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171 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
171 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: U3Helper
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language: en
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layout: default
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created: 2009-02-28 02:26:46 +0100
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updated: 2009-09-12 01:38:44 +0200
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toc: false
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tags:
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- software
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- autohotkey
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- u3helper
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---
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Preface
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=======
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Being proud owner of a [U3 capable]({% post_url 2011-07-22-u3 %}) flash drive, I wanted to add some of the tools I use
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everyday but which were not U3 compatible.
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Running a U3 program from the LaunchPad basically does the following things:
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1. unpack the `.u3p` package (which is a `.zip`) to your local `Application Data\U3` directory
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1. run the *hostConfigure* command from the manifest file (once per session)
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1. run the *appStart* command from the manifest file (this starts the application)
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Ejecting the U3 drive does the following for all programs which were ran in that session:
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1. if the program is still running, run the *appStop* command from the manifest file
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1. run the *hostCleanUp* command from the manifest file
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Most programs store their settings in a key in the Windows registry. Some others need an `.ini` file in their folder.
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So in both cases it's relatively easy to move them to another location and run them from there.
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After I had successful runs using a batch file for *hostConfigure* which imported a registry file and another batch
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file for *hostCleanUp* which exported the new settings to that file, I wanted to create a tool which automates most
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steps neccessary for a program to run.
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So the **U3Helper** was born.
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The first version got too complicated after a while and so I started from scratch. The result it this tool.
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Usage
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=====
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This manual assumes you already know which registry branches and/or configuration files and/or OCXes/DLLs your
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application uses.
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Manifest file
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-------------
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Make the `actions`-section of your `manifest.u3i` look like this (the parameters in the `appStart` tag are for *WebMon*,
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not for the U3Helper):
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{% highlight xml %}
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<actions>
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<hostConfigure cmd="%U3_DEVICE_EXEC_PATH%\..\..\0f90f88c-5e05-4cab-8c3a-e1c0112b06fd\Exec\U3Helper.exe">config</hostConfigure>
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<appStart workingdir="%U3_APP_DATA_PATH%" cmd="%U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%\WebMon.exe">-prefs "%U3_APP_DATA_PATH%\WebMon.ini" -pages "%U3_APP_DATA_PATH%\pages\WebPages.dat"</appStart>
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<appStop cmd="%U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%\U3Helper.exe">appstop</appStop>
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<hostCleanUp cmd="%U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%\U3Helper.exe">unconfig</hostCleanUp>
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</actions>
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{% endhighlight %}
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<p><div class="noteclassic" markdown="1">
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Note: The GUID `0f90f88c-5e05-4cab-8c3a-e1c0112b06fd` is that of the U3Helper, NOT the one of the application of that
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manifest!
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</div></p>
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If the application writes something to `%USERPROFILE%\Application Data`, change the `appStart` line to look like this:
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<appStart cmd="%U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%\U3Helper.exe">appstart</appStart>
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This way, the U3Helper will change some environment variables for the launched application so that it stores all
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user-data on the flash drive instead of on the local harddisk.
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U3Helper.ini
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------------
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Now create a file `U3Helper.ini` and put it into the `host` directory in your U3 package so that it gets extracted
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to `%U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%`.
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Here is a template:
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{% highlight ini %}
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[U3Helper]
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AppName=PC OnPoint
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AppExe=PConPoint.exe
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; enter commandlines to run before stopping the application and before
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; ejecting the device. All variables mentioned under [FileDelete] work.
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RunBeforeStop=
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RunBeforeEject=
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; set Unattended to 1 to suppress settings-related questions
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; this way, previously existing settings on the host always get
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; replaced by the U3's settings and restored on eject
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Unattended=0
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[RegBackup]
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; enter registry branches to be backed up (+deleted) on eject
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; and restored on first run
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; SHORTCUTS (HKCU, HKLM,...) DON'T WORK!
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HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PC OnPoint
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[RegDelete]
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; enter registry branches to be just deleted without backup
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[regsvr32]
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; enter filenames to be registered using regsvr32
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; these files are assumed to be in %U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%
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CCListBar.ocx
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[DataToExecDir]
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; enter filenames or foldernames to be copied to the %U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%
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; and copied back to %U3_APP_DATA_PATH% afterwards
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; ONLY SIMPLE NAMES, NO PATHS OR WHATSOEVER!
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safe.dat
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safe.ind
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[ParseIniFiles]
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; enter filenames of .ini-files to be parsed for env vars on hostConfigure
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; and re-replace the paths by envvars on hostCleanUp. The files should reside
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; in %U3_APP_DATA_PATH%
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test.ini
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[FileDelete]
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; enter filenames or foldernames to be deleted on eject
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; Environment variables working (case sensitive!):
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; %ALLUSERSPROFILE%, %APPDATA%, %CommonProgramFiles%, %HOMEPATH%,
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; %ProgramFiles%, %SystemRoot%, %TEMP%, %USERPROFILE%, %WINDIR%,
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; %U3_APP_DATA_PATH%, %U3_DEVICE_DOCUMENT_PATH%, %U3_DEVICE_EXEC_PATH%
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%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy
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[EnvPath]
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; enter folders to be added to the PATH environment variable
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; upon running the application. All variables mentioned under
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; [FileDelete] get replaced.
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%U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%\lib\gtk\bin
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{% endhighlight %}
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* All registry keys listed under **`[RegBackup]`** are being backed up on eject of the U3-stick to sequential files
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(`regdata1.reg`, `regdata2.reg` and so on) in `%U3_APP_DATA_PATH%` and afterwards, the keys are deleted from the host
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machine. Also those branches are inserted back into the registry upon the first launch of that app after plugging in
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the stick.
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* if you put a file `regdataX.reg` into the `data` directory in your U3 package, this file gets imported into the
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registry after all other files have been processed. But this file never gets overwritten by a newer dump so it's
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perfectly to enforce some settings the program changes every time, like relative paths into absolute paths.
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* The section **`[RegDelete]`** just deletes those keys upon eject.
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* Under **`[regsvr32]`** you can list all `.ocx` or `.dll` files which should be registered before launching the app
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and unregistered on eject. The files are assumed to be in `%U3_HOST_EXEC_PATH%`.
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* Finally **`[DataToExecDir]`** lists files which should be copied into the directory containing the application
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(many applications insist on their config-files lying where the `.exe` lies) and back to `%U3_APP_DATA_PATH%` on eject.
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Download
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========
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* [u3helper.zip]({{ site.url }}/assets/u3helper.zip) version 2.1, April 2007, incl. sources
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* [u3helper.u3p]({{ site.url }}/assets/u3helper.u3p) version 2.4, June 2008
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See also
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========
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<ul>
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{% for page in site.categories.u3helper %}
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<li><a href="{{ page.url }}">{{ page.title }}</a>{% if page.language == 'de' %} (German){% endif %}</li>
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{% endfor %}
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</ul>
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