The Analogy: Think of an .exe as a pre-packaged meal ready to eat. An .inf is the recipe card. You cannot turn the meal back into a recipe card, but you can take the meal apart to see the ingredients.
If you decide to create an .inf file that references or handles the installation/execution of an .exe, here’s a basic template: how to convert exe to inf file
[Version]
Signature = $CHICAGO$
Class = MyClass
[Manufacturer]
MyCompany = "My Company Name"
[MyClass]
MySoftware="My Software Name"
%MySoftware% = MySoftwareSection
[MySoftwareSection]
HWnd = 0, not UI, run the exe directly
DriverVer=,01,1
File2Copy= path\to\your\file.exe, %windir%\temp\file.exe
RunExe=, path\to\your\file.exe
[RunExe]
Exetype= exe
Command= "%windir%\temp\file.exe" /silent
Note: This .inf template is highly simplified and might not directly lead to a conversion but serves to illustrate how to reference executing a file. The Analogy: Think of an
Silent/unattended installation
Extract payload from self-extracting EXE If you decide to create an
Convert installer to driver package
Create an INF to register files/COM components