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Converting Normal Applications to portable ones

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Ww2nerd
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Converting Normal Applications to portable ones

I've met some success using reg rapper, however, the program I am seeking to turn portable has extension .dll's, and refuses to function without a particular one on the c drive. Is it possible to turn applications like these completely portable? I can get the registry and program settings to work, however, this .dll keeps getting in the way. Are there any programs to get around this, that would allow me to make the app portable?

m2
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Did you try to put the dll

Did you try to put the dll in your executable directory?

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Ww2nerd
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DLL

I didn't try that, however, the program accesses the dll via the windows folder on the c:// . So I'm guessing it wouldn't work, but ill try. Another alternative I thought of, something like REG Rapper, except it includes some sort of unpacking features for dll's. (Puts on host machine, until key is unplugged or w/e then it is removed)

m2
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It should work. If it

It should work. If it doesn't you can try to find out how does it obtain system directory and intercept it (it it uses env. var - it's easy, otherwise it's probably hard. In both cases it may cause some problems).
Installing and uninstalling the dll should work as long as you have enough rights on the host machine. Because of this it won't be fully portable, but if it's enough for you than why not?

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Ww2nerd
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One Problem...

It is in a hidden folder, and no matter how many times i search through hidden folders with the exact dll name, it doesn't bring anything up. Perhaps I'm shooting blanks.... the program seems to be very well entrenched on the machine.

m2
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Use any advanced task

Use any advanced task manager to get .dll path.
What app is it?

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Ww2nerd
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Getting Dll path

And where exactly would I look? I'm new to this stuff.

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Did you try a search?

Did you try a search?

Ww2nerd
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Search

Ya. The hidden dll turns up nothing, yet I know it has to be there.... Hiding, waiting to strike.... Anyone know how i would go about locating the .Dll path using task manager?

m2
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Download and run Process

Download and run Process Viewer. Right click on the app you want to portabilize, select modules. Find the missing dll on the list.
Edit, mistake in PV name.

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Ww2nerd
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.Dll's

Ok, so what would I do to use this? The Dll has a valid path and everything, I just need to be able to access it in such a way i could copy paste. I've looked at the program while it's running, but it doesn't seem to do any linking to this dll, yet, if it is absent from C:\\WINDOWS\SerifDll\srfreg20.dll the program doesn't run at all.

m2
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I got lost. It is in a

I got lost.
It is in a hidden folder, and no matter how many times i search through hidden folders with the exact dll name, it doesn't bring anything up

if it is absent from C:\\WINDOWS\SerifDll\srfreg20.dll the program doesn't run at all.
So the file is there or not?

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Ww2nerd
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Dll

Yes, the file has to be there, or else the program won't function, but for some reason, I can't seem to find it as an entity on the machine. I've searched using hidden folder/ file searches, gone through the reg, and used that program u reccomended. I'm going by the error message that appears if the dll is missing. the exact path it lists is: C:\WINDOWS\SerifDll\SrfReg20.dll

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Typically a program will

Typically a program will look on the "path" for a DLL, if it doesn't find it in the current directory.

You may be able to get it to find things by using the SetOutPath command in NSIS to set the current directory to the Program directory, and put the missing DLL in the Program directory.

You can use Process Monitor from Sysinternals to watch how your program searches for the DLL. If it doesn't look in the Program's own directory, see if one of the other ones it looks in might work as a place to put the DLL.

Programs aren't supposed to put their DLLs under the %systemroot% folder -- that's for more official things (though there are some legacy programs that still think they're so special they should be allowed). So maybe what you are seeing is an older error message, but the program is really putting its DLLs somewhere more conventional.

At the very least, if you try to do something with that c:\windows path, you'll find most public computers will block it unless you have Admin privileges.

MC

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Problem

The Dll is not missing. It is somewhere, otherwise the program would not run. And I'm not very advanced in NSIS, this is just a simple conversion.

rab040ma
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Ok, then, not missing, but

Ok, then, not missing, but lost. In either case: the task is for you to find it, then figure out where to put it so the program works.

My suggestion is still relevant. If you have a question about one step or another in my suggestion, please say where it is you get stuck. With instructions like that, you probably need to try the first step before the next step makes any sense. It's really not that hard, it just looks like something you've never done before.

Or you could reveal the secret of what application you are trying to make portable. Then someone else could do it for you. Blum

MC

Ww2nerd
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App

So, syst internal, that's the ALT-Control-Delete task manager, right?
Oh and, thanks for helping me out.

Serif PhotoPlus 6.03 The license is relatively open, and plus, for personal use, just making the program portable (School doesn't have any good software, and it continually frustrates me just how much i need the serif program for schoolwork.)

Ww2nerd
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Reg Key

Didn't work.... and Dll is as evasive as ever.

m2
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Try process monitor. It

Try process monitor. It tells you a lot about what applications do.

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Ww2nerd
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PM

Process monitor? Is that another download? if so, do you have the url?

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Yes

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rab040ma
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Sysinternals has a lot of

Sysinternals has a lot of free software that can do different things. So if someone says "Try Process Explorer from Sysinternals" and someone else says "Try Process Monitor from Sysinternals", the second one is not necessarily mistaken and did not necessarily mean to say "Process Explorer". Process Monitor is in fact an entirely separate application that complements but does not replace Process Explorer.

Not that I haven't used the wrong name from time to time myself, or been confused. Happens more often than I'd like. But in this case I think I said it correctly.

Oh, and to find it, invoke the magic words "Google is your friend". (So is practically any other search engine.) People who post too many links get suspended as spammers, so I don't bother to post links for very well known pages that come out at the top in Google or others.

Blum

MC

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Ok.. So how do I do this

I looked up the .dll and it does show up. However, it's the path of the visible .dll I already know about, the one in the program directory. However, the dll the progam seems unable to function without does not show up, it uses the path \windows\serifdll\srfreg20.dll which oddly enough is the same name as the dll in the normal folder:
C:\Program files\Serif\PhotoP60\SerifDll32\SrfReg20.dll

c:\Windows\SerifDll\SrfReg20.dll

So I'm completely lost...

rab040ma
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Some things to confirm or

Some things to confirm or try:

- We're talking about making it work from x:\PortableApps\SerifPortable\App\Serif, right (where x is replaced with the drive letter of the USB drive)? You were just referring to the c:\Program Files directory for its "default" location, where it does work.

- when you go to a command prompt and type "set" (and hit the Enter key) do you see "Serif" referred to in any of the resulting stuff? (It might be easier to do "set > set.txt" and load the resulting file into Notepad or something.)

- When you use Process Monitor, do you see it actually look in c:\Windows\SerifDll for the DLL? Does it look anywhere else? When you run it from c:\Program Files, does it ever look in c:\Windows\SerifDLL?

- If you rename the dll at C:\Program files\Serif\PhotoP60\SerifDll32\SrfReg20.dll do you get the same error message as you are having when you portablize things? Using ProcMon, can you see it look in that folder, fail, and then go to c:\Windows?

- Is that dll referenced anywhere in the registry after the program is properly installed.

MC

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Wo0t! Success!

I am happy to report, success! It works and is fully portable. The real test comes tommorow when I test it on the school computers. Oh yeah, one more thing: Will reg rapper work with more than one major registry key? Beucase I copy pasted all the keys into the reg file, so im hoping it works that way to, although it doesn't seem to have interfered with the running of the portable application.THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP EVERYBODY!

Ww2nerd
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Getting Dll path

And where exactly would I look? I'm new to this stuff. For the Dll's I mean. Sorry about the double post.... internet messed up.

Ww2nerd
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Reg Rapper, New Reg Key

I believe I've found another reg key, which might work, although I'm betting it will still have that problem with the dll.

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