Winamp Backup Tool (v3.6.4 available, released on 19-12-2022)

[labrador999]

@Koopa:

Thanks. Your test version resolved the problem !!!

I restored the original contents of "C:\Program Files\Winamp\paths.ini" back to "inidir={26}\Winamp"
Now WinampBackupTool runs without popup UAC and stores my accounts data.

I noticed another glitch:
My username contains a "." (period)
WinampBackupTool throws the warning: (my translation from German)

the path is invalid
It contains invalid characters

But this is not a problem for me. I just save to another path

[Koopa]

Winamp Backup Tool v1.0 Beta 11 available

1.0 Beta 11:

- made tool remembers last selected language (to force the language selection dialog, simply set Lang=0 in Winamp_Backup_Tool.ini)
- sorted the entries in components page for English alphabetcially
- improved paths verification code, to allow for example file paths, which contain "..."
- updated English, Polish & German language files (updated public English example language file will be available later)
- updated the Documentation file (still far from complete)
- fixed wrong user path detection under Vista/Win 7 for standard users, when UAC is enabled
- [Installer] fixed that installer creates multiple start menu entries, when it was ran in different languages
- [Installer] fixed uninstallation of start menu entries, when installer was ran in different languages

We need more testers, which run Vista/7 with limited user accounts and UAC enabled.

I'm glad to announce, that DrO is now in the dev boat and I bet we can expect nice things from him.

Development progress will be speed up now, so you don't have to wait for new builds so long again.

English Example file is obsolete and will be replaced by a newer version soonish.

-Chris

[labrador999]

v1.0 Beta 11 now performs perfect on my system.
I use Windows 7 with limited user accounts and UAC enabled.
No UAC-window popup, stores MY data in MY userdir, and accepts that my username contains a "." period.

[MrSinatra]

i have beta 11 on my win7 32bit laptop.

i use an admin user account.

i get a UAC prompt when i start the backup tool. (do i want to allow your pgm from an unknown publisher to make changes, yada yada yada) i have tried putting a check in the shortcut to run pgm as admin, and that has no effect.

am i seeing what i am supposed to be seeing? i'd rather not get a UAC prompt.

[DrO]

i'm hoping it's not intentional as i'm also seeing the UAC prompt as well when manually running the tool (via the installer it'll not show it due to inheritance of the installer's permissions - same thing the Winamp installer does just due to how it all works sadly).

will have to look into it as it really shouldn't be doing it as there's no need for the tool itself to need uac elevation when doing a backup (only possible situation would be when doing a restore to a custom folder but even then it should be working with a user folder so it shouldn't be an issue / requirement to have an uac elevation on the tool itself).

[edit]
from talking through things with koopa on what is intended and what was changed since the previous version, i think we know what the reason for the issue is, unfortunately the fix is potentially complicated as the backup can be uac-free, but the restore needs to have uac-permission as required. at the moment, the only way to achieve this is to split the tool in some form either as the main tool and then a child restore tool allowing elevation as required or by using the nsis uac plug-in. either way it's not pretty but that's improved security for you

-daz

[MrSinatra]

i'm confused...

i get the UAC prompt just by clicking on the shortcut to start the tool. i neither backup nor restore, i simply start the tool.

is that expected behavior? it doesn't seem to happen to labrador999.

[DrO]

it's not meant to happen but the standard user fixes caused a UAC prompt irrespective of the action you're wanting to use the tool for under an admin account (it tries to get the highest access it can which under an admin account will lead to a UAC prompt). that's how it works with the properties of the manifest inside of the tool. ideally it should just run at the user's level and elevate as required.

it's still to be fully looked into but i think we're looking at a fair bit of work to get it working nicely so that it'd do UAC only on a restore (otherwise a restore will fail generally) and not when wanting to do a backup (which won't need UAC as the backup has to go to a location with write access).

-daz

[Koopa]

Lemme try to explain it a bit more.

Previous versions of the tool simply requested for admin rights, when UAC was enabled and a standard user profile was used. I got some reports, one of them from labrador999, that the tool doesn't work correctly when you are running the tool as a standard user with UAC enabled.

One of the main problems for standard users was the profile folder detection. As soon as a user with standard profile used the UAC prompt to get the required permissions, the tool wrongly detected the user path of the admin account instead of the user account.

I did a lot re-search to find a solution for it, but it was quite difficult. Instead of forcing Administrator rights, I requested Highest permissions and additionally I forced per user settings.

That worked fine for the backup functionality. Standard users won't get any UAC prompt, the detected path was correct and Backup was working at all.
But as soon as we restore files back to the program folder (MD presets, multi user unfriendly ini files, icon packs and skins), restoration without highest permissions would fail.

But it seems, that my solution forced a UAC prompt for some admin users, which surprised me (personally I never got any prompt in all the tests I got) and it is a nasty side effect.

The main problem is, that I cannot request standard privileges only, this would work fine for all users without any UAC prompt and backup would work just fine, whether restoration would fail.

I spent a lot of time to find a solution, my solution made sense, respected nearly all cases and usually there is no explanation, why it popups a UAC prompt for admin users now.

As DrO said, fixing the issue now is a nasty thing, which needs a lot of time and whatever solution we use in the end, it's not a pretty one - UAC issues are a pain.

labrador999: thank you much for your feedback, it's helpful an much appreciated.

[MrSinatra]

ok... i just want to be absolutely clear that the UAC prompt happens by clicking on the shortcut to simply start the tool / app. i have not since tried to do a backup or a restore, but i assume it will work and not further prompt me.

i can deal with one UAC prompt as long as it works otherwise, no biggie.

[DrO]

with b11 it will prompt every time the tool is run if you're using an admin user account (just to summarise everything else which has been written)

-daz

[Koopa]

MrSinatra:

We're really trying our best to resolve these issues, but these issues mean a lot of nasty work and tests for us, to find a solution, which will work for admin users as well as for standard users.

From a dev point of view, all this UAC stuff is just a pain.

[MrSinatra]

totally understood, i just wanted to provide clear feedback. the UAC is not a big deal for me and the app itself is just what the doctor ordered. thx!

[MrSinatra]

? about the tool...

if i backup a XP install, can i restore it to a win7 install, and vice versa?

if not, can i just restore the smartviews portion? which checkmarks cover smartviews?

[Koopa]

If you backup all stuff on e.g. Win7 to a USB stick and enter the correct path under XP, you can restore the files.

So yes, it will work, you just must make sure, that the backup path is correct and that Winamp is installed on the target system, you want to restore stuff on.

Thanks for remembering me about that, I should document that it's possible to restore stuff between different Operating Systems.


As for the progress, DrO is currently very busy with own things, and I cba to do as much stuff for the documentation, like I probably should do.

I cannot say, when the next build will be published, but one thing I can say for sure, it will contain a finished docu file and UAC improvements.

[MrSinatra]

great, thx.

so which checkmark covers smartviews?