startup problems

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jfoster

startup problems

Post by jfoster »

Hi,

I just bought xpadder and I really like it, but almost every time I start it, it goes through the initialization process (asking for profile location, warning dialogs, etc.). It doesn't happen every time, just most times.

I'm running Win7. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

SGTCableDog
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Re: startup problems

Post by SGTCableDog »

When Xpadder starts it looks for xpadder.ini configuration file in the same folder as the xpadder.exe application file. If it doesn't find this file it goes through the first start dialogs. I'll assume if you checked the folder you won't find the configuration file.

So why isn't Xpadder creating this file?
- You are running Xpadder from inside the .zip compressed file. Unzip the files into its own folder.

- You saved the files into the "Program Files" folder. In Vista and Win7 the program files folder is a "protected" system folder. Programs are not allowed to write data to it for added security. Any files written to this folder is actually saved to the users system store. Windows will check this location as if it is in the same program file folder until Windows is restarted. I guess this is the issue you are having. Save the Xpadder files into a non-protected system folder. I use a folder in the users folder. C:\Users\{user_name}\Xpadder.

- Xpadder is not closing properly for some reason.

jfoster

Re: startup problems

Post by jfoster »

Thanks for the reply. Xpadder is running from C:\Program Files (x86)\Xpadder 5.6\ and there is no xpadder.ini anywhere on my drive. I moved the .xpaddercontroller and .xpadderprofile files to C:\Users\Jason\My Documents\. I can close and restart xpadder with no problem, but when I shutdown my computer (without manually closing Xpadder) and then restart, I get the startup dialogs. I suppose I could be careful to manually shutdown Xpadder, but maybe it should be considered a bug that it is not responding to a system shutdown more elegantly.

Can you please post a copy of your xpadder.ini so I can try to put that in the folder with the .exe (after tweaking it), to see if that fixes things?

mnl1121
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Re: startup problems

Post by mnl1121 »

jfoster wrote:but when I shutdown my computer (without manually closing Xpadder) and then restart, I get the startup dialogs.
Thats exactly your problem. You must shutdown Xpadder properly. No application is supposed to shutdown (or shutdowns properly) when you choose to shutdown your computer without closing them first.

jfoster

Re: startup problems

Post by jfoster »

Not to be argumentative, but no other application that I can think of responds so ungracefully to a forced shutdown. What I mean is, if I shut Xpadder down properly just once, that should be enough. Future forced shutdowns shouldn't erase the .ini file, you know? Is there a way to address that?

mnl1121
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Re: startup problems

Post by mnl1121 »

Forced shutdowns do not erase the .ini file. Are you sure your closing Xpadder correctly? Using the red x button that usually closes applications does not close Xpadder by default. It only minimizes it to the system tray. To close it you need to right click Xpadders system tray icon and click on close.

SGTCableDog
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Re: startup problems

Post by SGTCableDog »

SGTCableDog wrote:- You saved the files into the "Program Files" folder. In Vista and Win7 the program files folder is a "protected" system folder. Programs are not allowed to write data to it for added security. Any files written to this folder is actually saved to the users system store. Windows will check this location as if it is in the same program file folder until Windows is restarted. I guess this is the issue you are having. Save the Xpadder files into a non-protected system folder. I use a folder in the users folder. C:\Users\{user_name}\Xpadder.
I should be more clear. If you run Xpadder from the Program Files folder then when Xpadder closes it saves the xpadder.ini in Xpadders home folder. Windows Vista and higher prevents this as a part of its UAC security feature. Windows then saves xpadder.ini in the users virtual store, i.e. C:\Users\Jason\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Xpadder 5.6\xpadder.ini This is an added "feature" to Windows security. The work around is to run Xpadder from a non-protected folder, I use C:\Users\user_name\Downloads\Xpadder\

Xpadder is self contained, you can run like a portable app from a memory stick and if you want to uninstall it simply delete the files.
Common file and registry virtualization issues in Windows Vista or in Windows 7 wrote:Scenario 2: You cannot find the file or the folder that you just created
When you use an application for which virtualization is enabled, you create data files in virtualizable locations of the file system. When you use another application or Windows Explorer to access these newly created files, you cannot find them. For example, if you save a file in a photo editing application in the %programfiles%, %systemroot%, %systemdrive%, or %programdata% folders, you cannot locate this file.

Scenario 2
To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods:
  • Click the Compatibility Files button that appears on the Explorer bar to view virtualized files in the folder. The Compatibility Files button appears only if there are virtualized files in the folder.
  • Look in the C:\Users\User_name\AppData\Local\VirtualStore folder to locate files and folders.
  • Save your application's data in a folder under your user profile.
jfoster wrote:Not to be argumentative, but no other application that I can think of responds so ungracefully to a forced shutdown. What I mean is, if I shut Xpadder down properly just once, that should be enough. Future forced shutdowns shouldn't erase the .ini file, you know? Is there a way to address that?
Xpadder will only stop forced shutdown when it has unsaved changes to the loaded profile or controller layout. When options are changed Xpadder will update the .ini when it is closed either by the user or forced by Windows. The .ini doesn't get deleted, Windows "loses" the file when it is restarted that is why when you close and restart Xpadder Windows knows to check the virtual store. Follow my suggestion above or complain to Microsoft. ;)

jfoster

Re: startup problems

Post by jfoster »

I couldn't find xpadder.ini in any of the local folders, either while xpadder was running or after I closed it down (with the tray icon). So I just moved everything to C:\Users\Jason\AppData\Local\Xpadder 5.6\ and now it runs fine. Thanks for your help!

mnl1121
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Re: startup problems

Post by mnl1121 »

What do you mean by local folders? Any folder with restricted write privileges should not be where Xpadder resides. You don't need it in AppData, you can just put it in your user folder (as in C:\Users\Jason\), however what you did is fine.

jfoster

Re: startup problems

Post by jfoster »

SGTCableDog said that "Windows then saves xpadder.ini in the users virtual store". That's what I was referring to when I said "local folders".

mnl1121
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Re: startup problems

Post by mnl1121 »

Ahhh ok i see. The "virtual store" still puzzles me in how it works. All i know is its there to help support legacy programs that still save files in certain spots that were unique to Windows XP and have now changed in Vista and 7.

Jonathan
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Re: startup problems

Post by Jonathan »

This whole Program Files issue is a pain so I have added a note to my list to check the folder on startup and warn the user about it. We can then delete this subforum :lol:

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