So i recently got myself into a sticky situation, it seems like windows 'forgot' about a program I had installed (some drives changed letters / not really sure what happened).. I could find files that it created, but in 'Programs' and 'Add/Remove Programs' it is not there.
Also, when I use the 'programs' installer, it says it cant install because it exists already (to some extent), and I can un-install because windows doesn't know it exists.
BUT! I have an executable of the 'program' that works.
So I am wondering what the difference is between an executable, and what windows considers to be, and keeps track of, a 'program'.
This is definitely the kind of program that would show up in 'add/remove programs', as I have several other very similar ones from the same company that show up there, and I know it used to show up there.
I am not looking for wikipedia answers, I am interested in what exactly a 'program' is. What are the necessary pieces that make up a 'program' as far as windows is concerned?
For a program to show up in "add/remove programs", it needs to be installed. Typically, this is done through an installer that takes care of registering the program with windows and modifies the environment so that the program functions properly.
It may modify the registry to store user preferences for example...
When you have just an executable, it's not necessarily installed. It may be standalone.
Some programs don't absolutely need to be installed even if it's the canonical way to add a program in the Windows system. That's why it may work.
Another executable may fail because it relies on modifying the state of the system to work properly.
I hope it helps :)
Related
I have my own installer program which I use to install several applications I have written.
I have been updating this program to avoid the application's data file updates going to the user's VirtualStore, as I read this was a "bad thing". I am doing this by storing the program and common data files separately in their correct locations, instead of sticking everything in Program Files like we used to do in the days of XP.
I am also now using SHGetFolderPath (yes, it's deprecated, but I still need to support my XP users), to get known folders instead of trawling the registry, which is another "bad thing" (I read).
The next thing I was trying to do was rewrite the installer code to avoid registry redirection to Wow6432Node when writing stuff to HKLM, as I thought this was another "bad thing".
However, although I could put the application specific stuff that goes there (like the install folder, if the user decides to install in other than the default), the killer is the need to put the uninstall info in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. For 32-bit stuff running on a 64-bit system, this is redirected to Wow6432Node. I don't see any way round this - is it in fact possible?
UAC registry redirection could reasonably be described as a "bad thing" because it is designed specifically to provide compatibility with improperly written software, i.e., software that assumes it is going to be run with administrator privilege.
WOW64 registry redirection is a different beast; it's designed to provide compatibility with properly written 32-bit software. If your software is 32-bit, and has no specific need to be 64-bit aware, there's nothing wrong with letting it run in the emulation environment as-is, including allowing registry settings to be redirected to Wow6432Node.
You can bypass WOW64 registry redirection if necessary, but you shouldn't do this arbitrarily, only if there is a specific reason. If WOW64 redirection worries you, the only good alternative is to provide a 64-bit version of your program.
This is a very "BAD THING" !
Microsoft solves a security problem by hiding thing at another place !
I've created a programm to ask the user for some additional parameters (language, directory for lessons) during installation of the app. I tested the programm profoundly, and the registry entries were made perfectly. However during setup the entries were hidden at some strange place!
If Microsoft wants to redirect these enties it should at least be some option to be set.
Never hide things, and think they will not notice, because it's transparant.
Doing this properly would involve an option to be set, so users are aware of the redirection !
Well, I'm using Visual C++ 2010 Express and ResEdit
for my midi sequencer's SETUP app.
Win32 API, no MFC, some custom window and control classes and such.
Now that I got Windows 7, my dang SETUP program is broke.
Windows gives me the ole "Did this app install correctly??" thingy.
Which implies that SOMEthing is wrong with my installer.
I'm tryin' to figure out what that might be...
I've seen these 2 SO threads:
"This program might not have installed correctly"
"This program might not have installed correctly" message in Windows 7 RC
Which have lead me to these places:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd371711(VS.85).aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb756937.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa905330.aspx#wvduac_topic3
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/cjacks/archive/2009/06/18/pca-changes-for-windows-7-how-to-tell-us-you-are-not-an-installer-take-2-because-we-changed-the-rules-on-you.aspx
http://community.flexerasoftware.com/archive/index.php?t-189007.html
Only registry entries I use are the standard uninstall spot and
associations for filetypes.
SETUP writes a dat.cfg file in program files\pianocheater dir
that points to where all the app's data is. (just a text file with a path in it)
(And an etc.cfg for a temp dir within that data dir to use.)
So I'm only READING from programfiles\pianocheater post SETUP.
Can anybody think of why Windows wouldn't like the install?
Source code is at http://shazware.com/_etc/SETUP_PIANOCHEATER.cpp
It uses my library of window, control classes similar in spirit to mfc.
I could send useful parts of it, too.
It's not toooo bad for a setup app.
Should be pretty ledgible for a win32 guy/gal.
I could uuuuuse some he'p...:/
Oh yeah, I should point out that Go() is the entry point instead of main().
The DBG()s just do OutputDebugString() and seem to all run just fine.
TStr is just a big char[MAX_PATH] (and I don't do unicode)
And the trick PROBably is that I'm on win7 64 bit, but this is a 32 bit app.
I'm pretty sure I'm using the registry correctly for assoc's and uninstall spot, though.
So is THE thing I SHOULD do the manifest xml thing?
Or is there a more correct way to do things?
thanks much,
...Steve
First off, check whether that message is a false positive or not. The message you're seeing is designed to use heuristics (which can be wrong!) to determine if an installer failed due to Windows Vista/7 compatibility issues. If your installer is in fact compatible with Windows 7/Vista, then all you need to do is add a manifest declaring itself compatible. You'll also want to add a requestedExecutionLevel entry to your manifest as well to request elevation.
If your installer is in fact failing, of course, then you ought to fix that first.
Finally, if the error is showing up because a launcher executable exits early or something like that, consider suppressing installer detection by adding the appropriate manifest entries to the launcher as well (you may be able to use a requestedExecutionLevel of asInvoker if the launcher doesn't need administrative access; the presence of a requestedExecutionLevel manifest entry should suppress installer detection). Note that you should make sure you use ShellExecute to invoke your main installer process, not CreateProcess, or UAC may not elevate the child process.
I store the MRU of logins to my application in a file called login.ini and I save it in widnows application folders.
I noticed that on some systems — I don't know why; I cannot find a common cause — the user cannot create the file, whereas it creates all other files in the same folder.
The only reason I can think of is that some antivirus/windows setting/... doesn't allow this particular user to create the file on this system.
I solved the problem by renaming the file and it seems ok, but I'd like to be sure. Does anyone know more?
Note for bounty:
This is a related question I asked that details a little more what I am doing.
A little Google-fu turns up that other Windows developers have sucessfully created login.ini for their programs, and others use it in a third-party Windows login management program, so I would expect that its "reservedness" is partially dependent on its location in the file system (i.e. in the system files). However, I don't think the name "login.ini" is a system-wide reserved name, no.
I think you're right - certain antivirus programs MAY be messing with the creation of that file, as it is a fairly likely candidate imho for a virus filename. It looks as if it may already have been used for that purpose somewhere (apparently outside of the US), tho don't quote me on that.
So, if a different name works for you, I'd go with that. :)
Anti-virus is a definite possibility for messing with your file. Stuff like that happened all the time to me when I was using Norton.
'login.ini' is not a system-wide reserved name, it would only mess things up with the OS if you had it in the (assuming your drive is C:) C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINDOWS\System32 directories.
If you just have the file in an application files directory (like C:\Program Files or C:\All Users\Application Settings and such) it shouldn't interfere with the system.
If you determine that anti-virus is a definite problem, you could change the name to something like loginData and maybe make up a new file extension if you want to (assuming you are just going to read the file from a program, where the extension doesn't matter. otherwise stick to a recognized file extension)
Sometimes after I install a program, a window appears on the screen and tells me, "To complete the installation, restart the system".
Now, I just want to know when a program requires a reboot and so my question is:
What kinds of operations does a program do that require a reboot?
One of the most common reasons is if you need to replace files that are in use (such as, say, what Windows Update does), then you have to tell the system to replace it on the next reboot.
Generally speaking, it's to replace/modify files that are in use by the system (and locked), so they can be updated on boot, before they are locked again.
Often when they install special drivers / hooks in Windows itself, like creating a virtual drive with DaemonTools. Either they need to replace files that are in use or a reboot is needed for the program to merge in the OS's inner layers.
The main reason for a reboot is files that in use that the installer could not replace. You can look at the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\FileRenameOperations and see which files will be removed or renamed after the reboot.
I've asked the very same question here :
Why does my program say "folder does not exist" when run on Windows 2008?
but none of the answers were satisfying and my problem still exists , so I decide to ask it in another way with more detail cause this problem really irritate me and we need to solve this , otherwise we have to write the similar application in another language which means waste of our time.
program written in delphi 7(32 bit)
environment running this program is : windows 2008 r2 64-bit
the task program try to do : creating 3 folders then copy an sound file and compress it using lame commmand line (lame.exe) and save changes into database
error I get : "THE 'folder' does not exist . the file might have been moved or deleted , Do you want to create it?" and it cause the program become halted
things I have done :
1- try to run the program as an administrator
2- check eventlog but no clue
3- triple check the required folder and all of them was correct
4- read this KB: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927387
BUT still I am seeing this bloody error.
I have uploaded the picture of the error here as you see it clearly :
http://i28.tinypic.com/9to6qr.jpg
The folder name is C:\Upload_ABC\\2010\07\27\:
please notice I haven't written that unwanted dialog-box inside my program I believe windows 2008 attach it or bring it on my application.
please please please give me some idea or let me know what should I do ?
best regards.
C:\Upload_ABC\\2010\07\27\
You have two backslashes in your path. Use debugger to see why.
Have you checked the access rights for that folder structure with regard to the account the Delphi program is running from? Windows Server systems tend to be more restrictive in what a user is allowed to do than Windows on workstations are.
In addition I suggest to strip down a copy of the program to the relevant functionality to show the error. With this you get at least a chance that anyone around may test it on another system.
Furthermore you can try to compile it with D2010 and see wether the error persists. If it does, you might have a chance to find the problem running the D2010 debugger. If you don't have D2010 at hand, you might install the trial just for this purpose.
What is between the two consecutive backslashes in your path? Is there really nothing between them or have some characters been removed because they are Unicode and D7 doesn't support Unicode?
As there is nothing in between the two consecutive backslashes...
It does sound like Windows is getting its grubby little fingers in between your program and your access of the files. Either the folders have not been created, or you are being denied access once they have. And as the changes you are trying to store in your database involve compressed files, virtualization seems to be the culprit as explained by the link you yourself provided.
A couple of avenues to try:
Remove any compatibility settings on your exe (right click|properties|Compatibility tab) that could trigger Windows to butt in. Also don't forget this can be triggered by things like "setup" or "update" as part of the executable name.
"Save your application's data in a folder under your user profile."
Such as c:\users\\documents or some such (better not hardcode it in actual production code, but ok for debugging). That after all is exactly the advice the linked msdn article is giving for scenario 2 "you cannot find the files or folders you just created"
If you can't debug on the machine where it is running, go back to old school debugging: add trace messages to your code to show where in the code you are (and have been) and show them in a memo on a separate form or some such.
Make sure you don't "eat" any exceptions that could give you extra information about what is going on.