How can I convert a VBScript to an executable EXE file

Question

I d looked around for information to convert a VBScript    vbs  to an executable and realised that most of the tools available are actually wrapping the script in the executable  Tried a few tools and it didn t worked as well as expected  I tried IExpress  in Windows XP  to create the Win32 self extraction cab file but it didn t invoke properly on Windows 7 machines   So I am looking for a way to compile the vbs into exe  I am trying to port my current script into VB Express 2008 but I have no prior knowledge of Visual Basic here  There are a lot of errors but I am still trying around   Can anyone please advice on how should I proceed from here  I mean  would a self extracting archive be the way to go instead of a standalone executable file  But say like Winzip I don t know how to make it run the script after extraction   Any ideas

User · Answer

You can use VBSedit software to convert your VBS code to .exe file. You can download free version from Internet and installtion vbsedit applilcation on your system and convert the files to exe format.

Vbsedit is a good application for VBscripter's

User · Answer

There is no way to convert a VBScript   vbs file  into an executable   exe file  because VBScript is not a compiled language  The process of converting source code into native executable code is called  compilation   and it s not supported by scripting languages like VBScript   Certainly you can add your script to a self-extracting archive using something like WinZip  but all that will do is compress it  It s doubtful that the file size will shrink noticeably  and since it s a plain-text file to begin with  it s really not necessary to compress it at all  The only purpose of a self-extracting archive is that decompression software  like WinZip  is not required on the end user s computer to be able to extract or  decompress  the file  If it isn t compressed in the first place  this is a moot point   Alternatively  as you mentioned  there are ways to wrap VBScript code files in a standalone executable file  but these are just wrappers that automatically execute the script  in its current  uncompiled state  when the user double-clicks on the  exe file  I suppose that can have its benefits  but it doesn t sound like what you re looking for   In order to truly convert your VBScript into an executable file  you re going to have to rewrite it in another language that can be compiled  Visual Basic 6  the latest version of VB  before the  NET Framework was introduced  is extremely similar in syntax to VBScript  but does support compiling to native code  If you move your VBScript code to VB 6  you can compile it into a native executable  Running the  exe file will require that the user has the VB 6 Run-time libraries installed  but they come built into most versions of Windows that are found now in the wild    Alternatively  you could go ahead and make the jump to Visual Basic  NET  which remains somewhat similar in syntax to VB 6 and VBScript  although it won t be anywhere near a cut-and-paste migration   VB NET programs will also compile to an  exe file  but they require the  NET Framework runtime to be installed on the user s computer  Fortunately  this has also become commonplace  and it can be easily redistributed if your users don t happen to have it  You mentioned going this route in your question  porting your current script in to VB Express 2008  which uses VB NET   but that you were getting a lot of errors  That s what I mean about it being far from a cut-and-paste migration  There are some huge differences between VB 6 VBScript and VB NET  despite some superficial syntactical similarities  If you want help migrating over your VBScript  you could post a question here on Stack Overflow  Ultimately  this is probably the best way to do what you want  but I can t promise you that it will be simple

User · Answer

Here are a couple possible solutions       I have not tried all of these myself yet  but I will be trying them all soon     Note  I do not have any personal or financial connection to any of these tools     1  VB Script to EXE Converter  NOT Compiler     Free  vbs2exe com     The exe produced appears to be a true EXE     From their website        VBS to EXE is a free online converter that doesn t only convert your vbs files into exe but it also         1- Encrypt your vbs file source code using 128 bit key     2- Allows you to call win32 API    3- If you have troubles with windows vista especially when UAC is enabled then you may give VBS to EXE a try     4- No need for wscript exe to run your vbs anymore     5- Your script is never saved to the hard disk like some others converters  it is a TRUE exe not an extractor      This solution should work even if wscript cscript is not installed on the computer     Basically  this creates a true  EXE file  Inside the created  EXE is an  engine  that replaces wscript cscript  and an encrypted copy of your VB Script code  This replacement engine executes your code IN MEMORY without calling wscript cscript to do it       2  Compile and Convert VBS to EXE     ExeScript    The current version is 3 5     This is NOT a Free solution  They have a 15 day trial  After that  you need to buy a license for a hefty  44 96  Home License noncommercial   or  89 95  Business License commercial usage      It seems to work in a similar way to the previous solution   According to a forum post there  Post   A Exe file still need Windows Scripting Host  WSH            WSH is not required if  Compile  option was used  since ExeScript    implements it s own scripting host            3  Encrypt the script with Microsoft s   vbs to  vbe  encryption tool     Apparently  this does not work for Windows 7 8  and it is possible there are ways to  decrypt  the  vbe file  At the time of writing this  I could not find a working link to download this  If I find one  I will add it to this answer

User · Answer

You can do this with PureBasic and MsScriptControl  All you need to do is pasting the MsScriptControl to the Purebasic editor and add something like this below  InitScriptControl   SCtr AddCode  MsgBox 1

User · Answer

You can try VbsEdit  Get the latest version from Adersoft s VbsEdit http   www vbsedit com its a small download but it is a powerful tool to create and edit vbs files and convert them into executables without unpacking to temporary folder   unless you get an old version like version 4 x x x  I ve been using this program since 2008  and it s free to evaluate forever but comes with a reminder to activate and each time you Start your script from the vbsedit window you will have to wait a few seconds  Or you could purchase it for  60 to remove those minor annoyances  Unlike ScriptCryptor  the converted exe won t have any limitations if you are still evaluating  it will run without any unwanted additional windows

User · Answer

More info  To find a compiler  you ll have 1 per  net version installed  type in a command prompt      dir c  Windows Microsoft NET vbc exe  a s   Windows Forms     For a Windows Forms version  no console window and we don t get around to actually creating any forms - though you can if you want     Compile line in a command prompt     C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 vbc exe   t winexe   userprofile  desktop VBS2Exe vb       Text for VBS2EXE vb  Imports System Windows Forms   Partial Class MyForm   Inherits Form   Private Sub InitializeComponent      End Sub  Public Sub New     InitializeComponent     End Sub  Public Shared Sub Main     Dim sc as object  Dim Scrpt as string  sc   createObject  MSScriptControl ScriptControl    Scrpt    msgbox    amp  chr 34   amp   Hi there I m a form   amp  chr 34   With SC   Language    VBScript    UseSafeSubset   False   AllowUI   True  End With   sc addcode Scrpt    End Sub  End Class      Using these optional parameters gives you an icon and manifest  A manifest allows you to specify run as normal  run elevated if admin  only run elevated     win32icon  Specifies a Win32 icon file   ico  for the default Win32 resources     win32manifest  The provided file is embedded in the manifest section of the output PE    In theory  I have UAC off so can t test  but put this text file on the desktop and call it vbs2exe manifest  save as UTF-8       The command line       C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 vbc exe   t winexe  win32manifest   userprofile  desktop VBS2Exe manifest    userprofile  desktop VBS2Exe vb    The manifest    lt  xml version  1 0  encoding  UTF-8  standalone  yes   gt      lt assembly xmlns  urn schemas-microsoft-com asm v1     manifestVersion  1 0  gt   lt assemblyIdentity version  1 0 0 0     processorArchitecture     name  VBS2EXE  type  win32    gt      lt description gt Script to Exe lt  description gt      lt trustInfo xmlns  urn schemas-microsoft-com asm v3  gt      lt security gt   lt requestedPrivileges gt      lt requestedExecutionLevel level  requireAdministrator     uiAccess  false    gt   lt  requestedPrivileges gt      lt  security gt   lt  trustInfo gt   lt  assembly gt    Hopefully it will now ONLY run as admin       Give Access To a Host s Objects      Here s an example giving the vbscript access to a  NET object    Imports System Windows Forms   Partial Class MyForm   Inherits Form   Private Sub InitializeComponent      End Sub   Public Sub New     InitializeComponent     End Sub   Public Shared Sub Main     Dim sc as object Dim Scrpt as string   sc   createObject  MSScriptControl ScriptControl     Scrpt    msgbox    amp  chr 34   amp   Hi there I m a form   amp  chr 34   amp    msgbox meScript state    With SC  Language    VBScript   UseSafeSubset   False  AllowUI   True  addobject  meScript   SC  true  End With    sc addcode Scrpt     End Sub   End Class       To Embed version info      Download vbs2exe res file from https   skydrive live com redir resid E2F0CE17A268A4FA 121  and put on desktop       Download ResHacker from http   www angusj com resourcehacker       Open vbs2exe res file in ResHacker  Edit away  Click Compile button  Click File menu - Save       Type       C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 vbc exe   t winexe  win32manifest   userprofile  desktop VBS2Exe manifest   win32resource   userprofile  desktop VBS2Exe res    userprofile  desktop VBS2Exe vb

[vbscript] How can I convert a VBScript to an executable (EXE) file?

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