Windows products.cab URL guide

This process involves two steps: getting the required DLL file and extracting the URL from it.

Getting SetupMgr.dll

There are two methods to obtain this file.

Media Creation Tool

Simply download the Media Creation Tool, for example for Windows 11.

On Windows, open the file with 7-Zip. Inside should be a file named SetupMgr.dll. Simply extract it.

On Linux, run 7z x MediaCreationTool.exe SetupMgr.dll, ensuring to change the filename if the target Media Creation Tool has a different one.

Winbindex

Go to Winbindex, and type in setupmgr.dll.

Now, download your desired version. Ensure to rename it to SetupMgr.dll.

Extracting the URL

Preparation

On Windows or Linux, you will need different utilities.

On Windows

Download a copy of Sysinternals Strings.

On Linux

Make sure to install binutils from the GNU Project.

Extraction

Both utilities have different usage, and there are different programs used on both platforms to look for specific lines.

For both commands, ensure to change the filenames, for example if you are using strings from Sysinternals (32-bit and not strings64).

These commands shall be executed in a terminal window.

On Windows

strings64 -u SetupMgr.dll | findstr fwlink

On Linux

strings -e l SetupMgr.dll | grep fwlink

Finding the correct link

You should have found a couple of links. The best way to determine which one is the actual products.cab URL is by trying all of them.

Conclusion

After following this guide, you should have acquired the products.cab URL without using network interception software.

That's all there is to it!