How to obtain a portable version without install.dat?

[ektorbarajas]

Zenju:

Several of us really love your software and think it is the best of it's kind, but since the introduction of the "install.dat" validation, the app can no longer be used portable, because when a portable installation is copied to another computer, the program is no longer working asit says that installation files are corrupted (install.dat).

On several posts I've expressed my good will of making you a donation and to have a version that doesn't has that install.dat stuff, a portable version that can be installed in computer A, copied to computer B and that actually works on computer B.

Can this be possible? my suggestions is to make this a one time donation, and we as donors for this feature, will be able to obtain a "clean" installer or portable version that no longer checks the install.dat.

How about this?

Blessings and regards

[Zenju]

What is the problem with the current portable version? It can be installed on USB sticks and moved around and also copied locally and remotely (if a network connection is available). Or FreeFileSync can just be installed on all computers where it needs to be. In general the installed version should be preferred because it includes features like registering the FreeFileSync file extensions which are extremely useful, but not available for portable installation.

[ektorbarajas]

Hi Zenju,

The problem happens at the following scenario (at least):

1) make a portable installation to a USB flash or to a Dropbox folder

2) copy the installed program to a different computer, in my case Is to copy the portable installed software from the USB flash or from the Dropbox folder to my work laptop (Since I can't run any installer on my work laptop due to admin restrictions)

3) then when attempting to run the recently copied portable installation, the install.dat message appears and so FreeFileSync is unable to launch.

So due to this install.dat issue I'm stuck with version 7.9 on my work laptop.

Please assists.

Sincerely
Hector Barajas

[ektorbarajas]

Zenju,

tried again to do the whole process, and again when attempting to run FFS from my work laptop, the following message appears (even that originally the portable installation ran OK at my personal computer)

When copied from dropbox to my work laptop, this message appears:

Installation files are corrupt. Please reinstall FreeFileSync.
Consistency check failed for "C:\FreeFIleSync\install.dat".

Please help

[JustAnotherUser]

Zenju,
what is the opportunity of the current portable Version, which is bound to a specific PC?
It seems to just narrow down the possibilities without any benefit.
I can't follow your idea.

[ektorbarajas]

Zenju, please support my need as well as other users need. Without any problem I can make a donation to have a "customized" portable version without the install.dat annoyance.

Regards

[WhyNot]

Hi,

Same "install.dat" error message on my side between my personal computer (PC1 with admin rights) and my professional one (PC2 without the possibility to install any software). Problem solved with the following procedure:

1) From PC1, make a portable install on your USB device with this install folder for example: "F:\FreeFileSync"

2) DO NOT run "F:\FreeFileSync\FreeFileSync.exe" from PC1 !!!

3) Plug this USB device on PC2

4) Run "F:\FreeFileSync\FreeFileSync.exe" from PC2 : it works for me with v8.5 & v8.6

5) Now you can copy the "F:\FreeFileSync" folder on PC2 (NOT on another computer) and run FreeFileSync.exe as portable software…

Regards

[Zenju]

2) DO NOT run "F:\FreeFileSync\FreeFileSync.exe" from PC1 !!!

This step isn't needed (it's okay to run FFS from PC1, it doesn't change anything).

[WhyNot]

Unfortunately, if I run FreeFileSync.exe from PC1 at step 2, I have the "install.dat" error message on PC2 at step 4. Could the problem result from the level of security policy applied by the administrator on PC2 ?

[ektorbarajas]

zenju:

As I've mentioned on differnt posts. The portable installation is not working at all when trying to run on a different computer and the portable installation was created on another computer. It doesn't matter if it is run at original computer or not, at the second computer it won't run.

[WhyNot]

Surprising.
For Hector, it doesn't work at all.
For me, it depends on the installation procedure.
It looks like a file property problem.
For example, optimization tools for SSD recommend to disable "8.3 Name Creation" & "Last Access Time" ("NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation" & "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate" registry keys). Can the consistency check fail with this kind of "optimization"?

[ektorbarajas]

Zenju:

Why not develop a portable ready version? (A zipped one that just is extracted and executed, with no installation).

With that, users with my situation can download the portable ready version directly at the computer, unzip it, execute it and wala!

[JustAnotherUser]

Zenju,
what is the opportunity of the current portable Version, which is bound to a specific PC?
It seems to just narrow down the possibilities without any benefit.
I can't follow your idea.

Hey Zenju,
I'm quoting myself to beg you, to answer my question.
Maybe it is helpful for all of us to understand your reason for using this install.dat file.
Thx in advance.

[Zenju]

See here viewtopic.php?t=2378#p9969
The current portable version is not bound to a specific PC, it may be installed portably on USB sticks, and even moved from there to some other location. The only thing that doesn't work is copying files without any installation prior. For the Donation Edition there could be some improvement, but I'm not sure yet how this could look like. So far it seems the only scenario unsupported are corporate computers without admin rights and without internet access.

[ektorbarajas]

Zenju:

Please your help with a solution for the problems some of us are facing.

I suggest either of the three following options:
1) create a direct zipped portable version that just needs to be extracted (no installation at all)

2) fix the install.dat so that it works in stations like the one I have (and others users also have)

3) completely get rid of the install.dar.

We beg your support and as mentioned I can gladly make a donation to have a version that works in my scenario.

Thanks

[JustAnotherUser]

Hi Zenju,
thx for your explanations, but you didn't help me/us to understand your reason for using this install.dat file at all?

Why not just get rid of it, like in the past?

What's it's necessarity?

[drivetheory]

you guys don't get it....

he does this because he gets money (probably pennies) when the installer with all the bundleware is run.

portable version with a zip file means no installer, no bundleware, no money...

[ektorbarajas]

... but here is where the donation scheme enters.

Zenju, not sure if FFS has adware or perhaps another bundleware that can work for you but get rid of the install.dat problem

[JustAnotherUser]

Maybe use a license file, which will be created for every donation, instead of the install.dat for the donation edition?

[Zenju]

I'd like to discuss this topic more in terms of requirements, rather than technical solutions (=> that's my job ;)
What are the specific demands, e.g.:

1. you need FFS to run on work PCs where you have no admin rights and/or no internet access (thous the wish for a portable version, although portability is not strictly needed)
2. you're basically fine with the regular version, but just want to get rid of the installer ad
3. you really need a portable mode on a USB stick to work on multiple different PCs
4. synchronize (portable) FFS installation via cloud services like DropBox
5. installation of FFS for a large amount of users (corporate usage)

[ektorbarajas]

Hi Zenju,

My situation is as follows:

In the past my work laptop USB ports were just write-restricted. And I was able to install FFS people table using my personal laptop to a USB flash, then I just copied the portable FFS folder from the USB to my work laptop.

I have access to Dropbox Web (not the app) in my work laptop so also I was able to install FFS portable to a Dropbox and then copy the portable installatIon to my work laptop.

So before the install.dat were present either of the two scenarios worked ok (USB or Dropbox).

At my work laptop I cannot run any installer due to Admin policies, just the portable installation used by some apps like portableapps.com installers, FreeCommander and Qdir.

So since the install.dat was introduced I'm no longer able to update my portable FFS at my work laptop, I'm stuck with version 7.9.

Hope this clarifies, please let me know if further information is needed.

Thanks.

[Zenju]

I've done a thorough redesign of the FreeFileSync Donation Edition concept for 8.7:
1. The Donation Edition (DE) gets an auto-updater
2. DE may be downloaded in a portable variant as a zip-package => no admin rights required for installation
3. DE supports scenarios without internet access via an alternative offline-activation
4. The DE portable files may be synced via Dropbox without repeatedly triggering syncs due to changed Install.dat
5. In order to avoid confusion, the ad-supported portable version has been removed. It always required an installation, which was counter-intuitive to what most users would expect from the term "portable" (which has multiple meanings, e.g. work from USB, don't change system settings, does not require installation, etc...)

Step 5 is probably the most risky change, but stats show that only a small number of users actually need this. Strategically I believe the set of changes is a great step to advance the two FFS variants in a logical direction.

[ektorbarajas]

Hi Zenju,

Those are great news!! Will make a donation in the next days to have This edition. Any issue will let you know.

One question: after making the donation, what's next? Is there something additional to do?

Thanks

[ektorbarajas]

Zenju: I already found the answers at the FAQ.

And made my 5 EUR donation

Thank you

[jshepler]

Ok. I just came across this program yesterday and have been testing it to determine if it will meet my business needs. I was assuming that it would because of the "portable" label. But after reading this thread, I am confused, very willing to donate if this software will work but I cannot tell at this point. What I am looking for is a program that I can use in a data center that can be used from a central location by multiple servers. However these servers are under a no software installation policy since it is in a Datacenter. So I would need to copy the installation to a network location and then be able to run it from there. Is this going to be possible?

[ektorbarajas]

Jshelper:

It should work, I have a similar situation since I cannot install it on my work laptop. Due to admin policies all installations require admin credentials.

So I donated and obtained the portable zip. Just extract and run it and I'm able to sync files from my local computer to network drives.

[Gweb]

Zenju:

It is unfortunate that the ability to install silently has been removed from the free version as this makes the app much more tedious to deploy through command line installers or package managers (such as chocolatey or just-install). This is a loss even for donors since the donor edition will never be available through package managers and the installation of the latest version cannot be fully automated.

[orplid]

In your FAQ you are using the terms "computer", "home user" und "usb stick" to clarify the exact circumstances in which one specific instance of FFS DE my be run, but I'm not sure how my layout fits into your terminology.

I'm using ONE computer on which i'm booting (and using) 8 OS (mostly Windows). In order to avoid installing every utility 8 times and to avoid utility updates when restoring one of my OSes from an image (the important part) I'm using one HD as "utility repository" on which I install every utility which is installable in a portable way. "Portable" in my language means that the directory containing the files making up this program may be copied anywhere and may be run from any supported OS on any device to which the media containing the program is connected (this may exclude network locations). Now, can I use ONE instance of freefilesync DE from any of my 8 OS using the installed instance on my repository HD like a "USB drive"? Or are my 8 OS similiar to 8 "users"? Definitely not because I can only run one at a time...

Before you ask me why I don't use virtual machines: Rephrase my question in terms of 16 virtual machines using one shared virtual HD as utility repository. That's in fact my second scenario. Using a shared HD leaves my frequently used utilities intact if I have to restore a specific snapshot of a VM.

Up to version 8.6 ONE portable instance of FFS served the purpose for each familly of OS or VMs respectively.
How do I have to proceed if I want to upgrade to v8.7+?

Thank you for you time
orplid

[Zenju]

Your case sounds like the "portable USB scenario" where FFS is installed in one shared physical location. The difference that you are using a hard disk instead of a portable USB stick does not matter.

[TGeRi2]

Dear Zenju!

Please help me with my scenario: we are a small IT bussiness. Supporting our clients computer and servers. I would like to use FFS in Portable Mode with my clients on their servers. This means around ~50 computers. What should I do? I should donate 40x5USD? That is too much for us. Already donated one copy, created the PE folder and copied it to 5 of my customers computers but then I realized that it won't work since the new, 5th copy has activation issues of course. That was a misunderstanding on my side. So now what?

I could install a "normal" version "next-next-finish" on all the computers for free, I know, but I would like to just unzip an FFS copy with all our batch jobs and just be done with it. This is why I would like to use the donation edition! (to have portable version.)

AFAIK I cannot automate the normal install with switches now. Right?
I use 7.9 now but I would be more than happy to use the newest version but how?

I WANT to pay but not 40x5 USD.

Thank you in advance,
br,
Greg (from Hungary)