Bug in detecting of installed softwares

[sarangan]

I have installed or am familiar with, but suddenly they are listed for an upgrade.
Please fix the bug.

[Justin Chalfant (Patch My PC)]

Would you be able to export and attach the following registry keys:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

[sarangan]

Yes of course.

[dking02]

I don't think checking data in the registry is applicable here - all three apps are portable apps. Portable apps are not really installed in Windows and do not have uninstall data in the Windows registry.

The "1.0" version numbers are obviously not real versions. I would check to see if the download files for the three apps are actually present in your portables folder which would verify that they were actually "installed" via Home Updater. You might also see if they show up in the Uninstaller tab - a portable app needs to be installed via Home Updater to be able to be uninstalled by Home Updater. It is also possible for the Home Updater client and server to get out of sync with respect to the status of a portable app. 

You might just try clicking on "Outdated" and see if the Home Updater server downloads the specified updated file and see if that corrects the situation.

[sarangan]

The Portable Apps folder is empty, and I don't have any portable apps on my PC. I can also confirm that these apps are not listed in the uninstaller.

Where can I find the "Outdated" section?

[dking02]

By "Outdated" I meant the red "Outdated" button in the Status column. Clicking on an "Outdated" button will initiate the update to the newer version of the associated app. When a portable app is updated, the server downloads the new file (a single .exe or .zip file for the updated version of the app) to the portables location.

I suggested clicking on one of the "Outdated" status buttons to see if the server actually downloads the new version which might resolve what appears to be a sync error between the client and server. It looks like the server thinks these three portable apps have been previously downloaded and are present but you indicate they are not. If the server does download the new file to the portables location, I would then do a rescan (or exit and relaunch the Home Updater client) and see if the problem is resolved. If so, you should be able to uninstall the portable app from the Uninstaller tab or My Apps tab if you did not want the portable app in the first place. There is currently no simple option in the client for the user to de-register portable apps with the server to clear sync errors.

[sarangan]

Okay, what I did was press the Outdate button, and all these apps were actually downloaded into the PortableApps folder. I was able to see them in the Uninstaller tab and uninstalled them from there. However, the apps have reappeared in My Apps as version 1.0.

[dking02]

At this point, I would try to update the apps again and keep them at their latest version. Having them appear as up-to-date is less distracting and having them show as outdated in My Apps. I am assuming they showed a Status of "Up to date" (green) after the new file was downloaded and that this status persists if you do not uninstall the apps. If you have not checked that the status is persistent, try doing a rescan or relaunch Home Updater after the app has been updated and don't uninstall the app. Unlike non-portable apps, having a portable app "installed" under Home Updater does not actually do anything to your PC other than leaving the latest download file in the portables location.

This thread should provide Justin with additional info to analyze this problem. I have Adlice Protect Portable on my machine but also have an older version of it showing only in the Uninstaller tab under its previous name RogueKiller which I have reported as a suspected sync error requiring correction of data for my installation on the server but which remains unresolved.

[sarangan]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I've gone ahead and updated the apps and am keeping them at their latest versions for now, just to avoid the distraction of seeing them listed as outdated in My Apps. After the update the status does show as "Up to date" (green), and it persists even after rescanning or relaunching Home Updater—as long as I don't uninstall the apps.