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SumatraPDFPortable 0.8 Rv 3 creates folder and settings file in %appdata%

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tmaibaum
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SumatraPDFPortable 0.8 Rv 3 creates folder and settings file in %appdata%

This refers to an issue I posted at
https://portableapps.com/news/2008-01-18_-_sumatra_pdf_portable_0.8

John Haller asked to continue the thread here instead.

The last post was by rab040ma:

Are you sure you only have the one copy of SumatraPDF.exe on your hard drive (the one you are testing)? Can you use WinMD5sum on it (and the SumatraPdfPortable.exe) and paste the values, so we can be sure we are on the same page?

So here is the MD5 sum of my SumatraPDFPortable.exe:

81f553dd62c9ec324ec54c1ac5dd502e

This is the sum of SumatraPDF.exe:

5d7558db64db1b6a42f4d37a4500b4fe

I hope this helps, once again thank you in advance.

John T. Haller
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Program Files

Are you by chance placing it within the Program Files directory on your Windows drive? If so, SumatraPDF itself will store its files in APPDATA. It does this automatically. Program Files is for locally installed apps, not portable apps.

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tmaibaum
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No, it's in a separate folder

Actually, someone has already asked the same question...
I keep all portable programs in a separate folder called c:/portable apps/.

John T. Haller
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C

Could be the C drive that it checks to do that automatic switch (it's Sumatra itself that does this). Try using it from another drive (D, E, etc).

Also, ensure you're using a completely fresh install of 0.8 Rev 3, no settings changes at all, clear the directory and ensure it's not running in Task Manager before launching.

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ZachHudock
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I dont think it just looks for C:\

I ran a test of the latest portable from C:\SumatraPDFPortable and did not get the dir created. Nothing created even after I changed settings.

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John T. Haller
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Checked

I just checked and mine works fine from C:\PortableApps or C:\Portable Apps. So, it's something else.

For the original poster, are you SURE that:
1. You're using a default install of 0.8 Rev 3, no changes, no INI file
2. You're running SumatraPDFPortable.exe
3. You have no additional copies of Sumatra PDF running in Task Manager
4. You've deleted the old Sumatra PDF folder from APPDATA before doing the above.

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

tmaibaum
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Just tried

I just followed your instructions above. Strangely enough, for me it does seem to depend on the drive after all.

I deleted the old folder with Sumatra in it as well as the settings folder in AppData. Then I rebooted, downloaded Rv 3 once again, extracted it and ran SumatraPDFPortable.exe on an external drive - everything fine. So I guess I can safely answer all questions in the affirmative.

I then moved the entire Sumatra folder to the c: drive, did the same - and the folder in AppData re-appears. So it looks like it's something to do with drive letters after all, at least over here.

ZachHudock
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Running my own from

Running my own from C:\PortableApps, C:\Portable Apps and C:\ all worked fine, nothing was left behind.

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Shawn Faucher
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Old registry entries?

Is it possible there are some old registry entries hanging around that could be causing this? I would take a guess at looking in HKLM\Software\SumatraPDF and HKCU\Software\SumatraPDF, not knowing the program enough to know for sure.

What if you install it to a different directory on C, does it do the same?

formerly rayven01

tmaibaum
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I'll look into this tomorrow

The effect remains the same regardless of where Sumatra is installed on C.

I have cleaned the registry from obsolete entries with RegSeeker, but I didn't specifically look for traces of Sumatra. I'll do that first thing tomorrow, because now I'm closing down for today. Wink

tmaibaum
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Registry

I scanned the registry and found 75 entries referring to Sumatra, in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (2), HKEY_CURRENT_USER (54), HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (3), HKEY_USERS (16).

I don't know if I can delete any of them without causing any harm?

No idea if this is important, but PDF files aren't associated with Sumatra at the moment, however, Sumatra still appears in the "open with" list for PDFs.

ZachHudock
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it depends on what those

it depends on what those keys are and where those keys are. if they are MRU or MUICache, you can delete them without issue, can you delete those types of keys, then post the rest of the keys so we can tell you what is and isnt OK to delete?

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tmaibaum
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It's now 68 entries...

Quite a long list, I'm not sure if it makes sense to post it here.

I also must say that the problem is relatively small for me, so I can't really expect anyone to wade through all this.

Here are the keys, minus MRU/MUI.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Applications\SumatraPDFPortable.exe
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Applications\SumatraPDFPortable.exe\shell\open\command
(standaard)"C:\Programme portabel\PDF\SumatraPDFPortable\SumatraPDFPortable.exe" "%1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\LastVisitedMRU
d r
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\exe
a C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Thorsten\Eigene Dateien\install\portabel\sumatra\Sumatra_PDF_Portable_0.8_Rev_3.p
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\exe
c C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Thorsten\Eigene Dateien\install\portabel\SumatraPDF\Sumatra_PDF_Portable_0.8_Rev
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU\exe
d F:\programme portabel\sumatrapdf\SumatraPDFPortable\SumatraPDFPortable.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.pdf\OpenWithList
a SumatraPDFPortable.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu2\Programs\PDF
Order(zu lannger Eintrag)...le   P D F   S u m a t r a P D F P o r t a b l e . l n k     ...
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage
ProgrammsCache(zu lannger Eintrag)...ÃS   P D F   S u m a t r a P D F P o r t a b l e . l n k    œ ...

[MRU entries]


[MUI Cache entries]


F:\programme portabel\sumatrapdf\SumatraPDFPortable\App\SumatraPDF\SumatraPDF.exeSumatraPDF
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgDirectory\FastExplorer
Historyy3C:\Programme portabel\PDF\SumatraPDFPortable
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgDirectory\firefox
Historyy4C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Thorsten\Eigene Dateien\install\portabel\SumatraPDF
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgDirectory\firefox
Historyy6C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Thorsten\Eigene Dateien\install\portabel\sumatra
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgDirectory\firefox
Historyy14C:\Programme portabel\PDF\SumatraPDFPortable
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgDirectory\rundll32
Historyy1F:\programme portabel\sumatrapdf\SumatraPDFPortable
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgDirectory\rundll32
Historyy15C:\Programme portabel\PDF\SumatraPDFPortable
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgDirectory\SumatraPDF
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgFile\FastExplorer
Historyy3C:\Programme portabel\PDF\SumatraPDFPortable\SumatraPDFPortable.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgFile\PortableAppsMenu
Historyy16G:\Neuer Ordner\Sumatra_PDF_Portable_0.7.paf.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgFile\rundll32
Historyy1F:\programme portabel\sumatrapdf\SumatraPDFPortable\SumatraPDFPortable.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgFile\rundll32
Historyy18C:\Programme portabel\PDF\SumatraPDFPortable\SumatraPDFPortable.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Ontrack\PowerDesk\CurrentVersion\DlgFile\SumatraPDF
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Quizo\QTTabBar\RecentlyClosed
7 C:\Programme portabel\PDF\SumatraPDFPortable
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Classes\Applications\SumatraPDFPortable.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software\Classes\Applications\SumatraPDFPortable.exe\shell\open\command
(standaard)"C:\Programme portabel\PDF\SumatraPDFPortable\SumatraPDFPortable.exe" "%1"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\AppCompatibility
AppComppatCache(zu lannger Eintrag)...r t a b e l \ s u m a t r a p d f \ S u m a t r a P D F P o r t ...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM\ControlSet003\Control\Session Manager\AppCompatibility
AppComppatCache(zu lannger Eintrag)...r t a b e l \ s u m a t r a p d f \ S u m a t r a P D F P o r t ...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\AppCompatibility
AppComppatCache(zu lannger Eintrag)...r t a b e l \ s u m a t r a p d f \ S u m a t r a P D F P o r t ...
HKEY_USERS
S-1-5-21-911699392-3236528909-3198933208-1005\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\LastVisit
d r
HKEY_USERS
S-1-5-21-911699392-3236528909-3198933208-1005\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU\0\1\3\1\1\8\28
13 l
HKEY_USERS
S-1-5-21-911699392-3236528909-3198933208-1005\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU\0\1\3\1\1\8\28
15 D
HKEY_USERS
S-1-5-21-911699392-3236528909-3198933208-1005\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU\0\1\3\1\1\8\28
18 

[Pre tags added by moderator SL]
John T. Haller
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Your Keys

The important bits are keys you've added yourself (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Applications\SumatraPDFPortable.exe). Probably due to the whole setting it as a default thing. Your best bet is to delete them. I think you can safely delete every reference to SumartraPDF in your registry.

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

tmaibaum
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Thanks

John, thanks for taking care of the formatting and your advice. I deleted all references, rebooted to be on the safe side, and tried once again. Same as before... I think I'll just give up for the time being. Thanks for all your help!

ZachHudock
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please edit your post to put

please edit your post to put all the keys into pre tags

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