Snappy Driver Installer

[Your PCMD]

Me thinks SDI should check to see if system restore is on. If not, it should alert you and pause any further installation of driver updates. OR, better yet, if system restore is off, SDI should turn it on before proceeding. Just my 2 cents.

I have had SDI go full on without any errors or alerts, even through the system restore point, even though I KNOW it didnt do a restore point because it takes way longer then 2 seconds to do a restore point, but again, I got no error, SDI just continued on.

EDIT:
I agree with @nlinecomputers in that restore points do take up space, however, those points can easily be deleted after updating drivers and doing a restart. I only keep 2 restore points. The very instant Windows is installed and updated and the last (current) dated point - eg: SDI updates. The rest, no point in keeping.

 

[nlinecomputers]

SDI doesn't halt installation but you should have enough time to cancel installation by clicking on the main progressbar before SDI completed extracting drivers from the first driverpack.

Not when you are moving from one PC on the bench to the next. You tend to click and go. Probably a bad habit but that is how it rolls.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Oh, @Diggs I would not mess with Defragment on Win 10 either. On a SSD drive, defrag is actually doing a trim not defrag. Same program does both.

 

[Diggs]

Oh, @Diggs I would not mess with Defragment on Win 10 either. On a SSD drive, defrag is actually doing a trim not defrag. Same program does both.

Most of these are older upgraded Win7 machines with physical drives that have been N&P'd with fresh Win10. I think a straight Win7 upgrade to Win10 inherits the restore point settings from before if I remember right.
Thanks for the reminder on the SSDs.

 

[glennd]

better logic would be if restore point is selected and it fails for whatever reason, the installation should halt ?? If you decide you can live without a restore point then you would deselect it and proceed as normal ??

 

[HFultzjr]

New installs of Windows 10 have System Restore TURNED OFF! You have to actively turn it on. SDI does not do this nor does it report that it can't create a system restore point.

^^^^^^^^^^ This.
Spot on. I love how it gets turned off by "default". Including Anniversary Upgrade.
Thanks Micro$oft!

 

[HFultzjr]

Yes but it reports it after the fact. There is no halt on system restore failure that I am aware of in SDI. (Will gladly eat crow if someone can point out one if I have missed it.)

Badpointer.........
Would it be possible to have SDI "pause" and allow Abort/Continue, if restore point fails.
Would be a great help, as then we could turn it on and proceed.
Thanks.

 

[BadPointer]

Keep in mind that SDI can be executed from a script in non-interactive mode(-autoinstall -autoclose), so bringing up prompts or halting installation might not be desirable.

I also want to remind that If an application calls the CreateRestorePoint method to create a restore point, Windows skips creating this new restore point if any restore points have been created in the last 24 hours. The CreateRestorePoint method returns S_OK.

I think SDI needs to be able to determine if the restore point will be created and let the user know.

 

[nlinecomputers]

FYI Windows 8 also by default keeps restore points turned off on new installs.

 

[glennd]

I also want to remind that If an application calls the CreateRestorePoint method to create a restore point, Windows skips creating this new restore point if any restore points have been created in the last 24 hours. The CreateRestorePoint method returns S_OK.

that's configurable, https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa378941(v=vs.85).aspx.

regarding scripting, i'm inclined to think that if it's in script mode it should proceed regardless, if in interactive mode it should stop if it fails.

 

[Diggs]

regarding scripting, i'm inclined to think that if it's in script mode it should proceed regardless, if in interactive mode it should stop if it fails.

That could probably be discussed. Do you really want an unattended script running that may render the computer un-bootable without a way back? I think there is something to be said to let the script fail gracefully if the is no restore point set and then figure where/how the error is reported so it can be known.

 

[glennd]

That could probably be discussed. Do you really want an unattended script running that may render the computer un-bootable without a way back? I think there is something to be said to let the script fail gracefully if the is no restore point set and then figure where/how the error is reported so it can be known.

reasonable point.

I think there's a couple of things to do here: 1) halt installation if restore point is selected and fails, 2) prior to creating a restore point, set the registry entry to ensure a restore point is actually created and return it to it's previous state afterwards, 3) in interactive mode, test if system protection is enabled and warn the user if not and maybe "click here to enable system protection", this could be one of the slots on the display or could be a popup after the installation has started 4) in non-interactive mode it might be useful to have the option to proceed or not if the restore point fails.

 

[glennd]

I had some free time on a lazy sunday afternoon so i thought i'd play with the SDI themes. @Barcelona was the target and after checking out his web site, this is what I came up with:



It's nothing amazing but it shows that branding with SDI is possible and reasonably straight forward. I'll be documenting the process and options soon.

 

[GTP]

Well done I'm impressed!

 

[glennd]

Snappy Driver Installer r513 has been released. Of most interest will be updates to the restore point support, including the various ideas and suggestions raised here. It will take a few days to appear on the torrent but meanwhile you can grab it from https://sdi-tool.org/download/

 

[BadPointer]

I wanted to let you know that I am leaving my position(lead developer) effective today. Some of you might have seen my resignation announcement on June 26th, 2016 but I end up staying with the project. This time my decision on leaving is final and won’t change.

All assets(website, groups at social networks, source code at SourceForge, translations at Transifex) are being transferred to SamLab. He has been putting together all driverpacks all these years. I expressed on multiple occasions that I trust him fully and I admire his dedication to keep his projects free from adware and not letting people down. This is why believe the project is in good hands.

Unfortunately I cannot transfer my fundraising campaign on Patreon to SamLab and it will be closed on 15 November. If he’ll be running his own fundraising campaign, you’ll be notified.

On June 26 I said that I would close Patreon before the end of the month, so people wouldn’t be charged on on July 1st but I stayed with the project and people were charged. I have misled you. The good news is, this time we have a lot of time before 1st December, so people will have enough time to read the announcement before it closes on 15 November.

Over the last months, I made some preparations to make the project less dependent on me, so that the remaining contributors could continue working on the project under the coordination of SamLab. I wish I didn’t have to put so much barden on contributors. I ask you(users) to be patient and wait till the dust has settled.

 

[mrapoc]

Thank you for everything you have made and achieved @BadPointer - hope the project continues in the direction you took it as it is truly unique

 

[HFultzjr]

Thank you for such a great program.
I wish you the best and hope the program continues on the path you have set.

 

[Diggs]

Great work and my thanks and respects.
I wish you would have made it easier to donate. I want to throw money your way for my thanks and appreciation, but I don't want to create an account or log in using established business accounts. Why no PayPal (or equal) button to facilitate contributions? The whole "patronage" thing kind of put me off but I have no problem contributing to the software I use.

 

[wavey]

I'm sorry to hear that you are leaving BadPointer, but you have to do what you have to do. Good luck with your future projects.

Downloading Snappy Driver updates now, just in case.

As the Patreon account is to cease I will cancel my subscription and re-sub to the new account when/if it appears.

Thanks again.