Portable version isn't acually portable

[Ezzetabi]

I installed the portable version of DeepBurner free downloaded today, and I burned a CD keeping Regmon active, and the program seeked or wrote some settings in the registry!
Moreover some settings are full paths instead of relative paths and so moving the Deepburner folder will make them useless.

Here come lines from Regmon.exe:

Code: Select all

882.24481201   DeepBurner.exe:568   CreateKey   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\UI   SUCCESS   Access: 0xF003F    
882.24487305   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\UI\Explorer Window   SUCCESS   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ...   
882.24487305   DeepBurner.exe:568   CloseKey   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\UI   SUCCESS      
882.24682617   DeepBurner.exe:568   CreateKey   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings   SUCCESS   Access: 0xF003F    
882.24688721   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Eject_BurnDone   SUCCESS   0x1   
882.24688721   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Eject_EraseDone   SUCCESS   0x0   
882.24688721   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\InitializeASPI_SystemFirst   SUCCESS   0x0   
882.24688721   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Autorun_GridEnabled   SUCCESS   0x1   
882.24688721   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Autorun_GridXOrigin   SUCCESS   0x0   
882.24688721   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Autorun_GridYOrigin   SUCCESS   0x0   
882.24694824   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Autorun_GridStep   SUCCESS   0xA   
882.24694824   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\DriveBufferSize   SUCCESS   0x8   
882.24694824   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Autorun_Folder   SUCCESS   "Autorun"   
882.24694824   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\DefaultDrive   SUCCESS   ""   
882.24694824   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Explorer_Splitter_Pos   SUCCESS   0xB9   
882.24694824   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\Data_View_Splitter_Pos   SUCCESS   0xB9   
882.24700928   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\TempPath   SUCCESS   "C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\IMPOST~1\Temp\"   
882.24700928   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\MainSplitterPos   SUCCESS   0xB9   
882.24700928   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\SoundsEnabled   SUCCESS   0x1   
882.24700928   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\BurnDoneSound   SUCCESS   "D:\Programmi\DeepBurner\DefaultSound.wav"   
882.24700928   DeepBurner.exe:568   SetValue   HKCU\Software\Astonsoft\DeepBurner\Settings\EraseDoneSound   SUCCESS   "D:\Programmi\DeepBurner\DefaultSound.wav"   


Hoping developers will make this great program totally portable I thank you all

[admin]

I'm sorry, what do you mean by saying "Truly Portable"?

[Guest]

Truly Portable means that NO entries are written to the registry and NO files are copied to other directories other than the DeepBurner root directory.

[admin]

Have you ever seen a program more complicated than Windows Solitare that isn't adding any info into registry? Registry is designed to be used by programs.

What files are in the other directories?

[Guest]

Have you ever seen a program more complicated than Windows Solitare that isn't adding any info into registry?

Yes, plenty of them and even in every software category there is at least one that is fully portable starting by FTP clients, file management tools, whole multimedia applications and a lot more. They all have in common that they write their settings into local files placed into the programs root directory. These files usually have file endings like ini, xml, dat...
In this manner they do not write anything into the registry or place files outside their root. These programs have the same features like non portable ones except the fact that they usually don't assign file associations, because these have to be arranged by registry.

Registry is designed to be used by programs.

That's right. But portable programs should'nt use this possibility. Image this situation: You have DeepBurner Portable onto a USB key and want to burn data from a pc that is not yours. After having everything burnt you leave traces in the reg by starting DBP that can't be deleted by novices because there is no uninstall option (of course not, it's portable) and because they usually don't know how to do it. Imagine how the reg looks like after a short period if every supposed-to-be-portable-program leaves its traces into the registry.


Please don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning. I really appreciate your work and I'm glad you're so kind to offer a free and even a portable version of your burning program. But if a program is labeled portable it also should be.
There are two solutions to do this: either rewrite the way settings are stored and make sure they are saved into an external file (which would be quite a bunch of work, though) or the simpler one - leave the program the way it is but add a little entry into the menu which allows to delete the registry entries written during the use of DPB. The last mentioned should be quite easy to implement since it's just a new menu entry and a one-line-code-implementation. It could of course also be done with a simple batch or .reg file like this one:

Code: Select all

REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\my burning program]



But a menu entry seems much more professional

[Guest]

Hello!
I'm the writer of the "Is Portable = Installed" thread, which asked quite the same actually.

The other Guest above me however, put it real nicely & elaborated, and I agree with every word he said - including and most importantly the notion that we're not "moaning", and we really appreciate the time & effort you invest in DeepBurner, and the fact that you kindly offer a useful freeware version of course.

So, just some comments:
(An "ini" file instead of registry usage would really be the best option if it's not too much of a burden)
A manual menu option wouldn't be that good, because it forces the portable user to be aware (and to remember) of the fact he has to clean his friends' registry after usage.
This should be done automatically, but by laying that "reg" file above he actually gave me a better idea - have the program "export" the key to its folder before wiping it, and loading the "reg" file (if exists) upon next usage.
This method will ofcourse be useless when it comes to folder locations, but it will be most welcomed for settings like windows' and panes' size/position.

Meanwhile, you may better off calling the "portable" version a "zip package", as is properly accepted on most sites.
(It's just that people always associate a "portable" software to be a "green" software - the type that really wouldn't touch system's folders/registry).

Thank you once again for DeepBurner, and for reading these lengthy posts!

[admin]

Thanks for your messages, guys. Well, what you're saying is logical and I personally do agree with most of your points. Let's see how things will go about that. Most likely the next 1.8 version will have something to offer

[Guest]

That's right. But portable programs should'nt use this possibility. Image this situation: You have DeepBurner Portable onto a USB key and want to burn data from a pc that is not yours. After having everything burnt you leave traces in the reg by starting DBP that can't be deleted by novices because there is no uninstall option (of course not, it's portable) and because they usually don't know how to do it. Imagine how the reg looks like after a short period if every supposed-to-be-portable-program leaves its traces into the registry.


Please don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning. I really appreciate your work and I'm glad you're so kind to offer a free and even a portable version of your burning program. But if a program is labeled portable it also should be.
There are two solutions to do this: either rewrite the way settings are stored and make sure they are saved into an external file (which would be quite a bunch of work, though) or the simpler one - leave the program the way it is but add a little entry into the menu which allows to delete the registry entries written during the use of DPB. The last mentioned should be quite easy to implement since it's just a new menu entry and a one-line-code-implementation. It could of course also be done with a simple batch or .reg file like this one:

Code: Select all

REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\my burning program]



But a menu entry seems much more professional

I fully agree that a portable program should leave no traces. But deleting registry entries is a bad idea. If you use DeepBurner with an USB stick on a foreign PC and there is already DeepBurner installed for the actual user you would delete his settings, too. If this problem wouldn't exist, the registry entries woulrd not always be deleted because of possible crashes of the program or the whole system. So the best solution is to use a settings file in the DeepBurner directory.

[Guest]

I fully agree that a portable program should leave no traces. But deleting registry entries is a bad idea. If you use DeepBurner with an USB stick on a foreign PC and there is already DeepBurner installed for the actual user you would delete his settings, too. If this problem wouldn't exist, the registry entries woulrd not always be deleted because of possible crashes of the program or the whole system. So the best solution is to use a settings file in the DeepBurner directory.

Sorry, I read this thread a little bit to fast. The first problem was already mentioned by another guest.

[Guest]

aggre. Please safe everything in a .ini file from the Deep Burner directory

[Guest]

aggre. Please safe everything in a .ini file from the Deep Burner directory

I second (third?) that request.

Also a portable app also needs to have all the files that are not guaranteed to be on a system you don't have root access. For example, I use PCs that have had IE completely removed for security reasons, including shfolder.dll. Shfolder.dll is a required deepburner file, but not a required windows file. That file (and any like it) should be included so that file requests outside the deepburner dir are kept the bare minimum. Portable app users can't control if external files exist or not and won't know they need them on a portable machine until something screws up.

If you find that prospect daunting due to bloating program sizes, then create an optional directory of files that *probably* won't be needed that users can delete (or not bother downloading) if they want to safe space.

But don't have users rely on common & shared files in a portable app.

[Guest]

Have you ever seen a program more complicated than Windows Solitare that isn't adding any info into registry? Registry is designed to be used by programs.

What files are in the other directories?

[for not Portable]
I think the registry should be used to say the system where is deepburner installed But not to save some options/settings of the program.

viewtopic.php?t=1374