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PA Installer Bug: Deletes NTFS Junctions

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The MAZZTer
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PA Installer Bug: Deletes NTFS Junctions

Well my previous topic seems to have disappeared when I went to update it so I guess I'll just post it again... if it was deleted it would be nice if someone would let me know (and why) so, y'know, I wouldn't make the same mistake. It's hard to learn from mistakes if you're not sure if it was a mistake to being with.

Anyways, I use NTFS junctions to share common data files amongst my three Google Chrome Portable project folders so I don't have to keep them all in sync manually. It seems when I generate an installer with the PA Installer tool, any junction that contains Other\Source is deleted after the installer is generated.

More specifically:

  1. If Other is an NTFS Junction it is deleted.
  2. If Other is NOT an NTFS Junction but Other\Source is, Other\Source is deleted.

This is probably related somehow to the removal of PA Installer stock NSH and NSI files after the installer is generated.

John T. Haller
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Don't Do That

Just don't use a junction point inside a portable app. The installer creates Other\Source as part of its functionality which, if it doesn't exist as a directory, is created. It does a standard API call to Windows to create the directory. Because it's a junction Windows doesn't understand what to do (since junctions are a poorly-implemented add-on to NTFS) and deletes the junction and creates a directory instead, thus ditching your junction. If you have a junction mapped to C:\junction and then you attempt to create a directory C:\junction, Windows will delete the junction and create the directory. Silly, huh?

I highly recommend against using junction at all, let alone in conjunction with portable apps.

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

jono
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"If you have a junction

"If you have a junction mapped to C:\junction and then you attempt to create a directory C:\junction, Windows will delete the junction and create the directory."

In Windows 7 you simply get an error message when you try that with md.

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