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Portable Apps Config

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October 12, 2015 - 10:26am
#1
behofmann
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Portable Apps Config

Hello,

Periodically when I launch my Portable Apps platform, all my applications can't access their config files and open with default settings. I noticed the PortableApps directory has read-only folders and even when I give them write access they still are read-only. I have this behavior on Windows 7 and 10 and Windows 7 gave me a compatibility error and offered to run PortableApps Launcher in compatibility mode.

Has anyone had this problem and know how to fix it? Having a development platform not remembering its config settings is a big problem.

Also I made a bronze donation a couple weeks ago and see the money was debited from account, but haven't seen my name listed. How do I confirm you received my donation.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Brandon

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October 12, 2015 - 11:32am
John T. Haller
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File Permissions

If you see that issue, it's a file permissions issue which is independent of the PortableApps.com Platform and our apps. Our platform never alters file permissions. Usually when we see this, it's because an NTFS drive is being moved between PCs but the drive wasn't originally formatted correctly. You can usually fix this in Windows Explorer by right-clicking on the drive and selecting Properties. Go to the Security tab. Click Edit. Click the Add button in the new window. Type the name Everyone in the box that appears and click OK. Now, back on the Permissions window, with Everyone selecting, check off Allow in the Full control line and then click OK. Depending on your OS version, it may ask if you wish to apply it to the whole drive. Do so. Close any open Windows. That should allow any user on any machine to use the files.

Thank you for the donation! Our current set of thank you notes hasn't gone out yet. I checked and you'd donated as a regular donation for development and hosting, not as a platform sponsor. Had you meant to do the platform sponsor with the listing? If so, just let me know and I'll switch it over.

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

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October 12, 2015 - 11:38am
(Reply to #2)
behofmann
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Thanks

Mr. John,

Thanks for the quick response. I'll try your file permission instructions and report back if the problem persists.

As far as my donation, what is the difference between donating as development and hosting versus platform sponsor? I'm glad you got my donation and I'm very THANKFUL for the PortableApps platform and corresponding applications. Please keep up the excellent work!

Thanks again,

Brandon

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October 12, 2015 - 11:43am
(Reply to #3)
John T. Haller
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Purpose of Funds, Publication

There are two differences. One is to gauge interest in the platform vs everything else (apps, tools, website). Some of our users don't use our platform, so they may not have interest in sponsoring the platform but want to ensure we can keep hosting the freeware apps and our site. The other difference is that platform sponsors are publicly listed on the site and in the platform About page.

Glad you appreciate our work Smile

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

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October 12, 2015 - 11:56am
(Reply to #4)
behofmann
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Donation

Since I use your platform everyday, please switch my donation as a Platform Sponsor. Thanks again!

Brandon

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October 12, 2015 - 12:22pm
behofmann
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File Permission Update

John,

I removed the Full Control Access for Everyone under Security and still experience where my apps don't load with their config upon launch. How do I confirm my external drive is setup/formatted properly for the PortableApps Platform? Are there any setup instructions for formatting a drive specifying security permissions and NTFS settings?

I'm trying to understand what periodically breaks my PortableApps setup on my drive. I move this drive between a Windows 7 and 10 machine. I also manually exit all my portable apps before shutting down so I don't corrupt any files. Do I also need to manually eject the drive before shutting down Windows?

Thanks,

Brandon

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October 12, 2015 - 12:44pm
(Reply to #6)
John T. Haller
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Don't Remove. Add

The "Everyone" context must have full control over the whole drive. Otherwise apps can't write.

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

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October 12, 2015 - 1:00pm
(Reply to #7)
behofmann
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Clarification

I thought you said to remove allowing Full Control access to the external drive. Just to clarify, my drive needs the security group "Everyone" to have Full Control?

I also changed file ownership back to my personal domain account from Windows security S-1-5-21... for the entire drive.

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October 12, 2015 - 1:27pm
(Reply to #8)
John T. Haller
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Full Control is Required

External drives should not be set to only accessible by a Windows account or those files will not be properly accessible on another Windows machine. NTFS is not designed for external drives that move between machines. You must set the entire drive as "Everyone" with "Full control" or that drive will not properly work on other machines. Windows 7 and later should set drives up like that by default. Or you can use ExFAT which is designed for external drives.

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

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October 16, 2015 - 1:44pm
behofmann
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NTFS vs. ExFAT

Do you recommend using NTFS over ExFAT if security is set to Everyone with Full Control? I've read NTFS has better performance, but I need guaranteed dependability to move my portable apps among machines.

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October 16, 2015 - 2:11pm
(Reply to #10)
John T. Haller
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Either

Either will work fine. NTFS works perfectly fine out of the box on all modern systems unless you go messing with the permissions. Everyone is set with Full control by default. I use NTFS on my drives at present.

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

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