Out of curiosity, will mkPort require the installation file/CD, or an installed copy of the program to "Portablize?". Anyway, great work Libertà team!!!
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just require a copy of the program on your drive, the same as Reg Rapper.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
thank Steve, not the whole team.
Steve hasn't even given me a beta yet *evil stare*
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
give me time, I've had exams for the past two weeks
Yours
Steve Lamerton
I've been on a camp to Tasmania, but you don't see me complaining
----
R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
I'll release Secure 1.0 tonight and put a limited ALPHA of mkPort out by the end of the week.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Now, these are exciting news, looking forward to mkPort ( whatever that "limited ALPHA" might mean )
that it won't re-direct the entries, just stop them being written (unless I get the rest working sooner than expected).
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Thanks Steve,
I am most interested in every little thing regarding the registry
So mate, if it stops the entries from being written, where are they stored then ? ( just pushing you for fun )
I just can't help asking
Cheers.
I SO can't wait for mkPort.
Any idea on whether we will change the name to Lapwing again?
BTW what does mkPort mean?
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
short for make portable
Yours
Steve Lamerton
I get it now.
Still, I like Lapwing better.
But mkPort sounds good.
Now I have to think of something for the icons.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
you'll all have to wait another couple of weeks for this and Secure because, as it is the end of the school year there is lots to do, however it does mean that there will be some modifications and it will be much smaller and faster than it would have been (Secure that is). Anyway school I'm afraid always wins so sorry for any disappointment.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
WTF?
We end sometime in November/December and resume January/February.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
We begin in August/September and end in May/June, unless you elect for summer classes. The US' (and UK's) summer is AU's winter, right? Meh, a little to bleary to figure it out.
Ashes
------
Summer = Christmas = Christmas Holidays = Schoolies = Beach
Something like that.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Its mid-September to mid-July.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Pardon my cultural ignorance, but what are "Schoolies"?
Gold Coast gets turned upside down.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
I'm going for an end of the week release, should have some screen shots for you tomorrow.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
I am looking forward to it mate, screenshots are great but more details are even better
Is this gonna be something like "Thinstall", "Altiris" or " SoftGrid" ?
http://www.liberta-project.com/liberta/modules/mkport
That was more than just one day for the screenie eh, but it's finally there
Erm ..... where is the download link mate?
having some issues with my PC. Finally got them ironed out now so the release will be either today or tomorrow hopefully
Yours
Steve Lamerton
(Sorry)
BTW contact me about the logo.
I don't know what to do...
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
guys beat me to death, I just lost my pen drive and I seem to have misplaced my backup
That means that I have lost my recent copy of mkPort. However I should get everything re-done soon ish but I really cannot put any time frame on it.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
That happens?
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
it's what you get for doing all your dev work on a USB drive. I swear is on or near my desk but I really can't find it. I'm on holiday now though so things should be put back pretty quick.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
I had been playing with APIGuard a while back for use in a similar situation, but ultimately had rejected it due to the fact that it failed on any test machine where debugging was enabled (say from having Visual Studio installed) and only worked on Windows 2000/XP. So, for example, it fails to run on my primary dev box with a "Can't hook LoadLibraryA function! Process is terminated." error. But, it will work on a virgin install of Windows 2000 running in VMWare. It also didn't have the best Win9x experience (rather than warning of it being incompatible, it would just error out saying "Can't create Pipe in Logging Thread"). Did you make any progress on either of those fronts?
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
for the heads up. I'm hoping that I won't have these issues as I have stripped most of the stuff out (or I did, look up a couple of posts). Also have you managed to get the source code that is supplied to compile?
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Steve Lamerton ---------------
guys beat me to death, I just lost my pen drive and I seem to have misplaced my backup Sad
That means that I have lost my recent copy of mkPort. However I should get everything re-done soon ish but I really cannot put any time frame on it.
----------------
Sorry mate no offense intended but it looks like you're taking us for a ride really, this is just ridiculous ...
I wish you luck with your project anyway (!)
So long.
I honestly did. I do nearly all of my work using Portable wxDec-CPP and I lost it. GOne. I go to look on my backup CD and the zip won't extract. Don't believe me if you want, I have no issues with that. Thanks for your earlier support.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Steve... what are you using to try and unzip? Sometimes, you may be able to run a different program on it and at least get some data out of it. Try the usual suspects (Winzip, WinRAR and 7-zip) on it. If those fail... try one of the zip repair utilities out there like Advanced Zip Repair (never used it, just one I've found). Even if you can't recover everything, maybe you can recover the important stuff.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I hadn't tried to compile, since APIGuard wouldn't run on my main desktop box. It's the method itself it uses to hook that only works on 2000/XP and won't work if a debugger is installed (since it's already hooked and I don't think you can hook it twice).
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Right then to head off any disbelievers that might be watching this thread I have just uploaded Pre-Alpha 1. Thanks to John’s suggestions of using other clients (WinRAR worked in the end) I have managed to salvage much of my data. There were however some errors in the code but I have managed to sort most of them out, I think. You will find the download comes set up with IPScan. To add others just use File->New, note that the paths must be relative to mkPort. At this stage on running IPScan there is a text box saying start of ApiGuard you can ignore that. At the moment mkPort only stops keys being written to the registry and has the limitations that John mentioned above. In the coming couple of weeks though I think it will all be ironed out.
You can get it from
www.sourceforge.net/projects/liberta
Yours
Steve Lamerton
P.S. I am not going to start another thread due to the pre-alpha nature of the program. Don't worry I am under no illusions of how bad it is at the moment
Glad to hear that worked. A corrupt zip isn't always a corrupt zip, so playing with different software often works. Hate to have you get stuck redoing done work. I know I've had to redo days of work over the past couple years of working on the portable apps thanks to various mishaps. It's never fun.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Just so you guys don't think it's something Steve did... the download won't work as SourceForge is currently having issues system-wide with releases submitted today. You'll wind up with an "Error - Invalid Mirror Selected" issue. It's holding up my Firefox release, too.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
now seems to be up, enjoy all (if thats possible, wow I'm feeling cynical today).
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Just a quick update from yesterday. This version tidies up the interface a little bit and makes it easier to delete programs. Just to give you a quick roadmap the next version should be Alpha 1. This is the first version that I will have mucked with the ApiGuard source and should therefore be quicker and not have those message boxes :). After that I will aim for the redirecting stuff and a few other bits and pieces.
Enjoy
Steve Lamerton
P.S. Get it at the usual address.
*runs around like crazy*
Just to let you know, I had no doubts, since it happened to me the other day. Cept it got run over by a car, not stolen. Thank god it was my old USB.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
by a car, wow now that is unusual. Still havent found mine though. Think I might have to buy a new one
Yours
Steve Lamerton
I assume that it wasn't in your pocket. We would sure miss you if that were to happen
Clair
Or hopefully not the washing machine - I've done that before today.
like my old one.
It dropped out of pocket and fell on the road.
Oh well, I still have my new one.
My old one got stuffed due to me forgetting to Safe remove.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
has anyone actually used it?
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Yes, I have but there isn't much you can do right now considering the limitations of the Pre-Alpha stage of the application, can you?
Most of the proggies I'd really like to port write to the registry and cannot be executed once they are run from within mkPort right now.
I agree with participant.
However is good to see a glimpse of the future
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
I have now got the ApiGuard stuff to compile properly so expect to see some updates (read beta 1) out pretty soon. Even better I can make sense of most of the code, wow!
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Approximately how soon is pretty soon?
Oh, and by the way, I agree with participant.
Great Work Steve!
by the end of this week, or three weeks time (going on holiday). If it's going to be three weeks I'll put out a 'filler' release in between that should mean that it works with nearly all programs.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Somewhere fun I hope. My two week Russian adventure has got me anxiously awaiting another international excursion... though it may be a while until I can afford it (time and money wise).
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
in the mountains, should get plenty of time with my other hobby, photography.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
P.S. If anyone wants to see some stuff I have taken I'll put some shots up in my blog.
Link it when you get back, I'm curious to see em.
I think I finally have a window to post my Russia shots this week. Only took a month and a half.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Well Steve to be quite honest, I really don't care about mountains and hills but the only thing I am really interested in is getting hold of a working copy of mkPort
I hope you can cope with pressure 'cos obviously I am not the only one expecting what you are calling revolutionary
Oh BTW, do you happen to know KAM( http://www.kakeeware.com/i_kam.php ) ?
it's not open source so I don't see how it can help.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
P.S. John, where have all the smilies gone?
To keep participant happy here is Alpha 1. This version is the first in which I have modified the source and has two changes over the previous version. Firstly it does away with the message boxes. Secondaly it should now work with all programs as although it stops the entry from being written it returns success to the program. Get it from the usual address. Next version should have rudimentry redirection built in.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
P.S. participant take a break, you've only been a member here one day so I'd like to point out that this forum has a very relaxed feel to it. No more crancking up the pressure comments please.
to people who get tonnes (sic) of homework
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Well Steve I really hoped you got me right, didn't mean to put you under pressure or whatever, granted I've been a member here for a couple hours but this shouldn't turn the world upside down. Don't take it too personal, you really should be proud instead, the lads and I are looking forward to a highly coveted proggy, see?
Nothing is mandatory, do it if you wish and leave it if you wish, either way ..
This is just a forum, I am not your special guest if you know what I mean
I guess I was a bit over the top, been a hard week work wise, trying to get everything done before I go away. Hope you enjoy it!
Yours
Steve Lamerton
P.S. The about box still reports Pre-Alpha, don't worry it is the correct version.
Here's a screeny just for info purposes ... http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/5638/20060801182511on6.png
AcroPad runs flawlessly.
PSPad doesn't start, no errors ( BTW, PSP writes to the registry [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PSPad] )
Foxit Reader 2.0 Beta.exe doesn't start, gives the message ( see screenshot above ) ( BTW, Foxit Reader writes to the registry [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Foxit Software]
at least something runs! Could you post the contents of your INI file in the settings directory up please.
Thank
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Here you are,
[IPScan]
Location=\\test\\ipscan.exe
[AcroPad]
Location=\\test\\AcroPad.exe
[PSPad]
Location=\\test\\PSPad.exe
[Reader]
Location=\\test\\Foxit Reader 2.0 Beta.exe
PS: None of PSPad and Foxit Reader writes to the registry when they are started from mkPort, I just mentioned the registry entries as a hint.
I guess they are simply blocked by ApiGuard and therefore cannot be launched.
I think that the foxit error is because of spaces in the name, could you rename it and try again? I see what you mean about PSPad though, nasty. Do you get an exception followed by a 'Failed to set data for ready' box? I'll look into that for the next release. Thanks
Yours
Steve Lamerton
PSPad runs perfectly portably without mkPort.
At least it did, until I switched to Notepad++. Production has increased 10 fold.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
enough. I shant worry then.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
@ Steve
Renaming/eliminating the spaces did the trick ! If settings have been changed, they are not kept upon second launch though, quite understandable I take it 'cos the settings are actually stored in the registry under [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Foxit Software\Foxit Reader]
I don't get the error 'Failed to set data for ready' regarding PSPad, it simply doesn't start.
@ rmccue
Your definition of portable may differ from mine, PSPad writes to the registry [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PSPad] ( no paranoia here really but the key is there )
Now you may say it's no big deal really and I agree with you but why doesn't the application start from mkPort then ?
I am using Notepad++ as well
I'll fix the spaces problem for Beta 1, but it'll be a few weeks as I'm going on holiday. As for PSPad if I have time I'll have a look at the soure and see what its doing.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
If you're talking about the PSPad source, won't work. It's not open source. That's why I changed.
There used to be an option in PSPad to save options to an ini, but it seems to have disappeared.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
PortaBlog is now officially out of beta!
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
kill that idea then.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
I just decided to try out PSPad to see what it did, and I got the following error messages:
The exception unknown software exception (0x0eedfade) occurred in the application at location 0x7c81eb33
Exception ERegistryException in module PSPad.exe at 00049882. Failed to set data for 'Ready'.
These messages occur in that order when I try to run PSPad.
Just thought I should let you know.
well I seem to be back from my holiday so I'll give you all a quick update on whats happening at the moment with mkPort.
Firstly the name is back to Lapwing after much discussion, this name is now final for 1.0 and will not change.
Secondly progress on Lapwing 1.0 RC1 (which will be feature complete at the time of launch) is coming along very nicely. The interface updates have been completed, the code has been cleaned up and registry keys are now being written to an INI file. All that is left to do is for me to write the code to intercept the reads (which should be simple, I had to write all of the code to catch the writes). I expect this will only take a week BUT I am allowing a maximum of four weeks before the release for extensive testing, although it may well come out sooner than that.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Will Lapwing RC1 also redirect Application Data file writing? Thanks for all your great work!
I'm going to add files in 1.1 I think, get the registry bits all working first.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Any Idea when Lapwing 1.1 will be released? Not trying to put pressure on you.
which *should* be this week if all goes well.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Steve, the name is a lot better (well, I think so ;)).
The graphic will be a bird soaring, maybe with something else. Any comments.
Take your pic: (pun intended)
http://openclipart.org/clipart//animals/birds/eagle_01.svg
http://openclipart.org/clipart//animals/birds/dove_symbol.svg
http://openclipart.org/clipart//animals/birds/acquila_architetto_franc_0...
Which one do you prefer?
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
And before anyone complains about the grammar, I'm so jetlagged that my
hands aren't even in the same time zone...
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
How will Lapwing find the Registry keys a program uses?
it monitors the program's API calls and stops/redirects them.
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
And before anyone complains about the grammar, I'm so jetlagged that my
hands aren't even in the same time zone...
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Thanks!
My opinion probably does not matter too much, but I think the Dove is better. It sort of emphasises on freedom, which feels better for a portable app than a bird of prey.
Dell XPS M1530 Laptop
Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz
4GB Ram
256MB GeForce 8600M GT
I would have to agree with that.
~Lurk~
~Lurk~
we'll go with the dove.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
What I was thinking. I will get it ready and export the icons.
Edit: Should I leave it white, or apply the same (green) gradient used in the main icon?
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
And before anyone complains about the grammar, I'm so jetlagged that my
hands aren't even in the same time zone...
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
make sure it gets done quick (see below).
Yours
Steve Lamerton
It looks pretty good with the green gradient.
I'll send you the white one ASAP (couple of days at most).
----
R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
And before anyone complains about the grammar, I'm so jetlagged that my
hands aren't even in the same time zone...
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
as well then.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
I have sent them to you.
Which do you prefer? The white one isn't visible, because the outline didn't come through.
----
R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
And before anyone complains about the grammar, I'm so jetlagged that my
hands aren't even in the same time zone...
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
well it's close. The writing to INI is done and (mostly) working. The main app now supports command line execution, so you can easily set up shortcuts as well as a few other bits and pieces such as keyboard shortcuts, compatibility warnings and single instance checkers. The only part that isn't done is the reading, I am intercepting them but there is a memory leak somewhere which isn't good. Hopefully I'll get that fixed today/tomorrow and then after a bit of extra testing there'll be no problems and you'll see 1.0 RC 1 by the end of the week.
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Oops, double posted