Solved TreeSize Free (Portable) adds itself to Start All Apps

Wisewiz · Dec 30, 2023

It's no big deal to Open file location and delete this from All Apps after I use the app, but I was wondering whether -- since I have it already in an All Apps folder (Utilities, on my PCs), and since the running of the program adds the main All Apps entry and squelches the Utilities-folder entry -- there is a known way to set something in the program to NOT add itself to the All Apps main menu every time I run TSF.

Before running TSF:

After running TSF:

TairikuOkami · Dec 30, 2023

I never liked TreeSize, it reported the wrong allocated size for years and they blamed it on a mythical person, they fixed it, but still.

Wisewiz · Dec 30, 2023

@TairikuOkami

Thanks for offering that opinion. I don't much like it, either. For now, I think I'll park a copy of the portable version ZIP file on my storage disk, and then delete the portable from my main programs drive. I might want to use it again in the future.

I'd still like to find a way to stop that annoying behavior, though. I'm sure that none of my other 30-plus portables add their shortcuts to my All Apps menu (at least without permission).

TairikuOkami · Dec 30, 2023

Wisewiz said:
I'm sure that none of my other 30-plus portables add their shortcuts to my All Apps menu (at least without permission).

Many apps fail to grasp the idea of a portable lately. Especially malware cleaning apps. Still this app is a godsend.

Windows Repair Toolbox

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trevo · Dec 30, 2023

Wisewiz said:
I'd still like to find a way to stop that annoying behavior, though. I'm sure that none of my other 30-plus portables add their shortcuts to my All Apps menu (at least without permission)

I use the portable version too...I just checked and did not find the behavior to which you are referring.

My version is 4.5.2.600 though, which is not up to date, I'll get the latest version and report back.

trevo · Dec 30, 2023

Just downloaded portable version 4.7.1.525 and again it did not add itself to the "All Apps" list, so not sure what to suggest.

Noticed that the new version has gone from a folder size of 8MB to 46MB though.

Wisewiz · Dec 30, 2023

Mine is 4.7.1. I added the shortcut to my Utilities folder in All Apps when I loaded the portable. Then when I ran it, I not only found the new entry in All Apps, but also two new TreeSize entries in a couple of File Explorer context menus. There wasn't an internal option to NOT add TreeSize to context menus, just an option to ADD it, and that is greyed out on the portables. An online check revealed that you can UN-grey that option by adding an empty file named unins000.dat to the TSF program folder. That trick works, but checking the option and then UN checking it didn't get rid of the context menu entries, so I did a registry search for TreeSize, found the culprits, and obliterated them.

One more thing portables are not supposed to do: mess with the registry. Portables devs seem to have lost sight of that desirable aspect of portables.

Wisewiz · Dec 30, 2023

trevo said:
Just downloaded portable version 4.7.1.525 and again it did not add itself to the "All Apps" list, so not sure what to suggest.

It's okay. I've handled it. (#7 above)

trevo said:
Noticed that the new version has gone from a folder size of 8MB to 46MB though.

Holy portables, Batman! That's a helluva jump. Olympic quality.

I'll check that on mine. Thanks for your help with this.

trevo · Dec 30, 2023

Wisewiz said:
I'll check that on mine. Thanks for your help with this

No problem, I use WizTree mainly rather than TreeSize, again a portable version...have you tried it?

Wisewiz · Dec 30, 2023

Not yet, but I'll give 'er a try. Thanks.

For now, the folder for TSF was, indeed 46+ MB. Wow! I had no idea it was so much smaller in previous editions.

Anyway, I ran it again, and it put the shortcut in All Apps, but this time it didn't mess with my context menus. Going to run a reg check now to get rid of any detritus it left behind.

Tx again.

Wisewiz · Dec 30, 2023

When I ran TSF, it not only messed with my registry and my context menus, but it added entries to my AppData\Roaming folder and to my C:\ProgramData folder. I don't think, now that I've cleaned up the mess it made, I'll use it again. It's not a well-behaved portable program.

Wisewiz · Dec 30, 2023

@trevo

Just a note to thank you for pointing me to WizTree. It works, and in a couple of ways, better than TreeSize. And it plays the game the way a portable ought to play. No registry, no ProgramData, no AppData, and no context menu additions. Win, win, win.

Winuser · Dec 30, 2023

Wisewiz said:
One more thing portables are not supposed to do: mess with the registry. Portables devs seem to have lost sight of that desirable aspect of portables.

That's not correct. The creater of Rufus has an excellent explaination of portable apps under his FAQ section. FAQ

Stigg · Dec 31, 2023

TairikuOkami said:
Many apps fail to grasp the idea of a portable lately. Especially malware cleaning apps.

Exactly. My idea of a truly portable app is that it does not create files and folders in a users folder or anywhere else, and it does not create any registry entries. It should run completely from within its own folder and add nothing anywhere else. I've even experienced some (so called) portable apps add Task Scheduler entries.

So, whenever I use a portable app for the very first time, I search in all the above locations for remnants.

trumpy81 · Dec 31, 2023

@Wisewiz
You can turn the context menus off in TreeSize Free. Click on Options and then on the toolbar, uncheck Show TreeSize Free in Explorer's context menu

I have not seen the issue with the All apps menu that you stated though?

That said, I prefer WizTree also. It is cleaner and it has some nice features as well.

Wisewiz · Dec 31, 2023

trumpy81 said:
@Wisewiz
You can turn the context menus off in TreeSize Free. Click on Options and then on the toolbar, uncheck Show TreeSize Free in Explorer's context menu

I have not seen the issue with the All apps menu that you stated though?

That said, I prefer WizTree also. It is cleaner and it has some nice features as well.

See my #7 above. I checked the FAQ for TSF, and found that the context menu option is supposed to be disabled in the portable. Adding the uninstall file makes TSF behave more like the installer version.

But I disagree with @Winuser (and the Rufus doc), and I agree completely with @Stigg: portables were created for use on portable devices, and it’s disappointing when they behave as though they were designed to integrate with the system.

Edwin · Dec 31, 2023

It largely depends on the nature of the program and how you utilize it.
For instance:
The Foxit Portable app..., I could drag a PDF onto the UI and it would pretty much function within itself, however...,
if I would ask it to integrate into Explorer and go and find a PDF, using the 'Open' directive, then bang, tons of reg entries!

Wisewiz · Dec 31, 2023

That, ofc, is a matter of your choosing to integrate. My copies of TSF gave me no options.

Winuser · Dec 31, 2023

Wisewiz said:
But I disagree with @Winuser (and the Rufus doc), and I agree completely with @Stigg: portables were created for use on portable devices, and it’s disappointing when they behave as though they were designed to integrate with the system.

Here is another explanation about portable apps. Solved: Does Portable App write to registry?.

Wisewiz · Dec 31, 2023

@Winuser

That's an interesting conversation from 2011. Two quotes from "Elvandil" in it:

"True "portables", like VMWare, Xen, Cameyo, Altiris, etc., use those virtualized registries and do not write to the registry."
and
"I'm really getting into portables myself. Right next to Program Files in C:\ is Portables. Besides to fact that they are often more secure, they make it easy to move the whole folder to a different PC, with all my settings, history, etc. I can put them on USB, add or remove them easily, and they never conflict with other software. I can even have more than one version of the same program.
I like them.

Check out Portableapps.com or Pendriveapps.com There are 100's."

PortableApps.com has been getting better and better at building what Evandil calls "True" portables.

I got into a two-year squabble with CCleaner about the registry writing (50+ entries) that the CCleaner Portable did. They did improve with time, and I went from 50+ to about six entries. I decided to delete all of the reg entries for Piriform and CCleaner at one point, and installed PortableApps' ccPortable. Ran it a number of times, and had zero entries in the registry.

I've gone back to the CCleaner Portable directly from Piriform, because I'm monitoring what's happening. I have a bunch of CC licenses, but I run the Portable (Free) for several reasons. I now have exactly 6 entries in my registries on two machines: one reports my last check for updates, two report exactly where, on my D: drive, the executable is located, one reports that I have a license (see shot from CC Options > LicenseKey), one reports the source of the executable (e.g., Portable Apps or Piriform or elsewhere, like Major Geeks), and the last one, in a subkey, ironically reads "UseRegistry." That one is set to 1 by default. I changed it to 0.