xxclone 0.45

[dpt]

I just read your urgent note about 0.45 version. I just installed that
version last night and did an incremental backup. All seemed to work
OK, but today my shortcuts are all "missing" in that it cannot find the
xxclone.exe file. I had put a shortcut to the file on my desktop, now
that shortcut is just a generic windows exe icon -- there is no icon
for XXClone. Also, when I use the Start->Programs->XXclone it says the
shortcut is missing and starts looking for the program. What happened?
Did I overwrite my main hard drive with the backed-up version? Is
that the "problem determining the partition number?"

Also, how do I "downgrade" to 0.44 if I cannot run my previous version
and get the license information that is requested by the web site?

[Dan Anderson]

dpt,

My update to 45.0 seemed to go okay (upgrade process; files revised;
shortcuts created) although I have not tried running the exe file because of
Kan's caution.

With regards to your shortcut problem, maybe right-click on the xxclone
shortcut icon and select 'properties' from the menu to see what subdirectory
the shortcut is looking in for xxclone.exe. You may have more than one
xxclone shortcut and perhaps you are looking at an older shortcut?

I noticed from the readme text file that the installation process puts
xxclone.exe in the windows\system32 subdirectory rather than in the
windows\programs subdirectory. Try having your shortcut look in that
subdirectory.

I'm not sure why the process does not seem to be working automatically for
some individuals. Anything unusual about your set-up, or any manual
modifications to the location of your exe file or shortcuts? The only
unusual thing that I had done was to rename my xxclone shortcut after
installing version 43.0 but the 45.0 upgrade just recreated the
originally-named shortcut under start/programs.

Good luck,
Dan

______________________________________________________

[dpt]

My shortcuts are indeed pointing to c:\Winnt\system32\xxclone.exe.
Unfortunately, the xxclone.exe file is not there, or anywhere for that
matter (I did a search for xxclone.exe in the entire harddrive). I did
the install and ran the program successfully last night. However,
there is no program file to be found today. Strange...

[mozerd]

Yes this is what I experienced as well. What I did to fix this:
[1] a deleted all instances of xxclone.* from the
c:\windows\subdirectories
[2] reinstalled XXCLONE

and everthing returned to normal

However I am only using 0.44 untill the issues with 0.45 have been
resolved.

The reason I manually deleted as per [1] above is because the xxclone
uninstall application did not work for me ... it created the condition
your have articulated.
The fastest way to find all instances of XXCLONE.* is to use Windows
Explorer, highlight the system directory [normally called Windows] ,
then click on Search, then under Search for files or folders named:
enter xxclone.* etc. etc.
Side note: make sure that you have "show hidden files and folders"
turned on .. this can be found under Tools/Folder Options.

[Dan Anderson]

I wonder if doing an uninstall can cause a problem? I don't recall the
upgrade instructions saying anything about doing an uninstall first, and my
version 45.0 upgrade simply replaced the prior version 43.0 files.

Another consideration is whether having a renamed subdirectory (e.g.
c:\winnt instead of c:\windows) could cause a problem? Doesn't seem likely.

Dan

___________________________________________________

----- Original Message -----

[Kan Yabumoto]

Dan wrote:
>
> I wonder if doing an uninstall can cause a problem?
> I don't recall the upgrade instructions saying anything
> about doing an uninstall first, and my version 45.0
> upgrade simply replaced the prior version 43.0 files.

Our standard instruction on update/upgrade of XXCLONE
is identical to that on a new installation. That is,
an uninstallation is not only unnecessary but would
deprive the user the ability to retain (and run later)
the replaced version. That is when, XXCLONE is installed
on a computer with XXCLONE already installed, XXCLONE
will rename the old version as xxclone.old.exe (we
plan to rename to a version-number-encoded name in the
future).

In our opinion, the uninstallation procedure is a big
(and necessary) issue when an application alters the
"state" of a computer in a pervasive way (e.g.,
installing InternetExplorer that changes lots of
settings in the computer).

But, XXCLONE's design is an exact opposite where we
tried hard to minimize the "presence" of the XXCLONE
on the computer to the absolute minimum (we chose not
to alter the system registry for the presence of
XXCLONE on a computer). Since there is no persistent
change in the computer state (which is typically saved
in the System registry or some key files such as
WINDOWS.INI or SYSTEM.INI). Rather, XXCLONE saves
everything related to XXCLONE into the XXCLONE.INI file.
For example, XXCLONE memorizes the position of the XXCLONE
window display on your Desktop using the XXCLONE.INI
rather than in the System Registry.

Therefore, XXCLONE's uninstall is nothing more than
locating the XXCLONE-related files and directories
that were created by XXCLONE and deleting them.
The presence or absence of undeleted XXCLONE-related
files and directories would not alter the computer's
behavior other than the space which is occupied by
the unused XXCLONE files in the hard disk.

Kan Yabumoto

[dpt]

Just an update. Given the strangeness that happened (see my first
post), I followed the suggestions of "mozerd" and deleted everything
named "xxclone.*", redownloaded the pro version as instructed in the
original email, then installed that freshly downloaded version. The
activation email subject line now reads version 0.44 instead of 0.45.
I ran the program sucessfully to do an incremental backup. After
multiple restarts and a fresh cold boot this morning, all seems to be
OK.

Still not sure just what happened before. Prior to this all starting,
I had the "time-expired" version on the system. Since I was switching
over to the licensed "pro" version, I decided to do an uninstall using
the "uninstall xxclone" link in the sequence
Start->Programs->Xxclone->Uninstall xxclone. I then installed the
"pro" version and activated it. However, I did not do a reboot after
the uninstall, or after the fresh install. Shouldn't matter, but maybe
it does. Anyway, things seem to be fine now. From now on, I will not
do an uninstall prior to an update of xxclone.

Other than this recent strangeness, I have been very happy with the
operation of xxclone. Great program!

[mozerd]

Kan, I like your rational regarding "the un-installation procedure is a
big
(and necessary)" and agree that insofar as XXCLONE is concerned makes
perfect sense.