How can I extract the files from a Windows Vista Microsoft Update Standalone Package (MSU)?

A. The new MSU format doesn't support the old /x type switches to extract the content. It also can't be run on a pre-Vista OS. To extract the content from an MSU file, you need to use the Expand command that's part of Vista. (Note that the Expand command from earlier versions of Windows Vista are different and won't work. Use the -F switch to extract the content, as the following example shows:

  D:\temp>mkdir msu    

D:\temp>expand -F:* Windows6.0-KB929761-x86.msu d:\temp\msu  

Adding d:\temp\msu\WSUSSCAN.cab to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\Windows6.0-KB929761-x86.cab to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\Windows6.0-KB929761-x86-pkgProperties.txt to Extraction Queue

Adding d:\temp\msu\Windows6.0-KB929761-x86.xml to Extraction Queue

Expanding Files ....

Expanding Files Complete ...
4 files total.

At this point, the .cab files, which contain the actual files, are still not extracted, so now run the extract command on the cab file, as the following command and resulting output shows:

  D:\temp>expand -F:* d:\temp\msu\Windows6.0-KB929761-x86.cab d:\temp\msu  

Adding d:\temp\msu\update.mum to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\x86_microsoft-windows-wusa_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.20496_no ne_ab489c6034d78613.manifest to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\x86_microsoft-windows-wusa_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16400_no ne_ab1a4f0b1b764fed.manifest to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\update-bf.mum to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\x86_microsoft-windows-wusa.d_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.20496_ none_4632ef2815ba2cfd.manifest to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\x86_microsoft-windows-wusa.d_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16400_ none_4604a1d2fc58f6d7.manifest to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\update.cat to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\update-bf.cat to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\x86_microsoft-windows-wusa_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16400_no ne_ab1a4f0b1b764fed\wusa.exe to Extraction Queue
Adding d:\temp\msu\x86_microsoft-windows-wusa_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.20496_no ne_ab489c6034d78613\wusa.exe to Extraction Queue

Expanding Files ....

Expanding Files Complete ...
10 files total.