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Number : 3168 Date : 2002-12-02 Author : Kan Yabumoto Subject : Re: Upgrading to Pro version of xxcopy Size(KB) : 7
Sorry, I was explaining something you did not ask and I realized that I did not give you a simple answer. > My first 2 uses of XXCOPY were on the 'freeware' > (non professional) version on 2.82.4 Version. I installed > this version after unzipping into temp directory. > I now have my professional license and have unzipped xxpe2827.zip > into temp2. > I am ready to start install.bat; but, before I start, > should I UNINSTALL the other version or just simply install > over the old version? You need not uninstall the previous version. I'm not sure what you mean by "install over the old version". As I explained earlier, XXCOPY will not "overwrite" existing XXCOPY.EXE (and other files) if you let XXCOPY to install (using /INSTALL) itself because it will rename the old version it finds in the home directory. So, in a strict sense, it will not install "OVER" existing one. But, it is best that you keep the same "home" directory as it was (see below for what is Home directory). Since XXCOPY will always use essentially the same position in the system registry, the info inside the system registry is indeed installed OVER previous version, I guess. At any rate, with the flexibility we provided in XXCOPY for its installation, the distinction is not important. In my previous post, I was stressing the fact that XXCOPY is not very strict on how you install it. To make upgrading the version as painless as possible, XXCOPY does not require you to run any specific command. As long as you copy the XXCOPY files into the right place, there is no extra work. But, for a first time user, probably, it is easiest to run the /INSTALL command. The installation procedure has two parts; 1. initialization of the system registry. 2. copying the XXCOPY-related files from the temp directory into the permanent directory which we call "XXCOPY Home". The first step is quite automatic when you put the XXCOPY.LIC file which is "visible" to XXCOPY.EXE. XXCOPY will locate it when the license file is in the same directory as the executable file which is being run, or when it is found in the "XXCOPY HOME" directory. In either way, when XXCOPY finds the xxcopy license file and if it is any different from what system registry for XXCOPY shows, XXCOPY will quietly incorporate the new XXCOPY license info. If you use the /INSTALL command, XXCOPY not-only copies itself from the temporary directory to the permanent "home" directory, but also rename the previous version of XXCOPY.EXE (and XXCOPY16.EXE) that are found in the home directory to a different name (the new name assigned to the renamed file has encoded version number for your easy identification). Therefore, if you follow the instruction in the delivery Email (just run the /INSTALL command), it will do more for you than doing it all manually. Once the installation is complete, it is probably better not to have various versions of XXCOPY.EXE on your system. The copies in the temporary directory can be safely deleted (that is why we call it "temporary" directory). ----------- We use the word, XXCOPY "HOME directory" in a loose way. The XXCOPY "Home" directory is the one where XXCOPY recognizes as its "home" for various operations. The XXCOPY home directory is chosen by the user (most users choose the default directory as suggested by XXCOPY) at the time of XXCOPY installation. The home directory is not used very often, but it is convenient for XXCOPY to have its agreed-upon default directory when it is pressed to pick a directory. We chose not to follow the customary Windows installation scheme where a typical application create a directory such as C:\Program Files\Pixelab\XXCOPY\bin\ Since the XXCOPY utility consists of only a handful of files, making a serious directory structure such as this makes the program installation more elaborate. For one thing, having such a directory would necessitate the change in the environment variable, PATH= to include the XXCOPY home directory which further complicates the installation. The XXCOPY installation procedure was designed deliberately to be light-weight and easy. Just like the good old XCOPY.EXE which can be moved by a floppy disk and placed wherever you like. For example, in the next release version, XXCOPY will allow you to use /OA (or /ON) without its parameter). In the past, the /OA or /ON switches always required the full name of the log file. The trouble is, you often needed to spell out the full path for the log file, else, it would be created in the current directory which is often not desirable. Now, having the home directory defined, /OA or /ON will save the output info in the "XXCOPY.LOG" file in the XXCOPY home directory. Note that if you have many copies of XXCOPY.EXE and you invoke an XXCOPY.EXE program which is not in the home directory, still, whichever XXCOPY that was launched still knows where the XXCOPY home directory is by looking up the system registry. That is, the system's mechanism of choosing which XXCOPY.EXE program to invoke is not dictated by what is the "XXCOPY home directory" setting is at, but rather by Windows' rules of command line invocation (by PATH=, etc.). If you search in the system registry using the RegEdit utility, (search for XXCOPY), you will find what's been kept in the registry. The most vital info in the registry is the exit code from the previous execution of XXCOPY. XXCOPY looks up the registry entry for the /CB switch to retrieve the exit code from previous run. It also keeps track of license-related info such as the number of the network computers XXCOPY has accessed in the past. >I suspect it is the entry on C: drive. Further, I can put each subsequent >generation of xxcopy in a different temp? directory - making sure that all >pe versions better have a copy of the license in the same directory I run >the install.bat from. The temp directory for the installation purpose is literally temporary. After the /INSTALL operation, the temp directory has no baring in XXCOPY's operation. As I said, XXCOPY will maintain previous version of XXCOPY.EXE as a renamed files. But, as many users do, it may be wise to save various versions in some directory for your future reference. That's totally up to you. Kan Yabumoto ============================================================== At 2002-12-01 15:47, you wrote: >Dear Kan: (my name is Dave not doug) > >RE QUESTION ONE: > >Kan, your answer is too generic. You need to be more specific. I realize >that your initial response and the documentation referred to unzipping the >downloaded file into a temporary directory. > >I used the name of the temporary directory as 'temp' for the directory >that I unzipped the xxfw2824.zip file downloaded from your web site. The >full path is g:\atchmts\xxcopy\temp. It is within this directory, I ran >the batch file install.bat and installed xxcopy.exe I used for my first >two backups. > >I used the name of the temporary directory as 'temp2' for the directory >that I unzipped the xxpe2827.zip file down loaded the other day and >purchased a license for. The full path is g:\atchmts\xxcopy\temp2. I have >also unzipped and placed xxcopy.lic into this same directory. > >The confusion on my part is the mention of the 'xxcopy home directory'. >Xxcopy.exe currently exists in C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND as well as the two above >directories. Is C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND the home directory or is >G:\atchmts\xxcopy\temp the home directory. I suspect it is the entry on >C: drive. Further, I can put each subsequent generation of xxcopy in a >different temp? directory - making sure that all pe versions better have a >copy of the license in the same directory I run the install.bat from. > >Am I right or not? > >Dave Connett
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