Installed Software

  • Thread starter Thread starter Al
  • Start date Start date
< snip >
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Obviously not a trivial task. We have a number of programmers in this
newsgroup and nobody has been able to do it. Added to that AFAIK
nobody outside of this newsgroup has either.
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"Has been able to" or "ever cared to"? You've asked?
Translation - it isn't a trivial task.
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Translation - for .zip and .rar it's trivial. I don't have any other
self-extracting compression examples so I have no idea how difficult
or trivial it would be for them. But reading the first - in the case
of a self-extracting .zip - 639 bytes of a file, or even the first
5300 bytes, and comparing them with a known block of data, is about as
trivial as programming gets.

<pseudocode>
Read 5300 bytes. If it's the same as that other 5300 bytes, go on to
the next file, otherwise test it against that other block of known
bytes, over and over with all known blocks. If it doesn't match any
known block, list it as an installed file and go on to the next file.
</pseudocode>

Looks something like an anti-virus program, except that it doesn't
have to read the whole file.

But why would I want a list of my executable but not self-extracting
files?
 
The problem with a computer upgrade though is that everything isn't
in the registry. That's why some of us want a list of "all installed
software". So that we can make sure that all our old programs are
moved to our new computer/OS.
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1) If you haven't used it in so long that you don't remember that you
have it, you probably won't use it again.

2) Copy the old drive to the new drive, excluding the C:\Windows tree.
Programs that need installation will let you know as you try to run
them.
 
Would not programs like total uninstall or installrite provide this list,
as a result of using them during the first install?

For example, total uninstall provides a list of all registry changes,
additions, and deletions as part of its report which it keeps to execute
uninstalls. True, the list is not in the convenient form of an sh type
file that you can just import into the registry.
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It wouldn't report anything if the program was something you could
just download from the web to your drive and run. IOW no registry
entry, no actual "installation", except for a file save. There are
programs that don't have any user settable options, so they don't need
(well, the authors think they don't need) any values saved anywhere.
 
Would not programs like total uninstall or installrite provide this list,
as a result of using them during the first install?
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< snip >

Sure, but I have programs on my computer that I installed more than
ten years ago and installrite etc. weren't around then.

Regards, John.
 
On Sun, 23 Apr 2006 09:27:28 +1000, John Fitzsimons
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1) If you haven't used it in so long that you don't remember that you
have it, you probably won't use it again.
Click to expand...

I don't remember all the programs/utilities I have installed. Though I
usually remember when I need to use one of them for a particular task.
2) Copy the old drive to the new drive, excluding the C:\Windows tree.
Programs that need installation will let you know as you try to run
them.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is one way to do it. Not my preferred way though. I would
prefer to have a list so that I could maybe do as you suggest but
check each one in turn to see if I need to transfer any files from the
old windows tree etc. Or not bother transferring a program/utility at
all.

Regards, John.
 
But why would I want a list of my executable but not self-extracting
files?
Click to expand...

To get a better "Installed Software" list than simply listing registry
entries.

Regards, John.
 
< snip >
Click to expand...
To get a better "Installed Software" list than simply listing registry
entries.
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Okay, I'll rephrase: why would I want an "Installed Software" list?
I'm not you. I know what software I need on a computer, and I install
what I need on a new computer. I don't need a list to tell me which
programs to install.
 
On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 08:19:45 +1000, John Fitzsimons
Click to expand...
Okay, I'll rephrase: why would I want an "Installed Software" list?
I'm not you. I know what software I need on a computer, and I install
what I need on a new computer. I don't need a list to tell me which
programs to install.
Click to expand...

I don't have a photographic memory. I remember most of the
programs/utilities I have, when I need them, but not all. A "list"
would enable me to rely less on my memory. I am talking here of
hundreds of applications/utilities.

Regards, John.
 
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