You are here

[Obsolete] Portable App Creator

548 posts / 0 new
Last post
maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
It will aways need a "clean install"

Glad that it is finally working for you too. Sorry for all the troubles Wink

Portable App Creator searches for any newly created registry-values and/or newly created files (in certain folders) during installation of an application. So it requires a "clean install" for any app you'd wish to make portable. Using the words "clean install" doesn't mean nothing (expect Windows) should be installed on the system you're making the PortableApp on, it means that no traces of the application you'd wish to make portable should be present on the system. That's the only way to make sure that all registry-values and/or files needed by the application are created (thus 'new') on the system while installing the application.

I personally use a clean, virtual installation of XP normally. I just restore a backup every time I created a PortableApp using it...

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

StephenQ
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2006-08-29 01:01
Unwanted registry keys?

Is it possible to tidy up an app by removing some of the keys in the .reg file which i assume adds them?
For example, the UT installer registers
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\.umod, , REG_SZ, Unreal.Module
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\.unr, , REG_SZ, Unreal.Map
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\.unreal, , REG_SZ, Unreal.Link
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\unreal, , REG_SZ, URL:Unreal Protocol
Which are all file types. I know it runs without associating them, and so its unnecessary. So could these lines be safely removed from the .reg file?

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
sure

In case the PortableApp (in your case UT Portable) you created doesn't really need (all) registry keys which are in the reg-file, you can safely delete the whole line.
To be honest, I always strip (a.o) the uninstallation info from the registry as it comes to PortableApps created by Portable App Creator. It won't harm if that parts of the registry were (temporarily) written to the host, but they aren't neccessary either...

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

StephenQ
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2006-08-29 01:01
What about these?
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Aureal\A3D, SplashScreen, REG_DWORD, 0
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Aureal\A3D, Splashaudio, REG_DWORD, 0
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Unreal Technology\Installed Apps\UnrealTournament, Folder, REG_SZ, PA:\PortableApps\UTPortable\App
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Unreal Technology\Installed Apps\UnrealTournament, Version, REG_SZ, 432
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, Briefcase, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, Bitmap Image, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, Wordpad Document, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, Rich Text Document, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, Text Document, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, Wave Sound, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, Compressed (zipped) Folder, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, ~reserved~, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Discardable\PostSetup\ShellNew, Language, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ico\OpenWithList, a, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ico\OpenWithList, MRUList, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserAssist\{75048700-EF1F-11D0-9888-006097DEACF9}\Count\HRZR_EHACVQY:%pfvqy2%\Haerny Gbheanzrag T.B.G.L. Rqvgvba, Cynl Haerny Gbheanzrag.yax, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserAssist\{75048700-EF1F-11D0-9888-006097DEACF9}\Count\HRZR_EHACVQY:%pfvqy2%\Haerny Gbheanzrag T.B.G.L. Rqvgvba, Haerny Gbheanzrag Fnsr Zbqr.yax, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserAssist\{75048700-EF1F-11D0-9888-006097DEACF9}\Count\HRZR_EHACVQY:%pfvqy2%\Haerny Gbheanzrag T.B.G.L. Rqvgvba, Qbphzragngvba.yax, REG_NONE, 
HKCU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserAssist\{75048700-EF1F-11D0-9888-006097DEACF9}\Count\HRZR_EHACVQY:%pfvqy2%\Haerny Gbheanzrag T.B.G.L. Rqvgvba, Haerny Gbheanzrag Jro Cntr.yax, REG_NONE, 

What about the post setup stuff? No idea what that Userassist thing is either, with the .yax files?

Also for i installed to C drive into C:\PortableApps\etc, as thats all my virtual machine had, however it seems its picking up on every instance of C and replacing it with PA:\, eg: PA:\WINDOWS\System32\msdxm.ocx. My PA drive doesnt have windows, so i assume its getting mixed up since i used C to install to. Bug?

[CODE for inline code, PRE for code blocks - RM]

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
A few things

For keys you mention here, it seems to me that they are not UT-related (except for numbers 3 and 4). UT might run if they are deleted, but I personally do not delete any regkey if they are (clearly) related to the application, as the application (in your case UT) might recreated them when started.

I'll find out if I can safely add (some of) the keys you mentioned (userassist and/or discardable) to the list of regkeys to ignore.

Next, your post showed me that something goes wrong with the creation of the HKCU-keys in PAC. Those are really HKU\...-keys which are changed by PAC. On my systems, the '...'-part (after HKU, representing the user) were all of the same length. But on your system (apparently), the '...'-part is one character smaller, resulting in a double backslash after the HKCU. Which leads to incorrect behaviour for the regkey will not actually exist (which you also can see as all keys are displayed as REG_NONE or empty values). I'll be fixing that for the next beta, not assuming a fixed length of the '...'-part in a HKU-key. For now, you could try if changing HKCU\\ into HKCU\ in the reg-file works for you (I think it might)...

Finally, the issue when using PAC (without having a PA-drive present) from the Windows-installation drive (e.g. C:)... What you mentioned was a known issue to me, but I never documented it. I am currently thinking of a workaround on this, which will be in the next beta as well.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

StephenQ
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2006-08-29 01:01
Perhaps you could make them

Perhaps you could make them install only to C:\Portableapps if c is chosen, then C:\ is only replaced with PA when it is within the portableapps directory.

So i can trash all the unrelated things? It seems thats the only clear problem with this, is that its almost impossible to create a completely clean install without running any other program including windows explorer, from start to finish. Thats assuming it monitors the whole system, and not just the install and application executables.

Also, if the reg file is set to add a key, if its a windows explorer or something one that happened to be included, and that key is already on a pc i use, will it be overwritten over the original key, then deleted when i close the program?

Also sometimes various settings in a program modify seperate/different registry keys per setting, eg game controls or something. If i modify these after making it portable, will the launcher monitor the program for any keys that the program made after being portablized, then clean them up?
As you can imagine its impossible to go through an entire program changing every setting twice.

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
A lot of questions and suggestions

I'll change PAC in a way that it'll only replace the drive where it is running with "PA" in a certain registry-key if that registry-key does not point to a set of some system-folders (like system32, common files, application data, etc). Lets say that your windows-drive is C:. In that case, if running form C:, it will change "C:\bladibla", but not "C:\windows\system32". If running from D:, it will change "D:\bladibla", and "D:\windows\system32", but not "C:\windows\system32" and/or "E:\baldibla" and/or "E:\windows\system32".

Yes, you can trash all the unrelated things. Just take in mind that if the application does need them, they might be recreated on every system you run the PortableApp. PAC indeed monitors the whole registry and some system-folders (that's about the whole system ;-)), not just the install and application executables.

As for the registry, the shortcut-exe will see if the registry-key(s) in the reg-file exists on the host first. If so, those registry-settings of the host will be backed up. Next, it'll write the registry-keys in the reg-file to the host.
After closing the application, it'll read the registry-keys again and saves them for you (so any changes will be detected and processed!). The backup of the hosts (old) registry-settings will be put back (and/or if the keys didn't exist on the host be deleted).

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

wingmanjd
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 2 days ago
Joined: 2006-11-30 19:26
Error on installation of PAC

Hello,
I get a compilation error as it runs Aut2Exe.

Aut2exe error: Error adding file:
..\files\line.gif

Help anyone?

Acheron
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 8 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-20 15:04
Thanks

After some struggle I finally succeeded creating Portable Paint Shop Pro X for personal use using 0.95 beta 3 version. The beta 2 version wouldn't work for me.
I wouldn't be this far without this useful tool. Though I needed to do some registry editing afterwards it was almost easy.

Keep up the good work!

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Will take a look

to wingmanjd:
I'll take a closer look at it later, but that GIF-file should be placed in the (existing) files-folder whenever you run "PAC Compiler". At the moment, I really don't have any idea what could go wrong for you...

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
some one can help me

any one please tell me how can i make a portable app
plz make a video tut with instant demo
i have tried many times but every time i got error
so plz tell me what is the right way to use it
thanks

StephenQ
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2006-08-29 01:01
This is just an opinion, but

This is just an opinion, but i'd say theres a reason why this is in the developer section. Its still beta testing and bugs are still being found.

I think that if you arent sure about how to use this from reading the readme or how it works, perhaps its not a good idea to use it until final 1.0 release?

Also it requires pretty much a clean install of the program, even better windows altogether. A virtual machine works well, if the program has been/already is installed then the program could be not properly portable or have unnecessary traces from programs running in the background.

Dont want to turn people away from this great program, but just an opinion. The developer might think differently.

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
I agree with most part

I agree with most what you wrote, StephenQ.

I think using PAC is quite simple and explains itself. I don't see how a (video) tutorial could make it more clear. I won't put effort on that!

However, daman8331 is talking of "errors", I am curious where/when he gets his error, as PAC never gives errors on me.

So, Daman8331: please tell me where/when exactely you get an error. I'll see if I can find out what goes wrong... (It would help to get a script-line where Daman gets the error to improve the programme. But I guess asking Daman to run the script (not the exe) is out of the question. I don't think Daman knows how to handle the *.au3-scriptfiles.)

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
plz tell me in details

bro i dont know how to use this soft
so can u tell me in details. mean what to do first then and then....
plz help me i'll be very thankful to you if you help me
thanks in advance

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
plz help me

plz help me
i have done everything and after do everything i got this a exe file and Environment named folder and when i opened this exe file i got this error
plz see it once and plz help me
see these pictures

http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/45107/2004852681456307091_rs.jpg

http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/43699/2004854840886807303_rs.jpg

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
This represents a huge bug in the proggie

Go to the portable apps folder created by PAC/ teh exe folder / enviroment / then open the file "exe name".ini with a text editor like CE. Change "0:" to drive letter: where the actual program is located. The exe should then open correctly.

You should also beware that PAC does not create a true portable app as evidenced by the fact that the number registry entries your exe accesses onload does not correspond with the number accessed upon exit, which means part of your exe is left installed. Otherwise known as garbage.

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
drive zero

It's quite strange, I never saw a PortableApp created by Portable App Creator referring to drive 0: (zero). I re-examined the source code and found that, most likely, your PA-drive does have the folder 'drive:\portableapps\portableappsmenu'. That is what the (current) shortcut-exe will look for to find your PA-drive. If that folder doesn't exist, I guess it might answer "0" (zero) to the location of the PA-drive.

It would be best that if it doesn't find the right portableapps-folder, it assumes the PA-drive is the same drive as the shortcut-exe is being ran from. I'll fix that in the next beta.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Portable App Creator poses a Huge Security Risk

Disclaimer: The following is my opinion and mine alone. I do not in any way speak on behalf of or represent Source Forge or any other entity.

AutoIt3 itself is a bug infested alpha notorious for setting off AV alarms. Any programming language or software that does this isn't fit for public release and therefore, should be avoided like the Anna Kournikova virus until the code has been cleaned up. Some proponents of AutoIt3 argue that the AV warnings are false positives that users can ignore based on the grounds of legitimacy, but I call bullshit on that sentiment. I don't know about anyone else, but if you set off the smoke detector in my house, I'm gonna put you out.

Free commercial software capable of doing what AutoIt3 & Portable App Creator claim to not only already exists but passes AV tests and out performs the former. I know because I tested this nightmare waiting to happen.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Forgot to include this:

File Portable_App_Creator.exe received on 02.24.2008 12:36:35 (CET)

Result: 3/32 (9.38%)

Antivirus Version Last Update Result
AhnLab-V3 2008.2.22.0 2008.02.22 -
AntiVir 7.6.0.67 2008.02.22 -
Authentium 4.93.8 2008.02.24 -
Avast 4.7.1098.0 2008.02.23 -
AVG 7.5.0.516 2008.02.24 -
BitDefender 7.2 2008.02.24 -
CAT-QuickHeal 9.50 2008.02.22 TrojanDownloader.AutoIt.co
ClamAV 0.92.1 2008.02.24 -
DrWeb 4.44.0.09170 2008.02.24 -
eSafe 7.0.15.0 2008.02.21 suspicious Trojan/Worm
eTrust-Vet 31.3.5557 2008.02.23 -
Ewido 4.0 2008.02.24 -
FileAdvisor 1 2008.02.24 -
Fortinet 3.14.0.0 2008.02.24 -
F-Prot 4.4.2.54 2008.02.23 -
F-Secure 6.70.13260.0 2008.02.23 -
Ikarus T3.1.1.20 2008.02.24 IM-Worm.Win32.Sohanad.cv
Kaspersky 7.0.0.125 2008.02.24 -
McAfee 5236 2008.02.22 -
Microsoft 1.3204 2008.02.24 -
NOD32v2 2898 2008.02.23 -
Norman 5.80.02 2008.02.22 -
Panda 9.0.0.4 2008.02.24 -
Prevx1 V2 2008.02.24 -
Rising 20.32.62.00 2008.02.24 -
Sophos 4.26.0 2008.02.24 -
Sunbelt 3.0.893.0 2008.02.23 -
Symantec 10 2008.02.24 -
TheHacker 6.2.9.228 2008.02.23 -
VBA32 3.12.6.1 2008.02.21 -
VirusBuster 4.3.26:9 2008.02.23 -
Webwasher-Gateway 6.6.2 2008.02.23 -
Additional information
File size: 1062855 bytes
MD5: a7e220b9113c550cfc633562d5bc5cbd
SHA1: 67838c0f75ad21b74f113d09309b3c8ff7ab0ce3
PEiD: -
packers: UPX
packers: PE_Patch.UPX

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
They <are> false-postitives

Disclaimer: The following is my opinion and mine alone. Except for the thought on the false-positiveness of AutoIt, which is a opinion which is shared with many people...

In general, I agree with Crucial BallistixTracer that if your AV-product rings a bell on software you'd better be careful. It's the same with smoke alarms indeed. However, Crucial BallistixTracer, I want to tell you something on smoke-detectors. The ones I use also sound an alarm if the battery is low. So I won't be running away (which you seem to do) if the detector sounds the alarm, but I see no smoke!

Yes, AutoIt3 does trigger some AV alarms (also see this post on the AutoIt forum). This is what they call false-positives. AutoIt3 is not a virus but somehow some AV-products react on it as it were a virus. I have used it for years now without any problem, so I can tell you from my experience it is not a virus.

Otherwise, why would less than 10% of the AV-products ring on AutoIt??? Most (not to say all) AV-products would ring on a four-year-old piece of software if it really was dangerous, not only less than 10%!!! It is more a problem of those AV-products than it is of AutoIt3. So if Crucial BallistixTracer is saying "any [...] software that does this isn't fit for public release", I think those AV-products weren't really fit for public release.

Finally, Crucial BallistixTracer, if you really know "Free commercial software capable of doing what [...] Portable App Creator" claims to do, please point me (and all other users) to that software, so we can go and use that one instead. It would be useless if I am putting my efforts on programming something that already exists and is being used by a zillion people Wink

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Disclaimer: The author,

Disclaimer: The author, hereafter forever known as 10_illiterate_10_maroesjk_10, who ?wrote? of this alpha crap feels it's more important to parrot my words back like a brat reciting a school lesson instead of serving a customer who asked for help. The author's also a cheap asshole who ain't paying me do his tech support, also a bigoted pig who assumed I'm maale, uses shitty hack tools to kiddie script their warez, treats customers like their retarded, whose toilet paper scribblings not only clog your John when you flush them but also raise not one but count 'em three red flags two of them branded either a trojan or a kissing cousin while third sounds like a Chinesse missile and the author who whines like a Godamn baby when a mere woman beats 10_illiterate_10_maroesjk_10 at their own game. Who don't know it yet but they just been pwned.

Real Disclaimer: I know that's a byte rough, but I'm sick of polite.

PS

The so-called copyrighted icon in the post's opening thread now belongs to me and will use it for software suite I'm preparing to release. I'm sure you'll disagree with that statement. Catch me if you can..

PS PS

The so-called copyrighted icon in the post's opening thread now belongs to me and will use it for software suite I'm preparing to release. I'm sure you'll disagree with that statement. Catch me if you can..

PS PS PS

To the owner of this forum: I hope you will respect my right to freedom of speech.

PS PS PS PS

Psyche !!!!!!!! !!!!!!

Almost forgot: and the author who who then distrubutes their ?product? in a Greazlock bag zipped with mayonase.

Oh, and the 10_illiterate_10_maroesjk_10 who deletes their first reply to my comment you know the one in you which you implied that Pneumonia is no big deal and I replied thyat illness almost killed me when I was a kid. You k now the one in which you implied that heart disease ranks as deadly as the flu and I replied my grandfather5 died from heartdisease. And the one in which you said kinda negative blood work is akin to the common cold and I replied my doctor once told me I have the most perfect bloodwork he's ever seen.

And dude am I glad I didn't gorget this: The comment where you said My criticsm pissed you off before deleting.

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Polite

I decided to moderate my post, to stay polite. But it didn't quite say what you imply. Main reason for me to stay polite is that I want to comply with the forum-rules here (see also Tempering Responses). But as I won't be able to write a polite reaction to your post anymore, I won't post anything as an answer to any of your posts from now.

P.S. still waiting for you to name the "Free commercial software capable of doing what [...] Portable App Creator" claims to do.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Somebody please4 call the

Somebody please4 call the waaaaaahhhbulance. This dude's still woozy & shaken up.

ZachHudock
ZachHudock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 10 months ago
Developer
Joined: 2006-12-06 18:07
Why do you continue to try

Why do you continue to try to flame things up here? You don't like AutoIt3 and you think that the world should accept your opinion as fact, that's about all we can glean from your posts.

The author of Portable App Creator took the time to try and provide useful software to help end users create their own portable applications. I'm sorry you don't like the choice of scripting language he used, but that is no grounds to insult him and his work repeatedly, saying he used "shitty hack tools to kiddie script his warez". He continually supports this application, and if users have a question, he does his best to answer it, I wouldn't call that treating them like they're retarded, I'd call that tech support.

For your virus scan results, 3/32 isn't exactly convincing that it is in fact a virus, actually it suggests the contrary, that it is a false positive.

For your comment that he was parroting your own comments back to you, I'd like to think he included them, with his own response under it so it would be easy to follow which section of your original post he was responding to. So he didn't use the cite tag, but I'm sure that's all it was, it was not meant to insult you.

Where did he assume you were male? From what I see, he used your user name in every location he directed a comment towards you.

You are correct that he is not paying you to do his tech support.

What game is being played here, and how did you beat him? He's simply created an app, offered it to users and is supporting it. And he replied to your original post. You may not like the fact that AutoIt 3 triggered some virus alarms, all his response said is that they are false positives.

What copyrighted icon are you referring to?

I'm sorry for your experiences with pneumonia and heart disease, but what does that have to do with this application or the author's personality?

The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
PS to the owner of this

PS to the owner of this forum: there's bug in your script: after comment is posted the user is redirected to to the first page of comments for this post. That's all well and good if I happen to be replying to a comment on page 1 but NOT WHEN I"M ON PAE 3.

Thank you for respecting my right freedom of speech. I must admit at the time I was a bit annoyed when I saw that the forum script had omitted a sentence from one of my comments because I really frown on censorship, but in hindsight feel it was a good edit. The comment functions better without it and I was already pushing the boundaries of acceptable speech. Over all, I'm quite pleased with the forum script you're running. The ability to edit comments is excellent and cuts down on clutter, plus the real-time spell check is handy when I choose to use it that is.

Thank you again.

digitxp
digitxp's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 1 month ago
Joined: 2007-11-03 18:33
The only thing is...

It's not censorship if you put something rude, inappropriate, or the like and the moderators remove it, it's called removing inappropriate content...

Insert original signature here with Greasemonkey Script.

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Portable App Creator (0·96 beta)

Over 500 people have been using the most recent version of PAC, or have at least tried it. Some people may experience some trouble using it (that’s why it’s still beta), but most people seem to have a positive attitude towards Portable App Creator. So I guess most people would like me to provide new improvements and/or releases (thanks to a.o. ZGitRDun8705).

The majority of the changes are based on the posts of StephenQ and Daman8331 in this thread. I hope the first three modifications mentioned here will solve some errors people were experiencing before:

  • Portable App Creator and Portable App Shortcut will now work correctly, even if being executed from the/a drive where Windows is installed on.
  • If Portable App Shortcut doesn’t find the right PortableApps folder, it will now assume the PA-drive is the drive it’s been launched from.
  • Changed the way HKU-RegKeys are transformed into HKCU-RegKeys.
  • Added “UserAssist” and “Discardable” to the array of unnecessary RegKeys.
  • Some behavioral change in the routine of PAC Compiler where it gets the version for/of Portable App Creator.

You can now download Portable App Creator 0·96 beta (MD5: 1063A10B3AF31B91D4CA678AB5046C4E, only 335 kB). Please see the readme-file supplied with this package to find out what you need to do before you can use "Portable App Creator".

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
bro maroesjk if you really want to help

bro maroesjk if you really want to help, then make a video demo with instant demo for all

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Won't promise

I won't promise I'll create a video demo on how Portable App Creator works for me, but I'll see what I can do in the (near) future / one or two weeks. At least you convinced me to think about it Wink

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
bro ok make a text tut

bro ok make a text tut for me with full details, i have tried many times but i could not make any portable app, i have see vlc portable its too good and i also want to make same soft as vlc

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
PAC video demo

In response to your request, I created a small video demo to show how Portable App Creator works for me. In the demo I install WinRAR from my desktop to a PortableApps drive (E:). I installed Portable App Creator at the PortableApps drive first (e.g. I copied "Portable App Creator.exe" to "E:\PortableApps\Portable App Creator").

The demo is 4:30 minutes long and is an xvid/avi. It doesn't include any sound, in case you wonder why you don't hear a thing ;-). You can download the demo here (4.180 MB). Hope it clears some things for you!

Recording the demo I found why the RegShot results-file doesn't alway automatically close when it pops up. This minor issue has been solved in the current version...

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Disclaimer: This ain't gonna

Disclaimer: This ain't gonna be pretty, so if you're a pussy run like a good little bitch from a smoking gun.

Tveryone who has replied to my comments..and the one who hasn't replied . have the fucking common sense to know it's considered polite thank someone who takes the time to do the author's job and explain a program to a Godamn imbecile my year 'n a half old niece niece could solve with less trouble:

I realize some folks are computerchallenged the way I need a spellchecker and a talking dictionary that mimics a parrot, but come on, anybody that requires a video to understand this Frankensteined piece of shit program has obviously been lobotomized. Somebody call the director of the Resident Evil series: I've found the cast for the next movie.

I refuse to defewnd my opinions any further. You wouldn't fucking understand anyway.

ZachHudock
ZachHudock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 10 months ago
Developer
Joined: 2006-12-06 18:07
You shoot your mouth off and

You shoot your mouth off and can't get over the fact that the author used a scripting language that you don't like. And where did you explain the program to anyone, all I see is you trashing it and the author for no apparent reason. I'm sorry if you were offended by the lack of response to your posts, or by the fact that u were wrong, it's not virus infested, but thats how life goes. It's not all about u, it's not all about me, it's not all about the ppl that can't figure this app out, it's just life.

Instead of just providing extremely harsh criticism, can you provide answers to the questions we have asked you? Like what freeware program does this same thing, but works better and is easier to use?

The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705

John T. Haller
John T. Haller's picture
Online
Last seen: 43 min 40 sec ago
AdminDeveloperModeratorTranslator
Joined: 2005-11-28 22:21
Ease Up There

One of the forum mods asked me to weigh in here as this is a long topic and the comments weren't being followed as closely.

Attitudes and language like that aren't helpful on a community site such as this where we have lots of people volunteering their time for free to help make a product that lots of people can use. We follow the laws of the United States (where this site is hosted) in terms of copyrights, trademarks, etc. And we follow the unwritten rules of forums everywhere (always give people the benefit of the doubt, don't respond when angry, etc).

While we like to welcome everyone, we have, on occasion, had to suspend or ban accounts of people who continued to get in the way of the main purpose of this site. Please consider this when making further posts within this thread or elsewhere on this site. The forum mods will be watching this thread for further issues.

Thank you for listening.

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

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Portable App Creator (0·96·1 beta)

Over 500 people have been using the most recent version(s) of PAC, or have at least tried it. Some people may experience some trouble using it (that’s why it’s still beta), but most people seem to have a positive attitude towards Portable App Creator and like it. When making the video demo I found why the RegShot results-file doesn't alway automatically close when it pops up. I fixed that issue in 0·96·1 beta.

The majority of the changes are based on the posts of StephenQ and Daman8331 in this thread. I hope the first four modifications mentioned here will solve some errors/issues people were experiencing before. Listed are all changes for versions 0·96 beta and 0·96·1 beta:

  • Portable App Creator and Portable App Shortcut will now work correctly, even if being executed from the/a drive where Windows is installed on.
  • RegShot results-file now closes even if the user hides the extensions of known filetypes.
  • If Portable App Shortcut doesn’t find the right PortableApps folder, it will now assume the PA-drive is the drive it’s been launched from.
  • Changed the way HKU-RegKeys are transformed into HKCU-RegKeys.
  • Added “UserAssist” and “Discardable” to the array of unnecessary RegKeys.
  • Some behavioral change in the routine of PAC Compiler where it gets the version for/of Portable App Creator.

You can now download Portable App Creator 0·96·1 beta (MD5: AF122622AE22EE52D7F0FE1E8A3D228F, only 335 kB). Please see the readme-file supplied with this package to find out what you need to do before you can use "Portable App Creator" and/or watch the video demo (4.180 MB) if you want.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
bro there is a little problem

bro there is a little problem that when u move my portable folder to any other drive it give me error but i have used your VLC MEDIA PLAYER and when i move vlc it never gives any error,
see this pic

http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/45811/2003381959065703052_rs.jpg

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Found a glitch

I saw there was a strange glitch in the script "Portable App Shortcut" where it builded the location of the PortableApp. Somehow, the location was automatically corrected on my system, but must have lead to the error you mention.
Luckily I had a day off today, so please find the newest version below, which (hopefully) solves the problem you mentioned.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Portable App Creator (0·96·2 beta)

Over 500 people have been using the most recent version(s) of PAC, or have at least tried it. Some people may experience some trouble using it (that’s why it’s still beta), but most people seem to have a positive attitude towards Portable App Creator and like it.

The majority of the changes are based on the posts of StephenQ and Daman8331 in this thread. I hope the first five modifications mentioned here will solve some errors people were experiencing before. Listed are all changes for versions 0·96 beta, 0·96·1 beta and 0·96·2 beta:

  • Portable App Creator and Portable App Shortcut will now work correctly, even if being executed from the/a drive where Windows is installed on.
  • RegShot results-file now closes even if the user hides the extensions of known filetypes.
  • If Portable App Shortcut doesn’t find the right PortableApps folder, it will now assume the PA-drive is the drive it’s been launched from.
  • Fixed a small glitch in Portable App Shortcut when building the location of the PortableApp.
  • Changed the way HKU-RegKeys are transformed into HKCU-RegKeys.
  • Added “UserAssist” and “Discardable” to the array of unnecessary RegKeys.
  • Some behavioral change in the routine of PAC Compiler where it gets the version for/of Portable App Creator.

You can now download Portable App Creator 0·96·2 beta (MD5: AE1395C5D10122EF4B52307415373FC9, only 335 kB). Please see the readme-file supplied with this package to find out what you need to do before you can use "Portable App Creator" and/or watch the video demo (4.180 MB) if you want.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
thanks for update

thanks for update - now its working fine, i'll post here again if i got any other probem in pac

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Fantastic

Great that it works for you now too. Took me three builds, but I have another satisfied user now Wink

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Stevoisiak
Stevoisiak's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 2 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-05 11:22
Ideas

I have some suggestions. I have not used the portable app creator, so if these features are already included, I didn't know.

1. To provent multiple EXE files, PAC can automatically create a shortcut file if more than one EXE is detected in the main folder. After asking which file to create a shortcut to obviously.

2. Sometimes, when I put a non-portable app on the flashdrive, and look at it in the Portabe apps menu, the didplay name looks weird. Like for Flash programs like Toads tool, the name is something like "Macromedia Projector 2008" or whatever. This can be confusing, especially since there are two other applications this guy made, both with similar names.

Simplifying daily life through technology

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Try first

I suggest you try PAC first, because I think I allready included all what you suggested. If you think it needs fine-tuning, just drop an other post here!

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

cool89898989
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 8 months ago
Joined: 2008-03-01 03:19
here is another portable app builder freeware

here is another portable app builder freeware

http://rapidshare.com/files/48496924/Portable_Builder_v0.9.zip

try it once, i think its easier that pac

MaxxApps
Offline
Last seen: 15 years 1 week ago
Joined: 2007-08-09 17:11
But, Not As Effective!

Tried a few times, but no success. So far, PAC, is the best Portable Creator I've tried. Just my opinion. But, none the less, great work creator of Portable Builder!

Helping To Maxximize Applications!

MaxxApps
Offline
Last seen: 15 years 1 week ago
Joined: 2007-08-09 17:11
Need To Move Apps

In my opinion, PAC needs to write the code so that the Portable.exe can be run from any location. Very similar to the .paf platform. If the user wants to install the app to their PortableApps drive initially, and then move it to their desktop, they can't. Make the drive letter not important, and now this is an app for all. Again, just my opinion. With all regards, a very great program. Keep up the great work!!

Helping To Maxximize Applications!

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Moving a "not-so-PortableApp"

Moving a real PortableApp to the desktop is no problem, as it doesn't write to the registry at all. But the reason I created PAC is that a lot of applications (which I want to make portable) do write to the registry. Moving those applications to a new location isn't that simple, because it'll need adaption of the registry as well. That's why the location is so important to those applications. At least these "not-so-PortableApp"s work now (because of the routines used in PAC), even if the PA-drive gets another drive-letter on another machine.

I won't promis anything and it will surely not be there in weeks, but I'll think about the possibility to create an add-on which enables movement of those "not-so-PortableApps" ;-).

...And thanks for the compliments!

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

MaxxApps
Offline
Last seen: 15 years 1 week ago
Joined: 2007-08-09 17:11
Sounds Great

And thanks for the response. Keep up the great work!

Helping To Maxximize Applications!

vjuhasz
Offline
Last seen: 11 years 9 months ago
Joined: 2008-03-01 15:37
I agree with the other

I agree with the other comment. Making any application truly portable (removable at will) is the real thing.

I am new to PAC, I think it is a great product and a breeze to use. But I spent hours trying to figure out why the portable applications created by me with PAC didn't work. I tried to make some of my own licensed apps portable, so I can uninstall them, make my Windows registry smaller, and my computer faster. It would be nice having only portable apps on my PC or laptop; would make not only Windows faster, but no need to reinstall everything after a crash.

It seems I assumed from the very beginning that "portable" means you can move it at will, and just found out from this post PAC has this limitation. After every "portablesation" when I removed the created file to a new folder, the application just did not run from the new location.

Keep up the good work and hope in the not-too-distant future the PAC apps will be fully portable and transefarable.

Patrick Patience
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 10 months ago
DeveloperModerator
Joined: 2007-02-20 19:26
Sig.

Your signature should actually go in your 'Homepage' space on your account page, not your signature.

Thanks.

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
found new bug in shortcut

found new bug in shortcut
i have installed portable app here
C:\Portableapps\Portable Amadis Video Converter Suite
but when i move this whole folder here
C:\Program Files\Portableapps\Portable Amadis Video Converter Suite
its gives me error
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/44340/2004293012920803910_rs.jpg

bro make your shortcut script same as vlc's script
i can use vlc media player anywhere in anyfolder

shortcut only works fine when i move it like this
C:\Portableapps\Portable Amadis Video Converter Suite
to
D:\Portableapps\Portable Amadis Video Converter Suite
i mean i have to make same folder in all drivers if i wanna move it
plz fix it
thanks

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Not a real bug

That's not a real bug to me, it's a known limitation. PAC generally works also for software that (instead of real PortableApps) do write to the registry. Moving the app to another folder on the same drive (instead to the same folder on another drive) doesn't work because of that. Please see this post in which I mentioned this before.

The PAC-created applications do work "portable" if placed on the PortableApps-drive, even if the drive-letter for the PortableApps-drive changes. In most cases no information will be left on the host (registry and/or files). But as the "not-so-Portable" applications write to the registry, you can't just copy them to another location and expect them to work. I can't help that: that behaviour is due to the fact that those closed-source applications weren't programmed to be portable at all (i.e. its location is in the registry). PAC just portablizes them to some extent...

I'll describe this as a "known limitation" in the readme of the next version.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Dear John,

Dear John,

Thank you for wieghing in here. I disagree in regard to your perspective of attitudes and language, particularly due to the fact that they are present throughout 10_illiterate_10_maroesjk_10's post and comments in a more subtle form. I won't cite any specific examples: I expect you to be intelligent enough to pick them out for yourself. Also, Bill Mayer drops the F-bomb at least twice along with a few other expletives during his show on HBO but still manages intelligent discussion, that is when he's not sticking both feet in his mouth. I'm glad you mentioned the open source, or as you put it people working for free, because I have concerns regarding PortableApps.com in that respect. You have trademarked both your product and slogan while at the same time taking advantage of the resources offered by the Source Forge Community. To your credit you have made your apps launcher and platform open source, but as far as I can you've failed to do so with whatever apps\process you use to create the portables. I do not have the time to scour this site like an Easter egg hunt so if I'm mistaken about that last point, please show me where you have done so because I can't help but wonder if you're gonna shut out the open source community once you're done assembling/testing your suite. You mention that your site is hosted in the US. What a coincidence. I'm a US citizen born and raised with a heritage that reaches back to the time before the European invaders. So when I see you rattling your sword about copyright and trademark law here and in at least one other post where you forced a programmer to rename their product Portable Apps Creation Master because you felt the original name infringed on your trademark. So now I'm gonna school you on copyright and trademark law. First of all, any written word whether on real paper or cyber, is automatically protected under copyright law. No need for the fancy circle c. Furthermore, you sir violated copyright law when you forced that programmer to change the product name. And for what? A boring bland trademark that can't be enforced, that's what. Trademarking portable apps suite is like trying to trademark the generic word suitcase and your case would never stand up in court. I can take your trademark change one letter and it's no longer yours: Portable Capps Suite. But that would be lame like "Your digital life, anywhere." which if I were you I'd be embarrassed that I'd wasted the time and money to trademark, especially when it was already protected by copyright law. I think I'll call my potable apps suite Pocket Rocket.

If you want to weigh in on something, why don't you try throwing your weight around an important topic like user trust. There is no such thing as a false positive in virus scans. The reason portable app creator gets flagged thrice is it's packed with UPX (as are some of your portables), a well known hack tool, as well as autoit3 which in itself represents lazy coding because it contains so many signatures similar to well-known threats. So telling users to ignore possible threats is lazy and irresponsible, especially when a trademarked company is involved. Now I understand that many coders use UPX as a packer for a variety of reasons including affordability and in an effort to force virus scanners to refine their methods as well as mainstream the app, but UPX brings with it a reputation for trouble whether a scanner flags it or not and there are other packers available. The same goes for autoit3.

I am still testing Portable Apps Creation Master, but thus far it is far superior to the alpha junk pawned in this post. I tested the latest alpha release of this garbage and found it still riddled with bugs. The proggy failed to execute past partial download of the autoit3 files before crashing with a Not valid win32 program error and a line 0 error. Make no mistake, any program that has to be run in a perfect virtual enviroment to prevent crashes and proper functionality is nothing but a bug infested alpha. Plus the author in recent comments says that PAC does not create real portable apps as opposed to for example portable apps suite, so who in their right mind is interested in creating unreal portable apps? I will not be testing this crap any further as it's not worth my time and I don't like the author.

Last, I want to address the veiled threat contained in the third paragraph of your comment. The First Ammendment of the United States constitution protects my right to freedom of speech and your veiled threat insinuates that if you or your mods see anything you deem unacceptable you reserve the right to censor me through suspension or banning. You're quick to rattle your sword to protect your trademark/copyrights, but what about the rights of the users of your site and service?

PS

I found another bug in your forum script. For long posts such as 10_illiterate_10_maroesjk_10's, there should be a page link at the top as well as the bottom as it's a real pain in the arse to scroll all the way to the bottom to access the comments page links.

Also, I'm currently testing several of your portable apps including Firefox and KeePass, am quite pleased with them so far and will post comment reviews when finished testing.

I also want to remind you that you're by no stretch of the imagination the only portable apps game on the block. You have a slew of competition out there and one has to look no further than Google to find them.

jkemp
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 3 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-26 16:50
How do I use this app to install Minefield 3.0pre4 Beta?

Hi,

I would like to test Minefield latest nightlies on a portable drive. Will this Portable App Creator install it similar to PortableFirefox? I installed Minefield using this app and all went well, but I notice the application data is still being read from the C: drive. What can I do to get Minefield portable i.e. docs and settings, cache, history?

Thank you for any response,

James

daman8331
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-21 06:27
found new bug in shortcut

found new bug in shortcut
i have installed portable app here
C:\Portableapps\Portable Amadis Video Converter Suite
but when i move this whole folder here
C:\Program Files\Portableapps\Portable Amadis Video Converter Suite
its gives me error
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/44340/2004293012920803910_rs.jpg

bro make your shortcut script same as vlc's script
i can use vlc media player anywhere in anyfolder

shortcut only works fine when i move it like this
C:\Portableapps\Portable Amadis Video Converter Suite
to
D:\Portableapps\Portable Amadis Video Converter Suite
i mean i have to make same folder in all drivers if i wanna move it
plz fix it
thanks

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Why?

I don't know why you reposted this, but I allready answered to your previous post...

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Minefield

Portable App Creator doesn't install like Portable Firefox, sorry for that. The problem with Firefox/Minefield is that a lot of files (cache, history, add-ons) will be stored on the hard-drive after Firefox/Minefield is installed. PAC does nothing with this newly created files after installation. So those files will still be left on the host (which would make it a non-portable-app in my opinion).

You might be able to create a portable version of Firefox/Minefield, but it surely does need some adaption of the scripts and/or Firefox/Minefield itself. I suggest you'd better wait for the new "official" Firefox/Minefield version to be released...

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Dude, it sounds like what

Dude, it sounds like what you need is a calculator not a computer cuz anything beyond that in functionality is gonna want to write data to the disk.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
PACM is a menu system

PACM is a menu system similar to portableapps' which loads into the sys tray and allows the user to launch the included utilities. PACM features a detailed text/graphical tutorial that guides you through the process of creating a portable app. There's even a nifty sample portable app included, FlashGet, a download manager with bittorrent compatability built in which I've only briefly tested to verify overall function. The app appears to work fine, but the shortcut errors out. I suspect that is due to the fact that PACM like PAC utilizes autoit3 which doesn't seem capable of handling 64 bit platforms, though it could also be due in part to the regfile AppPath pointing to "C:" which is not where I put it. But keep in mind this's a sample app. It also uses RegShot 1.7 but after trying it and 1.8 it seems to get lost in a 64 enviroment as well and I refuse to dumb down my system with Virtual PC. Besides, like autoit3 there are alternatives to RegShot out there, but if you're running a 32 bit system you shouldn't encounter these problems. Now if you're looking for a point and click unplug and play solution in PACM then look elsewhere because you will have to get your hands a bit dirty during the process of porting an app. That's the fun part though. I've run through all the steps by hand and PACM appears to deliver where PAC fails. I recommend that you download it and give it a whirl. If it can port a download manager, it should work with Minefield much like FireFox which like many portables does save data to the disk (ie bookmarks) but any registry entries get erased upon exit. I'd advise starting with a smaller app though. Trying to port a browser trunk is bound to be tricky. For any apps I ported that required a launcher I'd use NSIS rather than autoit3.

If nothing else PACM is a good tool to learn how to port apps. The tutorial is excellent for that. And PACM itself is portable, tested that by moving it around.

After this, my comments regarding PACM will be posted in its respective post so the mods won't get cranky.

PS

I forgot in my last comment that it's the official port of KeePass that I'm testing, not portableapps'. The official portable unzips whereever you want it and runs flawlessly thus far. And being a true portable it can be moved anywhere without hurting functionality.

ZachHudock
ZachHudock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 10 months ago
Developer
Joined: 2006-12-06 18:07
The package of KeePass from

The package of KeePass from PortableApps.com can also be moved anywhere without hurting functionality, as long as that directory structure is kept in tact.

The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Steal My Liberty and I'll Shove a Bell up Your Crack

You're absolutely right. Except it's not just the tree that's set in stone, the portableapps folder can't be renamed. Literally. Even with admin privledges. I consider that a form of hacking.

How appropraite that some portableapps are packed with UPX.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
PS

The Official port doesn't prevent renaming.

ZachHudock
ZachHudock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 10 months ago
Developer
Joined: 2006-12-06 18:07
UPX just compresses it, no

UPX just compresses it, no "hacking" going on here. What do you mean that the folder can't be renamed? Give it any name you want, I've renamed mine. Of course for it to show up in PAM it needs to be /PortableApps, but if you don't use PAM, you can call the folder whatever you wish.

The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Absolutely, that's UPX's

Absolutely, that's UPX's job. What I mean is if I try to change the "PortableApps" folder to "Portable Apps" UAC gives a Need to confirm this action message and once confirmed, says the action failed and asks if I'd like to retry. Obviously a program has monkeyed with the permissions, just a matter of tracking the culprit. I don't use PAM so that's not an issue for me.

ZachHudock
ZachHudock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 10 months ago
Developer
Joined: 2006-12-06 18:07
If you have one of the

If you have one of the programs inside your PortableApps directory running at the time, you will not be able to rename it at all. Other than that, I have no clue what could be causing the issue.

The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Yes, that would definitely

Yes, that would definitely cause that wouldn't it? I'll have to double-check to make sure I didn't have Kee-Pass sitting in the sys tray or FireFox running in the background. If that were the case, it definately qualify as one of those Doh! moments.

ZachHudock
ZachHudock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 10 months ago
Developer
Joined: 2006-12-06 18:07
If that is the case, don't

If that is the case, don't worry about it, we all have those lol.

The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705

rab040ma
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 6 days ago
Joined: 2007-08-27 13:35
Sometimes the "root folder"

Sometimes the "root folder" gets the UAC treatment (and if not it should). If it is on a Flash drive with FAT, it's not likely to be permission related, in terms of NTFS permissions. The most likely thing is the folder being locked, though.

Making folder names without spaces is for the folks who use a command prompt and are too lazy to put quotes in. It also exposes all sorts of bugs in programs around the issue of allowing the space character to be the separator instead of the quote. So if you find something that doesn't work with the space in the folder name, be sure to report it.

MC

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
This particular instance

This particular instance seems to be attributed to my forgetting what was in the sys tray, sorry about the false alarm. I'll keep monkeying with these though to see if any bugs appear and of course will report them.

And eeewww, command prompts. I mean, I used them back when you still had to buy dos and windows separately and have retained enough of the syntax to be able to navigate in a pinch but the command prompt is boring, which is why I've never understood the allure of an OS like Linux. I'd rather hack all the junk out of window$ and rplace the shell with something like BlackBox or one of its forks.

rab040ma
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 6 days ago
Joined: 2007-08-27 13:35
Well, besides being quicker

Well, besides being quicker and more flexible, command prompts are ugly. I guess that's good enough reason not to use them. On the other hand, just because GUI's can be pretty is not a good reason to remove the ability to support people who need text-to-speech or Braille readers to do their work. It takes all sorts. Besides, programs need to be able to work without bugs in a command prompt, from Windows Explorer, and even in BlackBox.

Oh, and Windows does have a limit to the length of a Path. Just because one can, is not a good reason to make file and folder names as verbose as possible. Blum

MC

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Actually,

I'd argue that depending on the task, the command prompt is slower and less flexible. While it's quicker to execute >format C: than navigate to the option in windows, it's way slower to execute >cd\C:\Folder\another folder\yet another with a mile long name\some more\finally the file.exe than through explorer or the desktop. When I talk about hacking windows, I mean my personal system and all the bloat that slows things down as well as wastes disk space. For example, I doubt most people would want to break up a 500 GB hard drive into 26-36 GB chunks to gain speed. That's a lot of drive letters, ya know? But I'm determined to see what windows does when I hit z, turn over like an odometer? And the thing I dislike about BlackBox is it's default appearance is reminiscent of dos, which of course is the engine under the hood of windows. And the thing I dislike about Linux is the snotty brats who adopted it as the official OS of so-called hackers. Plus programs are much more scarce and I don't like its archetecture. I've run a variety of OS's including OS2 & OS2 Warp and I prefer windows. Love it or hate it, win is the most universal system. I'll stop there before I get started on those pricey paper weights called Macs. To each their own.

So I wasn't saying that the command prompt isn't important but rather it's not much to look at and has serious limitations. Try painting a digital picture with just the command prompt. And I name files whatever length they need to be in order to identify them to my satisfaction.

rab040ma
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 6 days ago
Joined: 2007-08-27 13:35
There's nothing to keep you

There's nothing to keep you from renaming the PortableApps directory, other than some program running from a folder down the tree, or Explorer keeping some file or other open when it shouldn't, that keeps the folders above it locked. Try it just after inserting and before autoplay runs. The folder is marked read-only, but that's just an indicator to Explorer to look for the pretty icon in desktop.ini.

Why would John go to any trouble at all to keep that directory locked against renaming? No, it's just that you ran into a normal situation like a directory being locked and thought it was some hacking technique or a fascist program trying to stifle your liberty. Sorry, it is more likely just Windows Explorer being stupid.

I still don't get your antipathy to UPX -- sure it is used by some hackers, but upx is also fairly standard and effective at what it does.

MC

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
I'm not running portables

I'm not running portables from a USB drive so autoplay isn't an issue. And by "Hacking" I of course meant the scenario described in your first paragraph, rather than the illegal variety.

John would lock the directory if his apps functioning properly depended on it. I've since tracked down the culprit: FireFoxPortable by PortableApps.com. I don't know if John's installer is the cause or if it's Mozilla, but the folder is locked against renaming. I've never tried renaming the folder of a full install of FireFox, nor do I have one on my sys so I can't test that. I would consider this a bug that until it's fixed prevents the port of FireFox from qualifying as a full portable. And sorry, but I don't see this as a case of WE being stupid given the symptoms. Though you are right it's a possibility; I mean how many times have you tried to modify a file or folder and couldn't because either WE or another app wouldn't let go? A ton, I'll bet.

UPX is old and outdated in my opinion despite its effectiveness and there are newer, better alternatives out there. Plus I'm tired of having to research detected threats in apps packed with UPX.

ZachHudock
ZachHudock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 10 months ago
Developer
Joined: 2006-12-06 18:07
The installer shouldn't be

The installer shouldn't be locking the folder at all. As long as the app is not running, you should be able to rename the folder. I just successfully renamed mine from "PortableApps" to "Monkey" to "Portable Applications" and back.

The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Yeah, I shut everything down

Yeah, I shut everything down and then was able to rename the folder as you did. Definitely a Doh! moment, gotta love those. I don't mind though, would've been disappointed if it'd been due to lazy coding.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Hmmm...don't know why I

Hmmm...don't know why I didn't notice this sooner but it seems that once you exit the browser the edit option is lost. I have FireFox set to dump all personal data on exit, btw.

Anyway, I wanted to add some info on UPX alternatives. I've been experimenting with SFX files and there's a link here in another forum post to a free Winzip type packer that has a better compression ratio than Winzip and can create SFX files. There's also KGB which can squash 4 GB down to 10 MB though it's still in beta and seems to have some compatability issues with 64 bit OS. KGB can be found here or at Source Forge:

http://kgbarchiver.net/?page=home

digitxp
digitxp's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 1 month ago
Joined: 2007-11-03 18:33
Yeah,

somebody made something like that. Somewhere...

Insert original signature here with Greasemonkey Script.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Somewhere here

https://portableapps.com/node/11702

I haven't really tested this yet though, looks cool.

digitxp
digitxp's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 1 month ago
Joined: 2007-11-03 18:33
I was thinking of something else

where it automatically extracts it into a temporary place, run the app, then delete the temp dir. 8) Very useful.

Insert original signature here with Greasemonkey Script.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
That's probably a good place

That's probably a good place to test the free packer. And you've reminded me that I've encountered a few installers that write to %temp% but don't clean up after themselves but can't remember specific names. Whatever it was I've long since deleted it. I don't think PAC was one of them just to clarify.

Stevoisiak
Stevoisiak's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 2 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-05 11:22
Why isn't this a beta portable app?

I think this should be scepted into the testing releases page, like frets on fire. Also, does this program also conpress EXE files to save space?

Simplifying daily life through technology

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
It's here for a reason

I understand what you want to say, but there are reasons why it is in the "Portable App Development" part of the forum. Portable App Creator (PAC) is complying to all the forum-rules here (includes source-code, fully open-source, correct license) and (the compiled version of) PAC is (fully) portable. However, PAC is still in beta-stage. If it would ever go to the testing releases page, that shouldn't be before the first release candidate of version 1.

The main reason why I put it in "Portable App Development" part of the forum is because it helps to portablize closed-source (normally non-portable) applications. I think that if people are looking for a program that can help them create a Portable App, they'll look in "Portable App Development". That is were they currently (and hopefully in the future) can find PAC. So I think this forum is the best place for PAC to be in, even if it gets to version 1.

The last sentence of your post triggered me! PAC is compressed itself, but it won't compress the exe's and/or dll's of the applications that are installed using PAC. I just never thought about that before. It would expand the time to let PAC finish, but would make the installed application smaller. I won't promise anything, but I'll see if I could include UPX-ing the installed application as an option. I think adding that option would be an improvement, so thanks for the suggestion!

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Speaking of UAC

I just realized I forgot to disable it before running Regshot 1,7 and 1,8 which might account for the app's instability. I know it runs fine on a 32 bit system, though I really dislike disabling UAC, particularly for an app from an unknown source as opposed to an established company, though that's no guarantee either. But as for PAC itself, the latest Alpha failed to compile the autoit3 scripts before crashing so I don't think UAC contributed to that, though I can't rule it out. I can't remember if I disabled UAC before compiling the previous Alpha I tested or not, but know for sure that I did prior to running the compiled app which didn't crash on an x86 system. I don't think I disabled UAC before running the latest Alpha's compile routine. But I'm not gonna go back and test again. By the author's own admission, the app doesn't work.

linkhyrule5
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 8 months ago
Joined: 2008-01-07 19:48
I believe I have the same

I believe I have the same problem. It is on lines 450 and 900 on the _compileversion.au3. These are both places that look like this:

End Func#Comment-Start

After adding a carriage return:

End Func
#Comment-Start

it compiled properly. I will test it now.

(Again, is there any way to take out the #Require-Admin line?)

Crazy: It helps if you give the error line numbers. Did you get any?

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
Good that you mention that

"Portable App Creator with compileversion.au3" should be deleted (line 34 of PAC Compiler) if the script finishes. But I never thought about the fact that it would still exists if "PAC Compiler" ever crashed before. In that case, it'll still exist and grow twice as big, giving the problem you mentioned.

Whenever PAC Compiler might crash and/or is ended otherwise before compilation, please delete "Portable App Creator with compileversion.au3" from the source folder for now. It will be recreated if PAC Compiler runs.

I'll change the scripts make sure "Portable App Creator with compileversion.au3" is deleted when PAC Compiler runs, to avoid this behaviour after a crash of the compiler. The fix will be in the next version.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
I retested RegShot 1,8 with

I retested RegShot 1,8 with UAC disabled and the program still stops running and closes. I've encountered the same problem with RegSnap. Since I know RegShot runs without error on x86 systems I'm apt to conclude that there's a compatibility issue with x64 systems. I tested Regwatch as well but it gives a .dll failed to register error on install and won't run at all after install. I'm going to contact LastBit and the company that makes RegWatch to see if I can get a fix.

Regarding PAC line errors, the only one I recall was line 0, but there were multiple errors right after the compiler crashed. Perhaps the author would consider focusing PAC on automating the process of isolating the changes made to registry & other sys files during program installation and processing that to the needed reg files required by the app to run as a portable as well as ensuring x64 compatability, since there are already several app packers in development utilizing SFX and other file formats. If so, I would be interested in continuing to test PAC.

I should also note that PACM suffers from the same compatability issues which is why I had to step through it by hand. And I don't consider Virtual PC a viable solution because that allows the software authors to get away with not fixing their code.

rab040ma
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 6 days ago
Joined: 2007-08-27 13:35
In case no one has said it,

In case no one has said it, thanks for your willingness to test things in a real x64 environment. I don't know too many people who are willing to put up with the difficulties of making 32-bit apps work in that environment; they usually just give up and run the 32-bit OS. Unless they have very specific (non-general) applications that are already available to them in 64-bit versions.

Anyway, I appreciate your 64-bit insights. Maybe someday I'll even be able to benefit from them. Wink

MC

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
Why thank you for saying so.

Why thank you for saying so. It's good to know that what I'm doing is actually useful to people. It's also nice to know I still actually know a thing or two about programming and computers. I've always had a knack for this, perhaps due in part that I'm part of the DOS 5/Win 3.1 generation where you had to know how to trouble-shoot everything if you wanted to actually use your computer. And obviously, I enjoy monkeying around with computers.

Oh, and appreciation encourages me to continue doing this, so thank you again.

maroesjk
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: 2007-11-01 15:55
RegShot

At the SourceForge page of RegShot, someone has allready asked for a X64-compatible version. I guess we should conclude that RegShot doesn't work on X64-systems and doesn't work with Vista if UAC is enabled.

Whenever you might find an application somewhat similar to RegShot (monitor both the registry and given file-folders) that works on X64-systems, please post it here. I've been looking for it, but haven't found it (yet). If a X64-compatible-RegShot-alike-application is available I'll see what I can do to make it X64 compatible. Problem is, however, that I do not own a X64-system, so I won't be able to test it. As I lack a Vista system too, I wonder if any people from a large computerfirm (worldwide or Dutch) are following this thread and want to sponsor me a X64-system with Microsoft Vista. I'll mention my sponsor(s) in any new version ;-).

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those who don't.

Crucial_Ballist...
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-24 06:27
RegShot x64 Alternative

Hey, whattaya know. We finally agree on something. Both Registry Watch and RegSnap offer that same functionality plus even more. The problem though is they're both commercially licensed products and depending on the exact details of their respective licenses, it would be a violation of copyright law to incorporate them into a script and distribute it the way you've done with open source products. I don't know if there are any open source x64 compatible alternatives out there. At any rate, if a solution to this dilemma can be found, I'd be willing to test your code on my system, as PAC is closest to automating this part of porting an app of all the scripts I've tested so far, with the exception SFX files that is but they don't handle the chore of determining what reg entries, etc need to be included.

I'm working on finding a solution and will post any results.

Stevoisiak
Stevoisiak's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 2 months ago
Joined: 2008-02-05 11:22
Looks like you have some compitition...

A program called Portable app template 2.5 is out. Although PAC looks much more user friendly than PAT, you never know if that may give it the advantige. Maybe you two could team up and create one better program.

Simplifying daily life through technology

Pages

Topic locked