I have used the ORCA MSI File Editor a few times to remove stupid restrictions from MSI files.
It is a pain to get as it is part of the Platform SDK - which is over 250MB whereas ORCA is about 1.6 MB
I found that you can download it from this URL http://astebner.sts.winisp.net/Tools/Orca.zip
Orca.exe is a database table editor for creating and editing Windows Installer packages and merge modules. The tool provides a graphical interface for validation, highlighting the particular entries where validation errors or warnings occur.
Note: If you are wanting to remove restrictions on a setup program from installing check the Launch Condition item as shown in the above image, as this is usally where all the checks are made.
This tool is only available in the Windows SDK Components for Windows Installer Developers or from the URL above
It is provided as an Orca.msi file. After installing the Windows SDK Components for Windows Installer Developers, double click Orca.msi to install the Orca.exe file.
Syntax
orca [<options>][<source file>]
Command Line Options
Orca.exe uses the following case-insensitive command line options. A slash delimiter may also be used in place of a dash.
| Option |
Description |
| -q |
Quiet mode |
| -s |
<database> Schema database ["orca.dat" - default] |
| -? |
Help dialog |
Orca.exe uses the following case-insensitive command line options with merge modules. A slash delimiter may also be used in place of a dash. When performing a merge the -f, -m and <sourcefile> are all required.
| Option |
Description |
| -c |
Commit merge to database if no errors. |
| -! |
Commit merge to a database even if there are errors. |
| -m |
<module> Merge Module to merge into database. |
| -f |
Feature[:Feature2] Feature(s) to connect to Merge Module. |
| -r |
<directory id> Directory entry for the module root redirection. |
| -x |
<directory> Extract files to an image under the directory. |
| -g |
<language> Language used to open a module. |
| -l |
<log file> File to use as a log, append if it already exists. |
| -i |
<directory> Extract files to the source image under the directory. |
| -cab |
<filename> Extract the MSM cabinet to file. |
| -lfn |
Use Long File Names during the extraction. |
| -configure |
<filename> Configure the module using data from a file. |
See Also
For more details about it see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255905