The elusive Orca download

Recently, I was having problems with a Windows Installer Merge Module and turned to the web for help. Upon searching, I found a suggestion to use Orca to edit the .msm file. The site simply stated to download Orca from Microsoft, so I searched MSDN for Orca and found that it is only available in the “Windows SDK Components for Windows Installer Developers”. This sounded simple enough, so I downloaded the SDK. After a brief download, I began the installation process and was horrified to find that it was going to require another 2GB+ download for a full installation. I was in a hurry, so I de-deselected the samples and documentation, which brought the install down to a more manageable size.

After the install completed, I happily navigated to Start->Microsoft Windows SDK -> Tools. Hmmm, no Orca in sight... I was just about to bite the bullet and run the full installer when I came across Aaron Stebner's blog post explaining how to get Orca, complete with a direct link for the software.

This saved me a lot of wasted time waiting on the download, just to use one small tool.