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Why does the installer self-delete?

kelaniz

By kelaniz
in Troubleshooting

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kelaniz Newbie

kelaniz

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Why does the uTorrent installer (apparently) delete itself after install finishes? That's...incredibly annoying. It would be slightly better if it at least went to the recycle bin, but this complete vanishing act is a pain. Lots of people keep copies of installed apps for repair/backup purposes, copying to another box and to put on an unattended OS install, etc. I can see this behavior greatly pissing off all of those groups, among others.

I looked in the FAQ and a few other places for an answer to this with no luck, so I'm asking here. I hope this is a bug, or I'm missing something obvious, because I just can't believe an author would intentionally add that 'feature' thinking "What an incredibly great idea!"

-Kel

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kelaniz Newbie

kelaniz

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Wow, so it is intentional. That's unfortunate.

You're right. It's not really that important as far as programs go, but that's not the point. If deleting is the default behavior, there should be a notification, and at LEAST one of the following:

A choice in the matter

Delete it to the recycle bin, so it's recoverable.

Better idea? Leave it the hell alone. Excluding multi-archive setups, this is the only program in 25 years I've ever seen blindly do this. I could count the ones that did it, but had the decency to ask first on one hand.

Useless installer or not, I think most people would agree it's incredibly bad form for a program to unexpectedly delete any file that they don't expect to be deleted. That it does this silently, forcefully and irrevocably is so presumptuous and intrusive, it amazes me.

Put another way, If you're a new uTorrent user with even half a clue about software, and your first experience with uTorrent is seeing the installer you just downloaded vanish without your consent. That's NOT a good first impression. If I didn't already know differently, I'd be wondering if I could expect that same nuclear approach to be applied to my torrents and their data files.

It's amazing no one's complained about it here before. If they did, I sure couldn't find it.

Just my 0.02.

Kel

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kelaniz Newbie

kelaniz

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Yeah, I know that now! :) And that's what I do now. I was just thinking about all those poor, lost newbies wondering where their little green installer ran off to.

Hm. It's kinda surprising no one else has complained about this. Kinda sucks, too, although not for you guys, obviously. :) (I'm sure that merger thread provides enough reading material).

Now I'm gonna be up all night wondering if my being so annoyed by that is a sign I'm on my way to becoming that bitter old man everybody hates. :)

Thanks for the quick replies, Firon, PerArne.

Kel

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Invy Advanced Member

Invy

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I don't really like how it moves utorrent.exe, from where ever you put it, to program files\utorrent whenever you first run it.

but really it's not big deal, I just download another one and put it where I originally had it.

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AllGamer Advanced Member

AllGamer

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as far as i know the file is not deleted, but just moved.

however, it'll be nice if the Beta of 1.7 at least asks where you want it to go (to be installed) like in 1.61

I really hate installing anything in my OS drive, since i wipe out my OS every so often

I always install all my Apps to E: and Games to G: :D

this way i wont have to waste time re-installing stuff back to the new OS, and i only need to do a restore of the Registry and other missing files.

so yeah, i guess it's a "feature request" ? to ask where to install 1.7

Please?

Thanks :)

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kelaniz Newbie

kelaniz

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Hi Ryan, thanks for making an appearance :) Can someone please clarify this: Is the uTorrent.exe copied to %programfiles%\uTorrent by the installer the same file as the installer, or is it a file packed in the SFX installer? I'm wondering if you:

1) Install uTorrent

2) Subsequently delete %AppData%\uTorrent (and any other files that would basically 'uninstall it).

3) Then run uTorrent.exe in %ProgramFiles%\uTorrent

Will it prompt you again to recreate the shortcuts, and recreate the %AppData%\uTorrent folder and initial userdata? If this is what happens, deleting the original installer isn't so bad, because you still technically have a copy. If not, (even if no one complained) if a newbie needs to recreate those shorcuts (and doesn't know how) they'd have to re-download the installer.

Firon and PerArne did say that no one besides me had complained about it, and that may be true on this forum. But there are quite a few threads on a lot of Unattended Windows forums that aren't happy about it.

I agree that after the installer delete happens once, next time you'll remember to make a copy. But I'd still like to suggest two changes...

1. Add a checkbox somewhere on the setup dialog and a "Delete the Installer?" option. I'd default it to keep it, as that's the standard behavior for software with this option, plus if a user blindly clicks through setup, it errs on the side of caution. Either way, the user now has a choice.

1a. A lesser alternative would be, move the installer to the Recycle Bin, so it can be restored if needed. If neither option is easily accomplished for whatever reason, at a *minimum*, put an obvious notice in the setup dialog stating that the installer will be deleted/moved after setup. It's not the best solution, but at least it gives the user an opportunity to make a copy. Obviously, I prefer Option #1 :)

2. Selectable install location is needed, too. However, I'm fine with the current install because uTorrent gets the Program Files path from the %ProgramFiles% system variable, instead of blindly installing directly to C:\Program Files. Never change that! :)

AllGamer: If you want your apps and Games to automatically install to E: and G: without you having to manually do it, (and still finding stuff in C:\Program Files) consider making a custom Windows build , if you haven't already. You can define all those paths to wherever you want, among thousands of other Windows customizations. It's a bit of work, but is incredibly handy, especially if you reinstall Windows frequently. There's a ton of sites, but http://www.msfn.org is one of the better places to read up on that.

Ryan: Thanks for popping in to this thread. Still can't believe I'm the only one who's complained about this on this forum. :)

Kel

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tjobo Advanced Member

tjobo

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@Kelaniz and others

To clearfy: The current insallation setup does not actually DELETE ANYTHING it just MOVES itself to your program directory and making short-cuts to the start menu.

however, it'll be nice if the Beta of 1.7 at least asks where you want it to go (to be installed)

Good idea.

Or just add a message to clearify like this: Utorrent will be installed to C:\program files\Utorrent (And the downloaded file will be deleted)

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kelaniz Newbie

kelaniz

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Yeah, whatever's easier. :) If you see the notice, and you're a new user wanting to keep the installer wherever you downloaded it, you can Alt-TAB over and make a copy.

The notice for the install dir is a good idea, too. As for me, I'll be happy as long as it respects the system %ProgramFiles% setting :) I just spent 4 hours today writing patches for two apps that REALLY WANT to be in THE C:\Program Files , regardless of where the folder actually exists on that system. :)

btw, welcome, AllGamer :) Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do something on this forum other than just be that guy who founded the one-man complaint thread :)

Kel

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  • 1 month later...
HalOfBorg Newbie

HalOfBorg

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Firon said - "you're the first to complain (and we've been using the same installer for a long time), so it's clearly not that big of a deal."

I've installed many versions of uTorrent on several machines and have NEVER had the installer vanish before. Never. I have a collection of apps that I install, and I keep old versions as well.

If the installer moves itself or goes POOF - it is the same thing to me. It's doing something unusual, unexpected, and it's doing it without asking or telling me.

As for the "you're gonna be online ANYWAY people" - says WHO? I've done installs where there's no internet access several times. Sometimes just adding things to a PC. I'd be real happy if I'd DLd the file to my Save folder, installed it, updated my CD, then when I went to put it on Fred's machine - it's gone.

Next thing you know I'm thinking I got a virus or something.

tJobo said - "Good idea.

Or just add a message to clearify like this: Utorrent will be installed to C:\program files\Utorrent (And the downloaded file will be deleted)"

Better idea - the installer installs uTorrent then just STAYS THERE like a good little file SHOULD.

Why is this so hard to do? Why would it NOT do this?

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HalOfBorg Newbie

HalOfBorg

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They do apply - since this SHOULD be an installer. Nobody goes online to download a "copy-itself-somewhere-else" file to use a program.

I don't WANT it to do what it's doing. My opinion, worth exactly what you want it to.

It's weird, annoying, people don't like it. It does not inform you it's doing something unexpected. Sounds like Windows.

Imagine installing your OS, and when you're done - the CD drive is empty. It just MOVED itself to your harddrive.

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HalOfBorg Newbie

HalOfBorg

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I'M DENSE???

Why did you change the last post, removing calling me an idiot?

Your file does something UNEXPECTED that caused a thread in your own TROUBLESHOOTING section - and I'm a dense idiot.

Please remove me from this forum as I have no further need of it.

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