Problems with really huge EXE files.

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thenh813

thenh813

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Mar 5, 2013
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Hello,
I am having problems opening a large 7.5GB .EXE file. It keeps giving me the error: This is not a valid WIN32 application. I am quite experienced with computers but this just completely confuzes me and I cant figure it out. The PC im running this on is a i3 x64 4 core with hyperthreading and 4GB of ram. The file in question is a FreeARC 1.7 Alpha BZip2 SFX archive I made as a system backup image. I booted a custom PE 3.0 with Explorer++ as the shell and was going to extract the archive to the Windows drive after deleting C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (X86)\ C:\ProgramData C:\WINDOWS and writing a copy of Windows from the archive with applications preinstalled and preregistered license key. I have done this before with Windows XP x86, Windows Vista x86, Windows 7 x86 and Linux Mint 14 x86/x64. All I have to do afterwards is install a Bootloader/MBR and since I didnt delete C:\Users (or for Linux /Home) all user data is intact and its like a super simple reinstalless reinstall. The archive is DEFINITELY not corrupt as it loads with FreeARC's SFX Browser and verifies fine on my desktop. It is on a 8.5GB DVD+R DL and just fits. I am completely out of explanations for this problem as I have done it before, on computers with the same amount of RAM. Please help. Does Windows PE 3.0 x64 made from Windows install disks have a problem with really big EXE files? Now I have deleted a very slow crasy/glitchy Windows 7 install with ABSOLUTELY NO WAY to reinstall it as I broke the Windows 7 disk I downloaded from Microsoft and burned (after finding out Dell didnt give them) by accidentally putting the disk in a paper shredder cause it was in a pile of papers. What REALLY sucks is that I have no idea of the license key (sticker damaged beyond reading) and I destroyed a semi working system. Like iv said I swear iv done this countless times before without problems in this order: Use a keyfinder to get keys, print it out along with list of hardware, download drivers, backup data, format HDD and reinstall from my (now broken) disk, make BZip2 archive (without user data) after installing applications and drivers and registering windows and restoring data from backup, burn .EXE file to DVD and were all ready when we need to refresh a corrupt OS. I was not able to execute the file leaving me with a PC that only has C:\Users and dosent boot except for the Linux Live flash drive im using to post this. My perfect plan failed this time... AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!! The friend im restoring the PC for needs it for work tomorrow or she will have to use her old, slow, Pentium 4 desktop for it that has 512MB of ram and a 20GB HDD. If I had to undelete using Linux command prompt to try to find the license key and then download Windows 7 trial DVD again this would really suck as 150-175KBps internet dosent handle 3GB-4GB ISO downloads very well. I would have to wait 6-10 hours for it to download and hope undelete would work well enough for a keyfinder to get the Windows license key. This is depressing.
 
Solution
S
Having a self extracting executable that large isn't such a good idea IMO. It should have been a separate archive.

For one, executable files are traditionally loaded completely into RAM before execution.
With only 4GB ram that might be a problem.

It will be tough on any file compressor but something is bound to handle it.

Can you check it in a hex editor to see if it even has a valid header (usually an "MZ" in ASCII)?
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@anonymous1
I will try copying to my external HDD before executing it.
Hmmm... Maybe the DVD was too slow to load it fast enough.
I will try this in a couple minutes and see if it works.
Good suggestion, I never thought of that.

@smeezekitty
It s a vaild exe, being that big. It is a self extracting BZip2 compressed
WIM image of a preinstalled Windows 7 X64, It contains a complete
filesystem without the boot sector. I knew it was going to be that big.
All FreeARC does is append a SFX stub (selfextract.exe) to the .ARC
archive which in turn contains a wim image that contains a HDD image
of Windows 7 Premium X64. It took 6 hours to create the archive, and
shrunk 22 GB of data into that "large" file. I should have just used LZMA2
SFX instead to get a (estimated) 5GB file after 20 hours.
Thanks for the suggestion anyway, you gave a good answer,
I just confuzed you by not giving enough specific information.
BTW: I once compiled a insane 164MB application in DEV C++ LOL.

Thanks for all your help everyone, this is my first time posting.
Someday I hope I get a job doing system administration.
I guess I will learn from my mistakes till then.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Having a self extracting executable that large isn't such a good idea IMO. It should have been a separate archive.

For one, executable files are traditionally loaded completely into RAM before execution.
With only 4GB ram that might be a problem.

It will be tough on any file compressor but something is bound to handle it.

Can you check it in a hex editor to see if it even has a valid header (usually an "MZ" in ASCII)?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
Here is the header and a little more:
Code: 
0000:0000 | 4D 5A 90 00  03 00 00 00  04 00 00 00  FF FF 00 00 | MZ..........ÿÿ..
0000:0010 | B8 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  40 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ¸.......@.......
0000:0020 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0030 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  80 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0040 | 0E 1F BA 0E  00 B4 09 CD  21 B8 01 4C  CD 21 54 68 | ..º..´.Í!¸.LÍ!Th
0000:0050 | 69 73 20 70  72 6F 67 72  61 6D 20 63  61 6E 6E 6F | is program canno
0000:0060 | 74 20 62 65  20 72 75 6E  20 69 6E 20  44 4F 53 20 | t be run in DOS 
0000:0070 | 6D 6F 64 65  2E 0D 0D 0A  24 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | mode....$.......
0000:0080 | 50 45 00 00  4C 01 06 00  CD DD C8 50  00 00 00 00 | PE..L...ÍÝÈP....
0000:0090 | 00 00 00 00  E0 00 2F 03  0B 01 02 38  00 82 04 00 | ....à./....8....
0000:00A0 | 00 0C 07 00  00 16 30 00  A0 12 00 00  00 10 00 00 | ......0. .......
0000:00B0 | 00 A0 04 00  00 00 40 00  00 10 00 00  00 02 00 00 | . ....@.........
0000:00C0 | 04 00 00 00  01 00 00 00  04 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:00D0 | 00 70 37 00  00 04 00 00  AD 00 08 00  02 00 00 00 | .p7.....­.......
0000:00E0 | 00 00 20 00  00 10 00 00  00 00 10 00  00 10 00 00 | .. .............
0000:00F0 | 00 00 00 00  10 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0100 | 00 70 35 00  AC 18 00 00  00 90 35 00  A0 D2 01 00 | .p5.¬.....5. Ò..
0000:0110 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0120 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0130 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0140 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0150 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0160 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0170 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  2E 74 65 78  74 00 00 00 | .........text...
0000:0180 | 38 80 04 00  00 10 00 00  00 82 04 00  00 04 00 00 | 8...............
0000:0190 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  60 00 00 60 | ............`..`
0000:01A0 | 2E 64 61 74  61 00 00 00  80 16 00 00  00 A0 04 00 | .data........ ..
0000:01B0 | 00 18 00 00  00 86 04 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:01C0 | 00 00 00 00  40 00 00 C0  2E 72 64 61  74 61 00 00 | ....@..À.rdata..
0000:01D0 | 2C 83 00 00  00 C0 04 00  00 84 00 00  00 9E 04 00 | ,....À..........
0000:01E0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  40 00 00 40 | ............@..@
0000:01F0 | 2E 62 73 73  00 00 00 00  50 15 30 00  00 50 05 00 | .bss....P.0..P..
0000:0200 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0210 | 00 00 00 00  80 00 00 C0  2E 69 64 61  74 61 00 00 | .......À.idata..
0000:0220 | AC 18 00 00  00 70 35 00  00 1A 00 00  00 22 05 00 | ¬....p5......"..
0000:0230 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  40 00 00 C0 | ............@..À
0000:0240 | 2E 72 73 72  63 00 00 00  A0 D2 01 00  00 90 35 00 | .rsrc... Ò....5.
0000:0250 | 00 D4 01 00  00 3C 05 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | .Ô...<..........
0000:0260 | 00 00 00 00  40 00 00 C0  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ....@..À........
0000:0270 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0280 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0290 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:02A0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:02B0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:02C0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:02D0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:02E0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:02F0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0300 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0310 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0320 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0330 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0340 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0350 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0360 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0370 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0380 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0390 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:03A0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:03B0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:03C0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:03D0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:03E0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:03F0 | 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ................
0000:0400 | 55 89 E5 83  EC 18 89 5D  F8 8B 45 08  31 DB 89 75 | U.å.ì..]ø.E.1Û.u
0000:0410 | FC 8B 00 31  F6 8B 00 3D  91 00 00 C0  77 43 3D 8D | ü..1ö..=...ÀwC=.
0000:0420 | 00 00 C0 72  5B BE 01 00  00 00 C7 04  24 08 00 00 | ..Àr[¾....Ç.$...
0000:0430 | 00 31 D2 89  54 24 04 E8  5C C2 03 00  83 F8 01 74 | .1Ò.T$.è\Â...ø.t
0000:0440 | 7A 85 C0 74  0E C7 04 24  08 00 00 00  FF D0 BB FF | z.Àt.Ç.$....ÿлÿ
0000:0450 | FF FF FF 89  D8 8B 75 FC  8B 5D F8 89  EC 5D C2 04 | ÿÿÿ.Ø.uü.]ø.ì]Â.
0000:0460 | 00 3D 94 00  00 C0 74 C2  77 4A 3D 93  00 00 C0 74 | .=...ÀtÂwJ=...Àt
0000:0470 | B4 89 D8 8B  75 FC 8B 5D  F8 89 EC 5D  C2 04 00 90 | ´.Ø.uü.]ø.ì]Â...
0000:0480 | 3D 05 00 00  C0 74 5B 3D  1D 00 00 C0  75 C5 C7 04 | =...Àt[=...ÀuÅÇ.
0000:0490 | 24 04 00 00  00 31 F6 89  74 24 04 E8  F8 C1 03 00 | $....1ö.t$.èøÁ..
0000:04A0 | 83 F8 01 74  6A 85 C0 74  AA C7 04 24  04 00 00 00 | .ø.tj.ÀtªÇ.$....
0000:04B0 | FF D0 EB 9A  3D 96 00 00  C0 EB D1 C7  04 24 08 00 | ÿÐë.=...ÀëÑÇ.$..
0000:04C0 | 00 00 B8 01  00 00 00 89  44 24 04 E8  C8 C1 03 00 | ..¸.....D$.èÈÁ..
0000:04D0 | 85 F6 0F 84  76 FF FF FF  E8 D3 AC 03  00 E9 6C FF | .ö..vÿÿÿèÓ¬..élÿ
0000:04E0 | FF FF C7 04  24 0B 00 00  00 31 C0 89  44 24 04 E8 | ÿÿÇ.$....1À.D$.è
0000:04F0 | A4 C1 03 00  83 F8 01 74  30 85 C0 0F  84 52 FF FF | ¤Á...ø.t0.À..Rÿÿ
0000:0500 | FF C7 04 24  0B 00 00 00  FF D0 E9 3F  FF FF FF C7 | ÿÇ.$....ÿÐé?ÿÿÿÇ
0000:0510 | 04 24 04 00  00 00 B9 01  00 00 00 89  4C 24 04 E8 | .$....¹.....L$.è
0000:0520 | 74 C1 03 00  E9 25 FF FF  FF C7 04 24  0B 00 00 00 | tÁ..é%ÿÿÿÇ.$....
0000:0530 | B8 01 00 00  00 89 44 24  04 E8 5A C1  03 00 E9 0B | ¸.....D$.èZÁ..é.
0000:0540 | FF FF FF 8D  B6 00 00 00  00 8D BC 27  00 00 00 00 | ÿÿÿ.¶.....¼'....
0000:0550 | 55 89 E5 53  83 EC 24 C7  04 24 00 10  40 00 E8 B5 | U.åS.ì$Ç.$..@.èµ
0000:0560 | C4 03 00 83  EC 04 E8 45  AB 03 00 E8  40 AC 03 00 | Ä...ì.èE«..è@¬..
0000:0570 | C7 45 F8 00  00 00 00 8D  45 F8 89 44  24 10 A1 00 | ÇEø.....Eø.D$.¡.
0000:0580 | B6 44 00 C7  04 24 04 50  45 00 89 44  24 0C 8D 45 | ¶D.Ç.$.PE..D$..E
0000:0590 | F4 89 44 24  08 B8 00 50  45 00 89 44  24 04 E8 0D | ô.D$.¸.PE..D$.è.
0000:05A0 | C1 03 00 A1  70 64 75 00  85 C0 74 64  A3 10 B6 44 | Á..¡pdu..Àtd£.¶D
0000:05B0 | 00 8B 15 2C  76 75 00 85  D2 0F 85 A1  00 00 00 83 | ...,vu..Ò..¡....
0000:05C0 | FA E0 74 1F  A1 70 64 75  00 89 44 24  04 A1 2C 76 | úàt.¡pdu..D$.¡,v
0000:05D0 | 75 00 8B 40  30 89 04 24  E8 CB C0 03  00 8B 15 2C | u..@0..$èËÀ....,
0000:05E0 | 76 75 00 83  FA C0 74 28  A1 70 64 75  00 89 44 24 | vu..úÀt(¡pdu..D$
0000:05F0 | 04 A1 2C 76  75 00 8B 40  50 89 04 24  E8 A7 C0 03 | .¡,vu..@P..$è§À.
0000:0600 | 00 EB 0D 90  90 90 90 90  90 90 90 90  90 90 90 90 | .ë..............
0000:0610 | E8 8B C0 03  00 8B 15 10  B6 44 00 89  10 E8 5E AA | è.À.....¶D...è^ª
0000:0620 | 03 00 83 E4  F0 E8 36 AA  03 00 E8 61  C0 03 00 8B | ...äðè6ª..èaÀ...
0000:0630 | 00 89 44 24  08 A1 00 50  45 00 89 44  24 04 A1 04 | ..D$.¡.PE..D$.¡.
0000:0640 | 50 45 00 89  04 24 E8 0B  B3 00 00 89  C3 E8 36 C0 | PE...$è.³...Ãè6À
0000:0650 | 03 00 89 1C  24 E8 B6 C3  03 00 8D B6  00 00 00 00 | ....$è¶Ã...¶....
0000:0660 | 89 44 24 04  A1 2C 76 75  00 8B 40 10  89 04 24 E8 | .D$.¡,vu..@...$è
0000:0670 | 34 C0 03 00  8B 15 2C 76  75 00 E9 40  FF FF FF 90 | 4À....,vu.é@ÿÿÿ.
0000:0680 | 55 89 E5 83  EC 08 C7 04  24 01 00 00  00 FF 15 08 | U.å.ì.Ç.$....ÿ..
0000:0690 | 76 75 00 E8  B8 FE FF FF  90 8D B4 26  00 00 00 00 | vu.è¸þÿÿ..´&....
0000:06A0 | 55 89 E5 83  EC 08 C7 04  24 02 00 00  00 FF 15 08 | U.å.ì.Ç.$....ÿ..
0000:06B0 | 76 75 00 E8  98 FE FF FF  90 8D B4 26  00 00 00 00 | vu.è.þÿÿ..´&....
0000:06C0 | 55 8B 0D 78  76 75 00 89  E5 5D FF E1  8D 74 26 00 | U..xvu..å]ÿá.t&.
0000:06D0 | 55 8B 0D 3C  76 75 00 89  E5 5D FF E1  90 90 90 90 | U..<vu..å]ÿá....
0000:06E0 | 55 89 E5 5D  E9 87 AB 03  00 90 90 90  90 90 90 90 | U.å]é.«.........
0000:06F0 | 83 EC 0C E8  B0 C3 03 00  85 C0 75 05  B8 01 00 00 | .ì.è°Ã...Àu.¸...
0000:0700 | 00 83 C4 0C  C3 90 83 EC  0C B8 00 00  00 00 83 7C | ..Ä.Ã..ì.¸.....|
0000:0710 | 24 10 00 75  05 E8 D6 FF  FF FF 83 C4  0C C3 83 EC | $..u.èÖÿÿÿ.Ä.Ã.ì
0000:0720 | 0C B8 00 00  00 00 83 7C  24 10 00 75  05 E8 BE FF | .¸.....|$..u.è¾ÿ
0000:0730 | FF FF 83 C4  0C C3 53 83  EC 08 8B 5C  24 10 83 3B | ÿÿ.Ä.ÃS.ì..\$..;
0000:0740 | 00 74 18 8B  03 89 04 24  E8 53 C3 03  00 83 EC 04 | .t.....$èSÃ...ì.
0000:0750 | 85 C0 75 07  E8 97 FF FF  FF EB 0B C7  03 00 00 00 | .Àu.è.ÿÿÿë.Ç....
0000:0760 | 00 B8 00 00  00 00 83 C4  08 5B C3 90  83 EC 0C C7 | .¸.....Ä.[Ã..ì.Ç
0000:0770 | 44 24 04 FF  FF FF FF 8B  44 24 10 89  04 24 E8 15 | D$.ÿÿÿÿ.D$...$è.
0000:0780 | C3 03 00 83  EC 08 83 C4  0C C3 83 EC  1C 8D 44 24 | Ã...ì..Ä.Ã.ì..D$
0000:0790 | 18 89 44 24  14 C7 44 24  10 00 00 00  00 8B 44 24 | ..D$.ÇD$......D$
0000:07A0 | 28 89 44 24  0C 8B 44 24  24 89 44 24  08 C7 44 24 | (.D$..D$$.D$.ÇD$
0000:07B0 | 04 00 00 00  00 C7 04 24  00 00 00 00  E8 57 BF 03 | .....Ç.$....èW¿.
0000:07C0 | 00 8B 54 24  20 89 02 89  04 24 E8 37  FF FF FF 83 | ..T$ ....$è7ÿÿÿ.

@smeezekitty
It appears to be valid according to what you said and I know.
The hex editor gave me a error at first saying I didnt have enough RAM so I just loaded
the first 2000M.

@pjmelect
Maybe you are right I almost remember reading about a SFX module limitation and
have never had such a large one before, that may be the problem.

I tried to load it off my HDD last night but I saw the GUI for select
output folder appear but then it crashed and Windows PE gave a bluescreen. Il try
searching the FreeARC help database but I doubt it will have anything.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The large documentation has said that it can extract files from its own SFX
archives MSI packages and some .EXE installers so I will be trying it and seeing if FreeARC will
work on Windows PE and extract from the archive within the EXE that it made.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well, it kind of working the PC is frozen except for the progress bar that is moving.
The task manager that is open and frozen says RAM 100% (4GB) CPU 100% (Quad core i7).
While it was working I set freearc.exe to realtime so as long as it keeps extracting
I will be happy. It is at 0.21% and says 1 hours 24 minutes remaining.
Next time Im adding FreeARC to the PE and just storing it in a .ARC file that is non executable.
Thanks for helping everyone, Im not sure what I would have done without suggestions.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
One suggestion - instead of creating a single compressed file, use multiple disk/archive option to create multiple files of less than 1GB each. This will speed up compression/decompression, as the entire file doesn't have to be loaded at a single time.

If you have an external USB drive of equal or greater size of the hard drive - you might also want to consider Syncback - I use this as my primary backup software - it goes through data very quickly. http://www.2brightsparks.com/welcome/backup/freeware.html?source=adwords&campaign=syncback-name-search&adgroup=syncback&ad=008&gclid=COeu9K266LUCFc5AMgod42YAbQ
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Hmmmm......... Syncback.......... Looks perfect for what im doing!
Thanks for the suggestion, every time I searched for freeware disk cloning all I got in results
was shareware/nagware that had severe limitations that I didnt download.
You found something that actually works and is free! Thanks im adding this to a new PE iso
along with a whole bunch of other tools and a third party GUI so its like a windows LiveCD.
I cant believe you actually found this, you dont know how long iv wanted something like this.
I have quite a few spare SATA HDDs and a external hotswappable holder for them.
This will work quite nicely!!! Thanks for the link, ronintexas.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks for all the help everyone! I actually have used http://www.filehippo.com/ before and it is a really good site. Thanks for the suggestion. Everybody helped a lot but I picked the answer which led me to read the really long boring documentation as best answer. And yes, it did extract properly in the right amount of time it estimated. Thanks once again to all. Now how do I close this thread... Hmm.... more documentation LOL.
 
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