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

[Knowone]

Potentially very useful. Will test!

[Knowone]

Great potential in this project. Will try it out!

[MrSinatra]

its really impressive now.

some feedback:

you could avoid "dir doesn't exist errors" by not allowing users to directly input the dir location, and instead make them browse to it. might be easier for you to force that. its what egg is doing for setting rip dirs.

also, when i use the tool, do a backup, close the tool, and then reopen it, "previous mode" is not checked, no matter how many times i do it and redo it by using previous mode. each time the app starts new, "custom mode" is checked instead. i think once i've used previous mode once, then each time i spawn the app new, previous mode should be checked if/since it was used last.

i think "automatic" is a nebulous term to use for many reasons. i think the three modes should be:

complete
--
custom
--
previous

and complete would be defined as everything. so when you backup, no question about it, it includes everything. when you restore, it restores everything included in the backup data. thats a slightly different minor point to make but unavoidable.

but regardless, i don't think its a good idea to have "automatic" or complete if you change it, have its function impacted at all by what the user has chosen previously. if backing up, it should always be everything, and if restoring it should be everything available in the backup data.

jmho.

where is the backup tool ini file? i can't find it. and is it included in the actual backup too?

and i know you guys aren't concerned with this yet, but just fyi "previous" is missing an O in the line under the previous mode choice.

great work!

[Koopa]

Mr.Sinatra:

Thanks for your feedback.

#1 "dir doesn't exist errors"

I don't understand what you mean. We only block forbidden characters, which wouldn't be allowed in Windows as well.

The ability to enter the path manually will stay, otherwise it would be a lacking feature, if the user cannot enter the path manually. Personally I always enter the paths manually.

#2 i think "automatic" is a nebulous term to use for many reasons

This will be a WONTFIX. It's clearly declared, what that mode does. You have some nice description text under the button. Additionally, a Backup plugin will access 'Automatic mode' via command line too. It also works internal as an automatic mode, trust me this makes sense, and if a user isn't able to understand the clear text, it's not our fault.

#3 where is the backup tool ini file?

Like written in the changelog, the file is saved in the same dir like your winamp.ini. Users really shouldn't touch that file, since it's only used for previous mode settings, though.

[Truthowl]

First, I love the idea of this program. Thank you very very much.

I've lost my ratings and such sooo many times. Though since I began installing it to my main system hard drive instead of my portable hard drive the problem seems to have disappeared. So I think the problem had to do with the 'delayed read/write' of USB drives in general.

Something you might want to consider for post v1.0 releases is instead of allowing users to choose the backup location have a button that copies all backup/restore files to/from a browsed to location.

Thank you again. I use Windows XP Pro 64 bit(all updates) and will download this now and give it a try.

[Truthowl]

Okay noticed a typo/misspelling on the installers very first window. Where it says

Enjoy the ultimate backup tool for Winamp:

It then has 5 dots with a short description after each point it's making. After the 4th point the word lovely is misspelled as lovley.

[Koopa]

I've already fixed a couple of spelling issues for next release. Thanks for the info, but that welcome page in installer is gone for final.

[Koopa]

Winamp Backup Tool v1.0 Beta 9 available

Beta 9, a lot of changes, which required a lot of time.

We're also accepting translations for the tool now, so if you want to translate the tool in your language, download the attached language file file from the first posting in this thread.

German and Polish language files will be ready for next beta.

As always, any feedback is welcome.

-Chris

PS: Donation link is a temporary solution, we will create an own paypal account for next release, in the meantime, you can spend Pawel cash.

[Koopa]

Winamp Backup Tool v1.0 Beta 9a available

1.0 Beta 9a:

- [Installer] fixed a couple of issues in previous mode code
- [Installer] fixed skipping of start menu page, when no start menu entries were selected
- [Installer] removed donation page from installer (hopefully won't return)

This happens, when you rush a release. Sadly I couldn't provide that update before, but I had some massive trouble with the power supply of my PC.

-Chris

[Koopa]

Previous Mode issues and the documentation thing are fixed in latest available build. The last link already fixed these issues, but fucking forums are damn slow here, when you edit links. I got a timeout for 4 times. So you probably loaded the wrong file.

So simply use the link again.

Will look at uninstaller now.

[Edit]Anything related to documentation is fixed now. I had disabled these parts because I originally planned to disable help file installation, until the file is completed.

Start menu folder will be deleted here, cannot repro the issue and cannot see any failure in code for this. Is UAC enabled?

That it doesn't delete the program folder I can see here too, but makes not much sense. Will shrink that issue down as well.

[Koopa]

Found the issue for the log and ini file deletion issue, uninstaller doesn't read our Winamp_Ini_Dir path.

[Koopa]

Winamp Backup Tool v1.0 Beta 9b available

1.0 Beta 9b:

- [Installer] fixed uninstaller not deleting Winamp_Back_Tool.ini & Winamp_Back_Tool.log file
- [Installer] fixed uninstallation and previous mode handling for documentation file (Beta 9a specific only)

Hopefully this will address all uninstallation issues reported by Pawel.

Uninstallation of Start Menu entries is working fine here, need to test it with UAC enabled, though.

-Chris

[holeintheday]

My prayers have been answered! I have been going through a migration from XP SP2 to win 7 64, and finding your app was a real lifesaver.

for the last couple years I had been using ml import / export to backup my settings but had never actually tested importing with it until now. well that turned out to be a real pain in the ass as smart views and playlists were not stored, filenames with special characters weren't recognized, etc.

with your app it was a breeze, took me less than 10 minutes to backup from my old machine and restore on my new one. no problems that I have noticed so far. looks like all that is left for me to do is install some input plugins that were in my old profile and I'll be good to go.

Can't that you enough for this!

a minor suggestion to clarify some text in the interface would be to amend the following:
"Where do you want to save your backup?" to "Where to you want to save your backup to, or restore a previously saved backup from?"

[Koopa]

Thanks for your feedback.

For next beta:



I thought many times about backing up 3rd party plugins, but there were many disadvantages.

One big problem was, that I had to create a fat exclusion list for the official Winamp plugins, because a simple backup of the whole Plugin folder is no choice.

Another issue is, that some plugins install more than 1 single dll file. E.g. SNESAmp install an unrar.dll file and some help files etc. Maintaining this would be horrible with the many plugins, which are available.

So backing up the plugins itself is a user thing.

[Truth Unknown]

Maybe future 3rd party plug-ins can optionally include a file that Winamp Backup Tool can use to back up the plug-in.

[Koopa]

Most 3rd parties never got an update to support newer Winamp features/APIs, like multiple profiles, all media library features or the Winamp transcoder.

So I wouldn't expect any support for the Backup Tool.

Even if I'd add such functionallity and some plugins would support it, what shall I do with the other tons of plugins, which don't support it?

[Truth Unknown]

Yeah, a good chunk of the plug-ins I use are like that, but I can live with it. Although I might nudge a few programmers once in a while to add the new Winamp stuff with no luck. Anyway, I can see how difficult it would be to work in legacy support of plug-ins.

I'd say forget them, but allow the user customize the backup file script/list/instruction/????/profit for them. Maybe a part of the community can step up and analyze the old plug-ins and figure out what would be needed for backup. That might be hoping for to much though.

[DrO]

most of the issues with the plug-ins can be resolved via 'loader' plug-ins but it then becomes a lot more of a maintenance issue in ensuring things work correctly without random crashes or permission override issues, etc. i did make a mini plug-in core that does that (is used with the Waveform and SNESamp wrappers i've produced though they've highlighted the fragile nature of such 'man in the middle' operations that just applying it to every old plug-in (as much as i'd like to) isn't always viable.

also such older plug-ins can be looked at / simply fixed if source code is normally provided though most don't and it then falls into the previous category which i would do but time and resources are only finite and i've only ever really fixed plug-ins i've used or had suggested to be fixed.

-daz

[labrador999]

Normally I am logged in as a non-admin user with limited rights (windows 7).
When I run BackupTools the windows UAC-windows pops up and forces me to enter an admin user.
The problem: Now all the data of this admin user is backed but not my data.

[Koopa]

UAC issues really don't surprise me, the tool was written mainly for users with full access.

I will try out some setups with limited user accounts and look at the issue. Maybe I find a workaround.

Edit:
Hmm, I tried it with a limited user account and have set UAC to max level. I got no uac prompt. Backup was done for the correct account.

Could you say, in which folder you've installed the Backup Tool? Are you running the 32 or 64 Bit version of Win7? Also could you please upload the Winamp_Backup_Tool.log file?

[labrador999]

1. I temporary changed my limited account to an admin account and all runs perfect.
2. I changed back to limited user and the problem is back.

So the problem is the UAC which pops up and forces me to use an admin account which of course tries to save his data but not mine.

Strange: when I run (1.) all data is saved and a log is created in the save-directory.
When I run (2.) admins data is saved but NO log is created. So I can't add a log of the problem run.

Winamp_Backup_Tool runs in C:\Program Files\Winamp Backup Tool
The saved data is stored in an external drive (but I tried STANDARD as well - same problem)

Access mode on both directories are set to FULL read/write for admins and for me as limited user.

Why does UAC _not_ pop up when you try it ? What could I test to help ?

[labrador999]

sorry - I missed one question.

I run Windows 7 home professional - 32 bit

[labrador999]

@Pawel

Your description helped me.
The following workaround does the trick:

1. I modified the contents of "C:\Program Files\Winamp\paths.ini"

from "inidir={26}\Winamp"

to "C:\users\MYlimitedACCOUNT\AppData\Roaming\Winamp"

2. Now I start WinampBackupTool - UAC pops up - I enter admin/password

3. In WinampBackupTool I do not use the STANDARD destination but enter a directory MyWinampSAVE which belongs to me. Now the correct data of MyLimitedAccount is stored in MyWinampSAVE.

[Koopa]

I could reproduce the issue and after some search, we saw, that UAC made trouble in NSIS since Windows Vista was released.

It's one of these UAC glitches, as soon as you enter the Admin name with password in the UAC prompt, it will read the path variable for the admin account, instead of the user account variable.

We will look into the issue and try our best to resolve it.

[Koopa]

labrador999:

This hopefully should fix your issue. Note that you better press the 'Default' button on first page, to refresh the correct path.

[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?