Request: Semi-portable 1Password for Windows (fellow users, speak up!)
Oh please consider this request. I searched and there have been others. While I fully understand that 1password for windows needs and uses activeX, so that [b]TRUE PORTABLE[/b] won't be possible for now, can't 1password at least store ALL of it's settings, icons (downloaded from sites), etc. in 1 single folder for easy backup and restoring? Make it 'as portable as possible' basically, without breaking it.
I am really begging, pleading for this to happen.
Right now I see the following reg keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AgileBits\1Password 4
That could easily be fit into an .ini or .config file to be read by the master app.
Can this be considered within the realm of possibility?
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Yes, please consider this. There are a legions of users on the web that only use portable or semi-portable software (case in point: portablefreeware.com librekey, etc.)
This should be Priority #2, second only to Auto-fill option :)
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Personally, I wouldn't normally agree that portable software is a huge necessity. However, in 1Password's case I could see the benefit, especially for those who are wary of cloud sync and like to carry their vault on a usb stick.
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Storing your 1Password data on a removable drive is currently possible, technically, although it introduces the possibility of problems, as discussed elsewhere.
What's currently not possible is installing 1Password itself on a removable drive, due (as I recall) to the need to make certain changes to the Registry.
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Exactly, and making it so would allow you to just carry you're vault around and access it where ever you need to.
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The OP had a slightly stronger request. In addition to the vaults, the OP wants the user settings, downloaded icons, etc. to be in that directory too. The OP acknowledges that some things may need "installation," hence the request to make it "'as portable as possible' basically, without breaking it."
That request makes sense to me.
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The OP had a slightly stronger request. In addition to the vaults, the OP wants the user settings, downloaded icons, etc. to be in that directory too. The OP acknowledges that some things may need "installation," hence the request to make it "'as portable as possible' basically, without breaking it."
That request makes sense to me.
bkh, you're on a roll! That's exactly what I wanted. ALL non-essential settings in a config file and everything else that's needed for core functionality inside the registry.
If I reinstall Windows, I want some measure of peace of mind that I don't have to retune the settings for 1Password again.
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bkh, you're on a roll! That's exactly what I wanted. ALL non-essential settings in a config file and everything else that's needed for core functionality inside the registry.
That makes no sense. If you're going to put essential settings in the registry still then it's not portable. It all needs to go in a config file to be portable.
@DBrown, it should be noted that Microsoft changed their development guidelines a while back now to favour .config files over the registry. Their intentions had more to do with backup and migration of a user's settings when they change PC but it applies to app portability too.
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Microsoft changed their development guidelines a while back now to favour .config files over the registry
I do see value in a settings file, but aren't .config files standard XML files for the .NET Framework?
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There are some standard elements that the framework and CLR looks for, but there are namespaces in the CLR designed to provide an extensible way to read and write your own settings. When you're developing the app you specify the access type for for each setting you add. App settings generate readonly code accessors and end up stored in the .exe.config in the application folder. User scoped settings generate read/write accessors and get stored in your user profile AppData folder (either Local or Roaming depending on an attribute you can apply to each setting).
For .Net apps using the framework code, the format is like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <configuration> <userSettings> <SettingsTest.Properties.Settings> <setting name="userVar" serializeAs="String"> <value>hello</value> </setting> </SettingsTest.Properties.Settings> </userSettings> </configuration>However, there's nothing in the guidelines, that I remember, that specified that this is necessary. They deal more with where you store your settings, rather than how. So, for example, you could use a custom XML format, you could use a JSON format as you do in the keychain or you could use a binary format (although I don't see the benefit of that). You could even use an ini file, although their use is deprecated now too.
The key point was to store settings in a file under the correct folder for the scope of the settings, either CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA, CSIDL_APPDATA or CSIDL_LOCAL_APPDATA.
The only advantage to the registry that I've heard of is that network admins can lock down individual settings using the standard permissions system, which you can't so with settings grouped into a file. That said, if the app isn't expecting that then it will break. If the app is expecting such a thing then it can simply use an individual config file per setting. In 1Password's case, I would say that this scenario is of less relevance than the portability issue.
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That makes no sense. If you're going to put essential settings in the registry still then it's not portable. It all needs to go in a config file to be portable.
oops. Sorry, I misspoke. Dyslexia kicking in ;)
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Just an update.
I tried using 1Password with the latest beta of Sandboxie 4.13.3. Everything installed perfectly, including Chrome 64 bits, but I was not able to use the CTRL+ \ keyboard command to fill the data into the fields, even though I installed both 1PW and Chrome in the same Sandbox I was so darn close :(
I found that 1Password installs to the following directories:
C\Program Files (x86)\1Password 4 (program files)
C\Windows\SysWOW64 -- ChilkatCert.dll ChilkatCrypt2.dll ChilkatSocket.dll ChilkatZip2.dll
\AppData\Roaming\ AgileBits (icons etc)Registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AgileBits\1Password 4)
Is this about right? Are there any other areas of the system where 1PW installs itself?
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