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FoxIt Reader 10.1.1 Losing Settings

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NotMine
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FoxIt Reader 10.1.1 Losing Settings

Windows 7 x64, fully updated; FoxIt Reader Portable Apps version 10.1.1.37576

I have encountered multiple occurances of FoxIt Reader 10.1.1 losing it's settings (my choices in it's "Preferences" menu and my choice of "skin" from it's menu). It is reverting to ALL of it's default settings. That means the application will "call home" to FoxIt with information for it's "User Experience Improvement" feature (also enabled by default, and did you know it did this?) That also means the default "Start Page" with it's advertising is enabled; BAH! Humbug!

The problem appears to be random, though sometimes it as happened "every 10 uses" and now an "every use" occurance tonight.

Previous Portable Apps versions of this application were incredibly stable, very useful, and consistent in user experience. Now this application is a bad user experience because it constantly resets my "Preferences" choices, and that implies something is "broken".

Any thought as to what is causing this problem?

FYI - FoxIt is very clear in their privacy statement regarding the invasive information that they collect.

https://www.foxitsoftware.com/company/privacy-policy.html

John T. Haller
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How are you running it?

Are you launching FoxitPortable.exe (or starting it from the PA.c Platform which does the same)? Are you properly closing it when you're done?

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

NotMine
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Last seen: 2 months 3 weeks ago
Joined: 2013-11-18 15:58
I start the program from the

I start the program from the Portable Apps Launcher. I always try to remember to close it. Even if I do close it properly it can "return to default" on the next opening, like it did tonight. The last recorded crash, found in "c:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Foxit Reader\" was on 26-Jan-2021.

I have checked and rechecked the "Preferences" to ensure that the software is not trying to update itself. Also I have had to block all Internet access for this software given these strange behaviors and the related "privacy policy" of Foxit Software; it can't be trusted to protect my privacy.

fyi - [username] is simply a placeholder for the actual username being used and should not be relevant here.

fyi - Would you kindly check out as to why this software is writing directories to "c:\Users\[username]\AppData\LocalLow\Foxit\" and to "c:\Users\[username]\Roaming\Foxit Software\" ?? I thought "Portable Apps software" was not supposed to write anything to the local hard drive or leave any traceable "crumbs" on the local hard drive? In my case I am finding that files are being stored by this "portable software" in the above-named locations.

fyi - I have noticed that some of the file writes to the above-named folders are only spotted in a "write on close" situation. In other words, you have to close the Foxit program to see these files are written. Debugging this behavior might require a filesystem monitor application (to spot the filesystem changes, possible in Linux, but in Windows?) and access to the Foxit sourcecode so the correct intercept point can be handled. Otherwise this silent file writing issue might persist. In my case I spotted Foxit writing out their "StartPage" folder...but I do not use the "StartPage" feature and have unticked that box in "Preferences".

The more I look at this Foxit application the more I want to dump it in the bit bucket, never to be seen again.

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