I figured out how to have my app extract everything from the v1.2 exe patch for the game. This extraction yields the InstallShield setup.exe and supporting files in the folder Disk1. Since I now had access to the InstallShield files I could 'see' what they were doing (or not doing in this case!). The files showed that the installer for v1.2 is NOT checking to see if the Silent Hunter 5 folder already exists nor is it checking to see if any of the files it needs to update exist. All it cares about is whether or not the required registry entries exist. Excellent, lets exploit this vulnerability!!
Now I did the below on my computer and everything worked just like I thought it would so it should work flawlessly on those with Steam installations also.
This is for those who have the Steam version of the game!
Find your \Silent Hunter 5 folder and move it to your desktop and rename it 'Silent Hunter 5 save' (cut it so it no longer exists at it's current location but rather on your desktop). Make a copy of steam's sh5.exe and name it sh5-steam.exe. Run the official v1.2 patch from Ubicrap saying yes you want to install even though you are already at v1.2. If everything goes to plan then another Silent Hunter 5 folder should've been created where your old one existed. In there you'll find the non-steam sh5.exe
Copy the non-steam sh5.exe to your 'Silent Hunter 5 save' folder on your desktop. Make a copy of this new sh5.exe and name it sh5-ubi.exe. Delete the new Silent Hunter 5 folder that was created by the official 1.2 patch. Copy the 'Silent Hunter 5 save' folder to where the new Silent Hunter 5 folder was and rename it back to 'Silent Hunter 5'. Run the Generic Patcher and see if you can patch the sh5.exe.
If this all works then I will have the app automate everything so you simply click one button and it does everything for you
