Don't exactly know where to put this, so its going here.
Looking through the temp folder one day, i found various combination of folders like nsq2EB.tmp. Shouldn't part of the cleanup of portable programs remove the files it created in the temporary folder?
Cmon, its portable, meaning leaving NO traces on the computer. If an admin or someone else with elevated privliges looks at your temp folder, they have a nice long list of portable programs you used.
If you wondering if it matters, i think when ever possible portableapps shouldn't contribute to the 5 GB of crap i cleaned out of my temporary folder.
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Quackstar you really need to help us out with some more information please.
Do you have any idea what app might be causing this?
What portable apps do you use?
Has this recurred after you cleaned out the temp folder?
Is there a .jpg image in the folder showing the "splash screen" [which will usaully have the name of the app].
Thanks,
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
If you are using an eject script of any kind, it could be causing it. Nearly all of the eject scripts floating around unceremoniously kill processes running from the portable drive which is the equivalent of just pulling the plug on a desktop or pulling the battery out of a laptop as far as the software is concerned. An extremely bad idea.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
its portable, meaning leaving NO traces on the computer.
Portable does not mean stealth, never has. PortableApps are designed not to leave any personal data behind on the host but that's it. If you're doing something you're not suppose to be doing on someone's pc PortableApps isn't going to help you.
Ed
He's describing an actual bug. Leaving random bits in TEMP isn't allowed for apps to be considered portable.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
What app has left stuff behind in the Temp folder? Did you close the app correctly or kill the process? Are you using a copy downloaded from this website, if so was it a released, pre-release or dev test, or are you running software from one of the clone sites out there? What OS? Admin Rights? Yada yah...
Sorry for the 20 questions but the sooner we can isolate the exact issue the sooner we can help
PortableApps.com Advocate
VLC will leave traces behind if you play DVDs with it. It'll make a folder called DVDCSS and have empty folders named for all the DVDs you play with it.
As for the person who said they didn't want a clever sysadmin coming behind them and seeing they were running portable apps, well, do a Registry search for "PortableApps" and see what comes up. The folder is called MUICache IIRC and lists apps that have been run on your computer. The portable app launchers ought to erase these entries on exit, perhaps, as I see no harm in removing them.
You could use CleanAfterMe. Its a standalone EXE. It wont remove everything when you don't have admin rights but it does a pretty good job. Best of its type I've found.
PortableApps.com Advocate
The program you mention is a good idea but I think the launcher should take care of this folder.
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
Without admin rights, Pidgin, Firefox and VLC used to leave "random bits" (NSIS PluginsDir stuff like System.dll, Registry.dll, Splash.jpg etc.) in the %temp% directory, without eject scripts 'n stuff (they run from the hard drive).
Currently, i've found Firefox, VLC, Notepad++, Filezilla, and Frostwire.
Most have a file called spash.jpg, but some only have a registry.dll file in there.
Some of the folder names:
nsf1C22.tmp
nsf12C.tmp
nsg954.tmp
I'm unable to reproduce this with any of our apps. When running, these files are created within TEMP. But when you close the app, the files are removed within about 5 seconds. Even on a guest or limited account.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I know, I've even checked to source of every launcher. It seems sometimes just happens.
The possibly cause is that the NSIS runtime unable to clean/delete this folder - $PluginsDir - because something still accessing it. I'm curious about the Registry.dll plugin, maybe some of the registry operations took too much time.
(The nicest solution, however, would be not using the %temp% folder at all.)
I've seen some PCs with issues that randomly lock files and folders for no good reason. Some used to have Nero with a malfunctioning file indexing app that both slowed down the PC and locked all sorts of files including on removable drives (making them impossible to remove). You should check the PC for something like that. Use Unlocker to figure out what is locking them.
The files themselves wait for the registry operation to complete before exiting. Everything happens in sequence. And if there were a bug in the code itself, I'd think it'd be caught as it's used for the installers from everything from Mozilla Firefox to OpenOffice.org to Winamp to Kaspersky Antivirus.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I've been noticing this as well.
Which is the reason why I'm reluctant to use the PLUGINSDIR in my launchers, now I realize that the PLUGINSDIR is always created when you use a plugin. So I use it again
My guess is because Most launchers don't unload the registry plugin...