe.dll : 6.0.21.52210
System.Runtime.CompilerServices.VisualC.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.Extensions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.Handles.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.InteropServices.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.InteropServices.WindowsRuntime.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.Numerics.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.Serialization.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.Serialization.Json.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.Serialization.Primitives.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.Serialization.Xml.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.WindowsRuntime.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Runtime.WindowsRuntime.UI.Xaml.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.AccessControl.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Claims.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Cryptography.Algorithms.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Cryptography.Cng.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Cryptography.Csp.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Cryptography.Encoding.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Cryptography.Primitives.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Security.Permissions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Principal.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.Principal.Windows.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Security.SecureString.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ServiceModel.dll : 4.6.26823.1
System.ServiceModel.Duplex.dll : 4.6.26823.01
System.ServiceModel.Http.dll : 4.6.26823.01
System.ServiceModel.NetTcp.dll : 4.6.26823.01
System.ServiceModel.Primitives.dll : 4.6.26823.01
System.ServiceModel.Security.dll : 4.6.26823.01
System.ServiceModel.Web.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.ServiceProcess.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Text.Encoding.CodePages.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Text.Encoding.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Text.Encoding.Extensions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Text.RegularExpressions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.Overlapped.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.Tasks.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.Tasks.Parallel.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.Thread.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.ThreadPool.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Threading.Timer.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Transactions.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Transactions.Local.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.ValueTuple.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Web.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Web.HttpUtility.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Windows.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Xml.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Xml.Linq.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Xml.ReaderWriter.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Xml.Serialization.dll : 4.6.30316.1
System.Xml.XDocument.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Xml.XmlDocument.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Xml.XmlSerializer.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Xml.XPath.dll : 4.6.30316.01
System.Xml.XPath.XDocument.dll : 4.6.30316.01
VanillaCloudStorageClient.dll : 1.0.0.0
WindowsBase.dll : 4.6.30316.1

The .EXE is just a manifest file. The resource contains the same list as above.

To trace where it is going, when you double click the bundle, you'd
fire up Process Monitor and look at all the Writefile operations.
There would be some App storage area with the materials in it.

There should also be an SQLite database that keeps track of
the existence of the program.

"%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\AppRepository\StateRepository-Machine.srd" <=== MSEdge in here ?
"%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\AppRepository\StateRepository-Deployment.srd"

TestDisk 7.0 can show you some of the contents on the machine.
Let's say that the AppRepository doesn't want to allow you in.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/SKDnw2Vv/State-Repository.gif

And while Linux has this in Package Manager, there is also a Windows version.

https://sqlitebrowser.org/dl/

That's how you examine "StateRepository-Deployment.srd" say. The files next to the
..srd are journal files, and that's a sign the database is still open. Capture
a copy of the file while Windows is at rest (not running).

There's not much to see in there. It's just if someone asks "what is tracking this?",
it could be one of those two files.

Paul