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Possible bug: Installer corrupts USB drive (XP Pro)

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tniemi
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Possible bug: Installer corrupts USB drive (XP Pro)

Hello,

Has anyone noticed this problem? Install PortableApps.com Suite Standard (Version 1.5.2) to a cleanly formatted 8 Gb USB drive. (Let's call it drive G:) After installing, run:

chkdsk G:

And it will tell that the drive contains errors, and will suggest running chkdsk with /F option to fix them.

However, if you install the Suite Standard to hard drive (Let's call the directory C:\PortableApps), and after install copy everything to a cleanly formatted USB drive:

attrib -s -h C:\PortableApps\*.* /S /D
xcopy C:\PortableApps\*.* G:\ /S /E

And run chkdsk again:

chkdsk G:

The drive contains no errors.

Some notes:
- Operating system used: Microsoft Windows XP Pro [Version 5.1.2600]
- USB drive used: Pqi i261 8GB USB Flash Drive
- Individual portableapp installers (Celestia Portable, Stellarium Portable) worked without any errors. No problems.

John T. Haller
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Hardware

That's an indication of a hardware issue on the drive or with the USB ports. Reformat it, check if for errors, try it with another portable drive or on another PC.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

tniemi
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Last seen: 14 years 9 months ago
Joined: 2009-06-14 06:22
But why would the installer

But why would the installer fail when a simple copy works?

Could someone please check this with another USB drive and XP Pro?
It is quite easy test. I would do it, but I have only one computer. Smile
I see if I can find my old USB drive...

John T. Haller
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Hardware

Like I said, it's your hardware. First off, I've installed it to a dozen different drives at least 30 times and had no issues except with one 3 year old drive that was giving problems with other files and died soon after. Second off, even if it were technically possible for an installer that simply extracts to corrupt files, there would be hundreds of reports in the forums (we're had over 5 million downloads of the suite).

An installer puts a little more stress on a device than a simple file copy due to the way it is extracting. At least in theory. A little extra stress is the difference between a starting to fail drive working and not.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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