Recently had to reinstall Windows and all apps & having an issue with FreeFileSync

[PoconoDave]

Hello, I have the donation edition of the FreeFileSync App and recently had to reinstall Windows (11) and all my applications. When I reinstalled this program - the install application ran normally with no sign of any issue; however, the app does not show up as a program that I can run on my computer. It does show up as an application that is installed, and I can remove it. After doing some research I found that it could be that the install file is corrupted in some way, so I downloaded a fresh copy - with the same result. I then uninstalled, rebooted, downloaded & installed an older version - with the same result. I also saw that my Bitdefender program may be preventing it to install properly (Which was never an issue previously) and tried all of these again with my Antivirus turned off temporarily - with the same result. I would like to do another backup of my files - and would really like to get this working again. Can anyone help me with ideas on how to get this working?

[therube]

What happens if you run <instalDir>/freefilesync.exe (or <instalDir>/bin/FreeFileSync_x64.exe) directly?
Does the program open & run?

If not, I'll suspect (?) that the license file (registered.dat) keys in on <something> related to Windows itself, & when you reinstalled Windows that association was lost, so the program fails to run?

[PoconoDave]

I've only run the install files from my downloads folder. with no special "<instalDir>" before it.
The version that I had on computer previously was this one: FreeFileSync_14.10_[Donation_Edition]_Setup
When I jump through the install hoops - everything appears to be behaving properly - until I check in Windows Start menu and look for the program - and it's not there. I then look in the Installed Apps - and see it there.

I then uninstalled, rebooted, removed all references in my regedit to freefilesync and installed this version: FreeFileSync_14.9_Windows_Setup - everything happened the same as the previous attempts.

[therube]

Well the _Setup.exe did install it, somewhere, maybe /Program Files/ or whatever.
If you went that location, i.e. "instalDir", & ran FreeFileSync.exe, does it start & run?

If it does, then at least the program is working.

Not being on the Start menu & whatnot, that is a different situation (which is odd that the install wouldn't have set something like that up, as expected?).

[xCSxXenon]

Why did you reinstall Windows in the first place? Maybe you have an underlying hardware issue

[PoconoDave]

I have intermediate knowledge with computers - and not sure about how to run any program other than clicking on the .exe files that I download. The file was provided via a link when I paid for the donation edition - and that's how I had downloaded & installed it. I save my downloaded applications files, so often just reinstall ones I already had on my computer (that had been backed up to a cloud server). I have never had any issue like this with any other program. As I indicated, the installation prompts lead me to believe it is installing properly - getting to the final screen - but then, it doesn't show up as a program that I can run - but weirdly, does show up in the installed applications list, that I can uninstall.

[PoconoDave]

It's a new computer in January of this year and I was told that my system had been corrupted following a power outage - and proceeded to return to factory settings and reinstall windows and applications. I only have a handful of programs that I install on my computer and did not have any issue with any of the others. I have run Dell's SupportAssist doing a full system scan - with no issues.

[xCSxXenon]

If you used the built-in PC Reset, it's possible there is still an issue. Did the people that told you it was corrupted also handle fixing it? If so, I'd reach out to them for help. Otherwise, I would try reinstalling Windows from a flash drive using the Media Creation Tool directly from Microsoft's website. Again, maybe there is an actual issue with the computer beyond just a "corrupted system"

[PoconoDave]

there were no people that told me it was corrupted - when I tried to restart the computer after the power failure - I got an error prompt that it could not load properly and gave me an option to see if the software could repair it (I don't recall the exact phrase) and after that didn't work - I just bit the bullet and returned to factory settings. As I'm still under warranty with Dell, I'll reach out to them to see if they can help. thank you for your suggestions. This is a weird one - and I keep kicking Murphy (Murphy's law) out of my life, but he keeps coming back, lol.

[PoconoDave]

resolved, thank you. I had turned off the shortcuts that are placed on the desktop during the installation process - which I don't really care for - and this prevented me from seeing the application in the start menu. I ended up allowing them to be placed in the installation process - and then deleted the desktop links afterwards.