Universal Extractor (UniExtract)

Excellent point, Ruddyadam... Universal extractor is so good at extracting the "meat" from EXE files, that (in my experience) that it is a full step ahead of any antivirus tool I've used. You may ask: "What does this mean?"

When using the context menu for Universal Extractor, selecting "UniExtract to Subdir" - Universal Extractor disassembles the ".exe" runtime file, without executing the function. It will extract the full contents of the executable archive into its individual components, which exposes any potential threats for antivirus exploration. I have gotten accustomed to extracting all files in this manner, and am consistently surprised how often suspicious scripts are exposed in the process.

UniExtractor is a free (as in "free speech") application - To date, I haven't found anything that rivals its capability for extracting... (note however: it does not compress... it only extracts). I'm continually surprised at how deftly it handles so many formats, in such a low-profile (5.6Mb) installable. Some of the extensions that really provide powerful file access capabilities include (and there are more!):

Installer & Archival Executables:
7-zip, ACE , ARJ, ASpack, Gentee, Inno Setup, InstallShield, KGB:
.exe, .7z, .ace, .arc, .arj, .kgb, .kge
Installer VISE, RAR, Roboform, Reflexive Arcade, SetupFactory, WISE, .UPX, Zip::
.exe, .rar, .001, .zip, .jar, .xpi, .wz
CD and DVD disc image files:
.iso, .bin, ,.cue, .nrg, .cdi, .nbh
Java Archive:
.jar, .war, .ear:

Zip and other archives

with universal extractor, you can extract an .exe into its component files. This is sometimes helpful in the process of making the program portable, or grabbing a specific file out of an .exe without going through the entire install process. Kind of a nerd-tool.