Magic Extractor: universal extraction and firmware carving for Windows

[xchwarze]

I wanted something that could give me a more maintainable, modern take on UniExtract, while also making binwalk-style workflows practical on Windows.

That eventually turned into **Magic Extractor**: a universal extraction tool for Windows that detects unknown files using multiple engines and routes them to the right bundled extractor.

It supports common archives, installers, SFX packages, less common archivers, recursive extraction, bruteforce handler attempts, and carving embedded archives from larger binaries like firmware images.

First release is now available. Feedback, test files, edge cases, and format suggestions are welcome.

https://github.com/xchwarze/magic-extractor

[bolo2002]

at a first launch,i tested with a innosetup file,uniextract did the work,this magic didn't work.
"magic-extractor.exe extract Setup_EN0927.exe --bruteforce
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatInnoSetupHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatRarHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatAceHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatArcHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatKgbHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatUharcHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatBitrockHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatCicdecHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatPyInstallerHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - ERROR - Command failed with 1:
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - ERROR - Failed to extract Inno Setup file with error code 1
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - ERROR - Extraction failed using handler: FormatInnoSetupHandler
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - ERROR - Command failed with 10:
2026-07-05 19:58:02 - ERROR - Failed to extract RAR file with error:
UNRAR 7.01 x86 freeware Copyright (c) 1993-2024 Alexander Roshal

d:\exclude\Setup_EN0927.exe is not RAR archive
No files to extract

2026-07-05 19:58:02 - ERROR - Extraction failed using handler: FormatRarHandler
unrar version btw is deprecated but it's first version,thank's to share it.

[xchwarze]

I made several commits over the past two months, so it should be fixed by now

[bolo2002]

Originally Posted by xchwarze

I made several commits over the past two months, so it should be fixed by now

still no luck with a inno setup file,uniextract do it.

File: D:\z\Setup.exe
[DIE] detect Inno Setup Module
[binwalk] detect pkcs_der_hash
2026-08-25 17:09:07 - INFO - Candidate handler from DIE detection: Inno Setup Module
2026-08-25 17:09:07 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatRarHandler
2026-08-25 17:09:07 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatAceHandler
2026-08-25 17:09:07 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatArcHandler
2026-08-25 17:09:07 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatKgbHandler
2026-08-25 17:09:07 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatUharcHandler
2026-08-25 17:09:07 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatBitrockHandler
2026-08-25 17:09:07 - INFO - PE installer fallback candidate: FormatCicdecHandler
Candidate handlers (in order):
- FormatInnoSetupHandler
- FormatRarHandler
- FormatAceHandler
- FormatArcHandler
- FormatKgbHandler
- FormatUharcHandler
- FormatBitrockHandler
- FormatCicdecHandler
[exit 0]

I need to install additional files?btw it's nice work,i discovered binwalk for windows,i used it only on linux