On Fri, 29 Jun 2018 13:07:29 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:
> See if this does what you need:
>
> <
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/>
> <
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-take-advantage-of-symbolic-links-in-window-10/>
Hi Char Jackson,
I don't ask questions that are easy to solve.
Only experts can answer my questions.
And even experts will have difficulty solving the questions below.
*I wouldn't ask this - if the answer was found ANYWHERE on the net!*
Thanks for being purposefully helpful in trying to answer what is,
admittedly, a question that only experts can possibly answer directly.
I apologize that I didn't make it clearin the OP that I want to MOVE
the installation, much like we did in the olden days with COA and COA32.
I'm hoping fellows who know tons more than I do, like Paul, or JP Gilliver,
can help advise how to MOVE an installation.
To your point, I'm aware of links, having cut my teeth on operating systems
that predate Windows by, oh, I don't know, a decade or more, most of which
extensively used links (aka shortcuts).
If links solved the problem, then the problem would only be cosmetic, which
it's not. The problem is one of organization, backup, consistency, etc.
Only a very experienced Windows user will be able to *improve* upon my
solution, but I don't ask easy questions, now do I?
People post like crazy to my threads, but almost none of those posts,
unless they come from the likes of people like Paul, actually answer the
question posed.
To always ensure value added to every problem set, here's my current
solution, for the benefit of the tribal knowledge of this group, and to
stimulate people to suggest improvements in the process.
NOTE THIS IS TESTED ONLY TWICE SO IT NEEDS MORE TESTING!
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How to create a full offline Epic installer & put Epic where it belongs
Note: The canonical site for Epic software only provides the stub.
Note: The Epic installer does not ask where it should go.
Note: The Epic installer does not default to Program Files.
Note: Portable apps are harder to make the default in Windows 10.
Q: What Windows magic happens during reboot (which allows default sets)?
Q: What Windows magic will put Epic in the app uninstall menus?
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Note: If you previously created the offline Epic installer, skip to step 6.
Strategy:
Always archive full offline installers & always control your system!
Tactic:
a. Create a full offline installer for Epic, and,
b. Install Epic where I want Epic to go.
c. Make this moved Epic the default web browser.
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1. Download the Epic installer stub executable named "epicsetup.exe":
https://cdn.epicbrowser.com/epicsetup.exe
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2. Run the epicsetup.exe stub (it will not ask questions!!!!!!):
It will first download the full installer into this directory tree:
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Epic Privacy Browser\"
And then it will install the Epic executable here:
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Epic Privacy Browser\Application\epic.exe"
Make a note of the properties of the desktop shortcut:
Target: "C:\Users\.\AppData\Local\Epic Privacy Browser\Application\epic.exe"
Startin: "C:\Users\.\AppData\Local\Epic Privacy Browser\Application"
Warning: Once you uninstall Epic, you lose the installer so first
copy & zip it up first!
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Epic Privacy Browser\Installer\"
Unfortunately, at this point, Epic is installed in the wrong place.
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3. Make an archive of the full download of Epic before uninstalling Epic!
Before you uninstall Epic, you must COPY the "Installer" directory
so that you can put it in a safe place, as the uninstallation process
will delete the original.
Copy (and zip if you like) this offline "Installer" directory
to the location that you normally store all your software installers.
Hint: It is a good idea to rename your offline installer archive, e.g.,
move chrome.7z epic_offline_installer.7z
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Epic Privacy Browser\
Application\62.0.3202.94\Installer\{setup.exe,chrome.7z} (168MB)
Note that there are three major components in this directory:
a. The installed "Application" <== we will use this
b. The offline "Installer" <== we will use this
c. The stub installer <== will will not use this
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4. Completely uninstall Epic using any normal method you like.
Uninstalling deletes files in "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Epic Privacy Browser\"
When you run Epic, it creates this folder, which you should delete:
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Epic Privacy Browser\User Data\"
Note: Completely uninstalling an app is sometimes multiple steps which
this note doesn't go into as it's not critical to the overall process.
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5. Now create the offline installer from the archive you made in step 3.
Working on your copy, extract the chrome.7z file.
This will create a "chrome" directory, which is the offline installer.
Hint: Rename the directory to someting more meaningful.
For example: chrome.7z extracts to a directory named "chrome".
For example: epic.7z extracts to a directory named "epic".
etc.
If you keep the name, what you'll see are these two objects:
.\chrome\Chrome-bin\epic.exe (867KB)
.\chrome\Chrome-bin\62.0.3202.94\(stuff)
Note: A good extraction program is
http://7-zip.org/download.html
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6. Note that most people will be satisfied with the offline installer.
For this note, DO NOT EXECUTE THAT INSTALLER!
If you execute the installer, it will install Epic but it will NOT
ask you where you want to put it.
So you've solved only the creation of a full offline installer issue.
You still need to MOVE Epic to where you want it to go.
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7. Move the extracted folder into your end result installation hierarchy:
Rename the "Chrome-bin" directory to "epic" & move it where you want.
For example (where your particular location is up to you):
mkdir c:\app\browser\http\ch_based\
move Chrome-bin c:\app\browser\http\ch_based\epic\
Note: Use whatever directory structure makes sense to you.
Notice you've taken care of the files, but not the registry entries.
(For example, Windows won't yet know to make Epic the default browser.)
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8. Now create the requisite menu entries for the 3 Windows 10 native menus:
Please see the separate tutorial on creating fantastically efficient
consistent well organized menus with a click of the SendTo button.
a. Heterodox Start Menu (Start > e > epic)
b. Orthodox Start Menu (Start > browser > http > ch_based > epic)
c. Cascade Start Menu (Taskbar > browser > http > ch_based > epic)
Make a shortcut to the epic.exe in that directory.
Target = C:\app\browser\http\ch_based\epic\epic.exe
Startin = C:\app\bro"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Epic Privacy Browser\wser\http\ch_based\epic
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9. Reboot the Windows 10 PC as there are registry changes to be made.
This is magic, to me, at the moment.
Interestingly, if you do not reboot, you will see a gray screen when
you run Epic and the menus won't work and it won't connect to the net.
I tried it twice, on two different machines, and, amazingly, the same
oddity happend in both cases. There's something magical in a reboot.
(If you know why a reboot solves this registry problem, let me know!)
After rebooting, the Epic browser will have a white background and
it will connect to the net just fine.
It's magic.
Note: A look with Total Uninstall, Zsoft, and Revo proves plenty of
registry entries get added, seemingly by magic, with that one reboot.
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10. After rebooting, start Epic from the shortcut you created.
When you start Epic, it will show a blue button to "Set as default".
Clicking that "Set as default" button opens Win10 default settings
where Epic will be one of your choices (after the reboot).
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Epic Privacy Browser\
Note that you an access those same default setup menus here:
Start >Settings >Apps >Default apps >Web browser=Epic Privacy Browser
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11. Test that Epic is now your default web browser.
a. Create an empty file with an html extension (e.g., "foo.html").
b. The file icon should immediately become the Epic icon.
c. Doubleclicking on that html file should bring up the Epic browser.
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12. UNINSTALLING EPIC:
Using this method of putting Epic where it belongs, Epic won't show up
as being installed in the Win10 add-remove-programs applets.
QUESTION: If you know how to add Epic to the installed-programs list
please let me know as that's part of creating a far
better Windows experiences.
Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features >
This is suppsed to work, but it only deleted my shortcuts:
epic.exe -uninstall
Where, when you run that command, up pops a window asking:
Uninstall Epic Privacy Browser
Are you sure you want to uninstall Epic Privacy Browser?
[_]Also delete your browsing data?
[Uninstall] [Cancel]
But that only deletes the shortcuts; not the files.
Interestingly, the Zsoft Uninstaller did not uninstall Epic.
I was able to delete Epic using Revo Uninstaller in "Hunter Mode".
The Revo Uninstaller found the registry entries and removd them.
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In summary, this note improves our knowledge on how to create an offline
Epic installer, how to move it to where it belongs, how to make registry
changes to allow that to be the default browser.
Questions remain which will require a Windows 10 expert to resolve!
Q: What Windows magic happens during reboot (which allows default sets)?
Q: What Windows magic will put Epic in the app uninstall menus?
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