Creation of a U3 (portable) package

[ahbrown41]

Have you considered creating a U3 or USB drive portable package for PowerArchiver? I think an archiver would be an excellent addition to the list of software programs for U3 drives. I think creation of the package is pretty simple and it is free.

Thanks!

[spoirier]

I second this suggestion. WinRAR is already available for U3 and I think users should have a better option. :)

[spwolf]

I am glad we will have beta testers ready for our U3 release :-).

[spoirier]

Any guess when you will have a beta version available? :D

[spwolf]

next Monday I hope…I think most of things have been completed already, just waiting to be tested a bit internally.

[baard]

any news on the release…

m

[Claude Renaud]

I would be very interested in it too …

[spoirier]

Spywolf,

Any new information about a U3 package? :)

[spwolf]

@spoirier:

Spywolf,

Any new information about a U3 package? :)

soon, we will have some time soon to complete it….

[By-Tor]

I just got a U3 drive and can’t wait to test PA on it too. :)

[spwolf]

heh, interesting… we wont lack testers I see :-)

[spwolf]

ready?

[spoirier]

Ready and waiting!!! :)

[baard]

yes…yes…please…

[davidsplash]

what is the main difference between the standard pa and u3 version. Just curious as i can already use pa on a usb key.

[spwolf]

U3 is emulating self contained system, once you eject it, all traces dissapear from host OS.

[spwolf]

Here you go:
http://www.powerarchiver.com/test/release/powarc962u3.exe

It will be published later on the main pages…

[spoirier]

Installation went just fine. Will be testing it tomorrow and report the results. :)

[By-Tor]

The installation couldn’t have gone smoother. I haven’t found a problem yet. The only thing that worries me is setting the file associations on the host computer. I’ll have to play around with this more tomorrow.

[spwolf]

@By-Tor:

The installation couldn’t have gone smoother. I haven’t found a problem yet. The only thing that worries me is setting the file associations on the host computer. I’ll have to play around with this more tomorrow.

well thats the whole point of U3 version, that associations and shell extensions get removed properly…

[spwolf]

i would guess everything is fine then? :-)

[davidsplash]

will development of the u3 package be on the same lines as powerarchiver desktop version. i.e as one version getts better so does the other

[ivan]

Yes, of course. As new PowerArchiver comes out, U3 version will come in at most 1-2 days after.

[By-Tor]

@spwolf:

i would guess everything is fine then? :-)

Your guess would be correct. :)

[spoirier]

It seems that the Shell Extentions are not being removed when you exit the program. I have the regular version of PA installed on my system with Shell Extentions turned on. After running then exiting the U3 version, the context menu still displays 'PowerArchiver 2006 U3". The regular version of PA has also lost its file associations. I would have thought that PA U3 would save current system settings at startup and restore them when exiting.

[spwolf]

@spoirier:

It seems that the Shell Extentions are not being removed when you exit the program. I have the regular version of PA installed on my system with Shell Extentions turned on. After running then exiting the U3 version, the context menu still displays 'PowerArchiver 2006 U3". The regular version of PA has also lost its file associations. I would have thought that PA U3 would save current system settings at startup and restore them when exiting.

well, it does that actually. What OS are you using and what version of PA U3? I suggest that you try the latest version.

thanks,

[spwolf]

Context menu should dissapear once you eject your U3 disk BTW, are you doing that or simply exiting PowerArchiver?

[spoirier]

Win XP/SP2 and all of the patches from Microsoft. Both Desktop and U3 versions are 9.63.01. Even after ejecting my U3 the context menu still displays 'PowerArchiver 2006 U3".

[spwolf]

@spoirier:

Win XP/SP2 and all of the patches from Microsoft. Both Desktop and U3 versions are 9.63.01. Even after ejecting my U3 the context menu still displays 'PowerArchiver 2006 U3".

you have to eject it for it to do anything - if you simply close PA, it will do nothing.

With regards to not deleting U3 conext menu - does normal PA menu appear after you eject? If so, what happens when you restart?

It might be Explorer caching dlls which happens sometimes so only “cure” is restarting the explorer via restart (or closing and starting explorer.exe).

thanks,

[spoirier]

I remember having an eject that failed. Perhaps this is what caused my problems. I reinstalled the desktop version to get the context menu sorted out. Now inserting the U3 and running PAU3 updates the context menu correctly. Ejecting the the U3 correctly restores the context menu.

Sorry for the confusion! :confused:

[baard]

The same thing happened to me, I did the exact same thing as you did to fix the problem. Also thanks to Spywolf for helping understand the mysteries of U3…

[By-Tor]

Another problem I discovered is that after ejecting the flash drive, I lose the icons configured on the host system for associated files.

[spwolf]

@By-Tor:

Another problem I discovered is that after ejecting the flash drive, I lose the icons configured on the host system for associated files.

PA returns associations as they were before (as long as you are using the latest version, we updated U3 version several times in past month).

Problem might be with icon caching in Explorer. Same goes with dll caching. Only way some of these things can be “fixed” is restarting explorer.exe or your computer.

[By-Tor]

@spwolf:

Problem might be with icon caching in Explorer. Same goes with dll caching. Only way some of these things can be “fixed” is restarting explorer.exe or your computer.

After going through the process of restarting and using TweakUI, the icons still went back to the default icons. I had to reload the skin I was using before I got my icons back.

[davidsplash]

basically the answer to the last quest is simple. The computer does not know that power archiver is alreday installed on the computer so when u take the u3 package out of the usb port it simply deletes the details of powerarchiver from your system.

The simply answer that every person is missing is that powerarchiver and the u3 package do not work togther how can they. The u3 deletes all powerarchiver detail;s on exit including icons. basically if you use the u3 package then u will need to reinstall the powerarchiver that is already on your system.

you can not have two pa’s on your sytem at the same time thats the problem if using u3 package.

I have yested this with and without powerarchiver alreday installed on my computer and have come to this conclusion from the results i had .

[spwolf]

@davidsplash:

basically the answer to the last quest is simple. The computer does not know that power archiver is alreday installed on the computer so when u take the u3 package out of the usb port it simply deletes the details of powerarchiver from your system.

The simply answer that every person is missing is that powerarchiver and the u3 package do not work togther how can they. The u3 deletes all powerarchiver detail;s on exit including icons. basically if you use the u3 package then u will need to reinstall the powerarchiver that is already on your system.

you can not have two pa’s on your sytem at the same time thats the problem if using u3 package.

I have yested this with and without powerarchiver alreday installed on my computer and have come to this conclusion from the results i had .

except that your conclusion is not true… those two versions will work together just fine. As long as you properly use the USB stick it should be great.

[spwolf]

@By-Tor:

After going through the process of restarting and using TweakUI, the icons still went back to the default icons. I had to reload the skin I was using before I got my icons back.

what do you mean by default icons?

[By-Tor]

@spwolf:

what do you mean by default icons?

The default icons as used by PA for associated archives as opposed to the ones used by the skin I use - SmoothVista.

[davidsplash]

as i correct that the u3 package actually gets rid of itself after it is taken ouit of the usb port. if so how can it detect that two versions of pa are different.

I had exactly the same problem with portable thunderbird and open office.

I was told by their developers that its because they don’t recoimmend suing u3 packages with standard windows versions of their packages.

[spwolf]

@By-Tor:

The default icons as used by PA for associated archives as opposed to the ones used by the skin I use - SmoothVista.

ah, I thought you got NA icons… we will check it out, thanks.

[spwolf]

@davidsplash:

as i correct that the u3 package actually gets rid of itself after it is taken ouit of the usb port. if so how can it detect that two versions of pa are different.

I had exactly the same problem with portable thunderbird and open office.

I was told by their developers that its because they don’t recoimmend suing u3 packages with standard windows versions of their packages.

i dont really understand what you are saying. U3 and Desktop version of PA will work fine on same computer.

However, while you are using U3 version, then you should not use desktop version at the same time. Once you eject U3, you can continue using desktop version as you were before.

PA uses different registry keys for U3 and desktop version, so there are no conflicts there…

[zerone]

is there hope for a localized build of the u3 package (german) and the option to store the registration information into an .ini file (like SpeedCommander U3)?

[spwolf]

@zerone:

is there hope for a localized build of the u3 package (german) and the option to store the registration information into an .ini file (like SpeedCommander U3)?

sure, if enough of people ask for it…

[zerone]

@spwolf:

sure, if enough of people ask for it…

maybe earlier? register on every PC i plugged my U3 drive is not an option. To register SpeedCommander without registry you can put a “register.ini” in the homefolder with this content:

[register]
KeyCode=abcd....
RegOwner=efgh...

the same can be done with the settings (of the u3 version - also stored in registy or am i wrong) and its easy to implement

[Socrates]

11.5 has been out about a month; will the U3 version be far behind?

Hugh

[spwolf]

@Socrates:

11.5 has been out about a month; will the U3 version be far behind?

Hugh

i am glad everyone is waiting for USB version… it will be out after 11.51 :)