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Portable Apps access violation

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October 2, 2015 - 11:46am
#1
hero760
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Portable Apps access violation

When I launch portable apps on any computer (Windows 7 and 10) and on any flash drive I have (Freshly formatted or not, has files on it already or not). I am getting a bunch of errors from this platform. At some point I had a file access denied. But currently here is the setup and error it is giving me.
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Current Setup
On Windows 7 Desktop
Sandisk 16GB flash drive (just formatted, file system is Fat32)
Just installed the platform, no apps installed, first launch

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Two errors
Access violation at address 005A3609 in module 'PortableAppsPlatform.exe' Read of address 00000000.

The PortableApps.com Platform has detected that the autorun configuration of this device has changed. These changes may be caused by a virus or spyware infection or by another application modifying the autorun.inf file. If you did not make these changes yourself, you should scan this device for viruses and spyware now.

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Also on top of this, if I install it to the desktop and run it. No issues, it works like it should. Anyone have an idea what is going on here?

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October 2, 2015 - 12:06pm
vf2nsr
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If I recall

Sandisk has some software on it that that has an autorun.ini in it? Usually this gives it the icon of SanDIsk? PortableApps also has an autorun.ini file that makes the USB stick show as PortableApps.com and changes the icon to the PortableApps Logo.

That is what I believe the error is referring to.

Could could try deleting the autorun.ini and Launching and see if you are still getting the error or better yet rename the file to something like oldautorun.ini so you can revert if my thoughts are incorrect. Do this before launch and see if error persists.

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” Dr. Seuss

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October 2, 2015 - 12:30pm
(Reply to #2)
hero760
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Thanks for the quick reply. I

Thanks for the quick reply. I tried renaming or deleting the autorun file. It says I need admin rights, which I have, to do anything with it. But I pulled out another flash drive that I have it setup how I like it, besides for these errors, and I am getting identical errors. This flash drive is a Transcend 32GB.

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October 2, 2015 - 12:46pm
(Reply to #3)
vf2nsr
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Odd

What Antivirus?

I just downloaded on a Win 10 64bit machine then installed on a VICTORINOX 16gb usb drive. No error on first launch or subsequent launches and no apps installed. Maybe John or Gord has better idea as I am unable to replicate. Sorry

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” Dr. Seuss

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October 2, 2015 - 12:54pm
(Reply to #4)
hero760
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Panda Free Antivirus. I just

Panda Free Antivirus. I just installed on another computer with microsoft security essentials using the SanDisk again. Very same issue.

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October 2, 2015 - 1:06pm
(Reply to #5)
Gord Caswell
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Can't duplicate

Nope, I can't duplicate either, and I can't find anything in either autorun.ini or PortableAppsMenu.ini that might cause this.

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October 2, 2015 - 12:49pm
(Reply to #6)
vf2nsr
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Any chance

You could explore the drive and then open the autorun.ini file (with notepad or word pad) andpost the contents in thread ? Should be text and about 6 lines

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” Dr. Seuss

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October 2, 2015 - 1:08pm
(Reply to #7)
hero760
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Strange

Now that I pay attention to the file extension, it is AUTORUN.inf not an ini. I searched for a autorun.ini and there is no file either flash drive, I even manually looked.

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October 2, 2015 - 1:09pm
(Reply to #8)
Gord Caswell
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inf

Sorry, you're right, it is .inf

Try this: with the platform closed, edit PortableAppsMenu.ini with a text editor.

change the line AutoRun=True to read AutoRun=False

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October 2, 2015 - 1:14pm
(Reply to #9)
hero760
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What location

I see PortableAppsMenu.ini at several locations.

I:\PortableApps\PortableApps.com\App\DefaultData
I:\PortableApps\PortableApps.com\Data

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October 2, 2015 - 1:16pm
(Reply to #10)
Gord Caswell
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Data

As with all our apps, DefaultData should never be edited, it is defaults only.

The one you want is in the Data folder.

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October 2, 2015 - 1:23pm
(Reply to #11)
hero760
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Thank you

I did modify the one in the Data folder. I did this on both flash drives of mine, and I am now not getting any errors. I was unable to eject one of my flash drives. But the one that did, I took to another computer. The only error I got was that it would not check the updater since the computer is offline.

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October 2, 2015 - 1:26pm
(Reply to #12)
hero760
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The autorun

So what does the autorun file do?

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October 2, 2015 - 1:33pm
(Reply to #13)
Gord Caswell
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Label

That file is only used for the drive label that shows up in Windows explorer, and possibly the related icon - I don't remember about that part. It used to be used for the Autoplay popup, until Microsoft disabled that feature for usb drives.

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October 2, 2015 - 1:57pm
(Reply to #14)
vf2nsr
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It

Set the drive to be labeled PortableApps.com

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” Dr. Seuss

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October 2, 2015 - 1:18pm
(Reply to #15)
hero760
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Nevermind

One is empty, errors are now gone. Errors are gone on both flash drives. I am going to take this to another computer real quick and see what it does.

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October 2, 2015 - 1:30pm
(Reply to #16)
vf2nsr
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My Fault

I typo should be autorun.inf

Apologies

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” Dr. Seuss

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October 3, 2015 - 9:05pm
gmbudwrench
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Auto run lock down by Windows 64?

I get a similar error on Win 7 - 64 bit on a portable hdd but not with a flash drive. I assumed it was Wins locking the auto run as stated in another tech forum.

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October 3, 2015 - 11:58pm
John T. Haller
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Two Seperate Issues

What we're seeing is two separate issues. First, the platform is detecting a change in the autorun.inf file, which is indicative of a possible infection on the drive. This is supposed to occur as the platform is set in medium autorun.inf change detection by default. It detects changes on startup. There is an additional higher level where it detects changes in realtime as well as an 'off' level where it doesn't monitor it. You can change these by manually editing the platform's settings while it is closed: https://portableapps.com/support/platform#advanced

The other issue is a bug in the platform where it isn't properly locking out the ability for a window to lose focus. A form like the autorun.inf warning window. So, that form loses focus by you interacting with another app in Windows, then you click on the system tray icon to try to restore the platform, the system tray icon tries to bring the menu into focus but can't because the autorun.inf window is set as modal (it alone has focus) and the access violation occurs. This appears to be specific to the system tray icon which isn't used by most users, which is why it wasn't caught before.

The interesting part is that the second issue may cause the platform to crash so it can't remember the change to the autorun.inf, causing the platform to alert again on the next launch.

A bug fix is coming in the next release which will address the focusing issue. For now, you can fix it by either changing the setting above to turn off autorun.inf protection or deleting your autorun.inf file from the root of the drive and from the autorun.inf.backup file from the PortableApps\PortableApps.com\Data directory. Note that if autorun.inf is recreated, though, the alert will return.

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

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