[win32] Detecting Installs and windows updates

[iago]

Dude.....

Improve your English......

thanks but why don't you spend the time to pick that apart first I mean you are attempting to be helpful in some vague way right? Why not point out the bad English, or actually you probably ment bad grammar right? While your at it write a 1000 word essay on why someone should take that much time when we're on a forum and not in school or the workplace.

Till then stick to the topic, or better yet ignore it so far i've gotten 3-4 even remotely helpful replies the rest have been garbage and still have managed to map out a basic concept that should work ok despite the bullshit due to lack of reading/comprehension or due to lack of grammar / structure on my part which really shouldn't matter here to a large degree.

If your unsure about something point it out and do better than vagueness that shouldn't be hard for the brain trust around here I would think. iago and Joe are always helpful when they have the time, so are alot of other's but some (look thru this thread as an example) really waste alot of time. Not that im in any rush as I probably won't even have time to start on this for another month or two but still it's mind boggling to see alot of the same ppl wasting other ppl's time on forums like this. Specially considering this is one of few forums with a few ppl i actually respect enuff to seek help from in any fashion as most sites/forums it's usually alot of the same as what has gone on here in this thread alot of random ppl showing up to do alot of random pointless replies.

First, this is totally offtopic, moreso than the rest of the thread. I should probably move it to offtopic, but see my last paragraph (I'm actually going to try and be helpful :P)

Second, I don't disagree with Ender. If you'd take more time and spell out exactly what you're talking about in a clearer way, you'd probably get a better response. When posts don't read well, I often skim or skip them. You're less likely to get help if people don't read your entire posts. I'm not trying to be mean or troll or anything, but it's hopefully useful advice -- take it or leave it. :P That doesn't mean you have to write a formal essay, either, but there's a lot of value in spelling out ideas clearly.

Anyway, as to the actual post, I suspect that either there's no way to do what you're asking or nobody here knows how. And also, the idea itself has a lot of pitfalls, as discussed. That's why you aren't getting a good answer. :P

[Joe]

Why not put up a prompt asking if you want to kill a program? That way you get to decide.

Yah that could be an option for potential unknown apps matching some definable criteria, maybe have different modes it operates in and different checks and timeframes defined defaults could be adding unknown files to list and prompting within givin thresholds say options like this:
1) cpu steady 99% + definable time frame (default 20 seconds)
2) SendMessageTimeout() sending WM_NULL and waiting for a responce within a givin time frame
3) Checking IsHungApp() every x milliseconds if seen hung for a definable time frame

Then allow the user to:
Add offending program a "bad app" list of which they can later define actions prompt-to-kill/auto-kill/auto-restart etc, as well as fine tune the triggers/time frames.

Something like that what'cha think Joe?

I was thinking completely forgo any of that and when an app is at 90%+ for 10 seconds straight, ask if you want to kill it.

[LordVader]

Dude.....

Improve your English......

thanks but why don't you spend the time to pick that apart first I mean you are attempting to be helpful in some vague way right? Why not point out the bad English, or actually you probably ment bad grammar right? While your at it write a 1000 word essay on why someone should take that much time when we're on a forum and not in school or the workplace.

Till then stick to the topic, or better yet ignore it so far i've gotten 3-4 even remotely helpful replies the rest have been garbage and still have managed to map out a basic concept that should work ok despite the bullshit due to lack of reading/comprehension or due to lack of grammar / structure on my part which really shouldn't matter here to a large degree.

If your unsure about something point it out and do better than vagueness that shouldn't be hard for the brain trust around here I would think. iago and Joe are always helpful when they have the time, so are alot of other's but some (look thru this thread as an example) really waste alot of time. Not that im in any rush as I probably won't even have time to start on this for another month or two but still it's mind boggling to see alot of the same ppl wasting other ppl's time on forums like this. Specially considering this is one of few forums with a few ppl i actually respect enuff to seek help from in any fashion as most sites/forums it's usually alot of the same as what has gone on here in this thread alot of random ppl showing up to do alot of random pointless replies.

First, this is totally offtopic, moreso than the rest of the thread. I should probably move it to offtopic, but see my last paragraph (I'm actually going to try and be helpful :P)

Second, I don't disagree with Ender. If you'd take more time and spell out exactly what you're talking about in a clearer way, you'd probably get a better response. When posts don't read well, I often skim or skip them. You're less likely to get help if people don't read your entire posts. I'm not trying to be mean or troll or anything, but it's hopefully useful advice -- take it or leave it. :P That doesn't mean you have to write a formal essay, either, but there's a lot of value in spelling out ideas clearly.

Anyway, as to the actual post, I suspect that either there's no way to do what you're asking or nobody here knows how. And also, the idea itself has a lot of pitfalls, as discussed. That's why you aren't getting a good answer. :P

That's was actually helpful iago and I don't disagree with that, just frustrated at the vague trolling that happens which is common on forums granted. Sometimes i just get it out there and come back to try to fine tune things after the fact. Hell the topic is actually a bit off but at time was starting it wasn't sure where to start that probably didn't help alot either heh. But anyways will keep eye out and possibly run different installers as i'm just curious now to see if any reg values are seen with diff installers see if can find any common strings used.. yes im just that bored sometimes and it's got me curious for no real good reason may come in handy to know sometime.

@Joe: Yah may do a few methods including that, and allow the users to pick from various options at various times (for unknown and known/defined apps) that would probably work as well as anything for what I need and keep it flexible enuff where other users may find it useful.

[iago]

Idea!

Write one for Android where you select certain apps, and kill them if they're idle for a certain amount of time. Or, better yet, you select certain apps and kill any OTHER app that's idle for a certain period of time.

I know on my version, there's a lot of apps that start in the background that I don't want, so I manually kill them. :)

[LordVader]

Idea!

Write one for Android where you select certain apps, and kill them if they're idle for a certain amount of time. Or, better yet, you select certain apps and kill any OTHER app that's idle for a certain period of time.

I know on my version, there's a lot of apps that start in the background that I don't want, so I manually kill them. :)

that sounds like a pain in the ass, suprised no one has done anything like that imagine on alot of the newer smart phones u run into that i've seen blackberry's but that's bout it never used an iphone or android is there no interface to control what runs?

[rabbit]

If I had an Android...I'd do it.  Anyway, it's definitely possible to do what you want.  ProcessExplorer pretty easily get the CPU usage (and even graphs it!) and killing a process is trivial if you run it with elevated rights.  I haven't really paid attention to this thread (because, like iago said, many of us skim or ignore poorly crafted posts), so I don't know what language you're using.  After a quick search, you can use System.Diagnostics in .Net or GetSystemTimes() API for....uh...either.

[Blaze]

You can do Android Development without an android phone through the Android VM.  :)

[rabbit]

You can do Android Development without an android phone through the Android VM.  :)

Yeah but what do I get out of it?  An Android?  No?  Then why bother?

[Blaze]

You could sell apps on the market for a one-time fee of $25 (for the market account, not per app), although they take a cut...

[warz]

Idea!

Write one for Android where you select certain apps, and kill them if they're idle for a certain amount of time. Or, better yet, you select certain apps and kill any OTHER app that's idle for a certain period of time.

I know on my version, there's a lot of apps that start in the background that I don't want, so I manually kill them. :)

that sounds like a pain in the ass, suprised no one has done anything like that imagine on alot of the newer smart phones u run into that i've seen blackberry's but that's bout it never used an iphone or android is there no interface to control what runs?

Periods. Use them.

[Ender]

Seems to me that you already know what you need to do. I'm not sure what kind of help you're asking for. Perhaps just confirmation on your approach? If that's what you're looking for then I think your entire idea is really bad. You've said why you want to do this ... but ... why?!

Was asking for idea's to check if installers or similar were active via registery keys or other means.. And yes looking for possible other idea's to handle situations where the systems performance is degrading and it may take time to get into the taskmanager to end a process.. In your views why is this approach a bad idea? Am mainly looking for methods that could save time when system is in a state that the user can't get into task manager quickly due to degrading system performance (memory leaks/run away threads) to kill a process, and instead have something in place that could potentially do it for you if you have identified programs that tend to be the cause.

Dude.....

Improve your English......

thanks but why don't you spend the time to pick that apart first I mean you are attempting to be helpful in some vague way right? Why not point out the bad English, or actually you probably ment bad grammar right? While your at it write a 1000 word essay on why someone should take that much time when we're on a forum and not in school or the workplace.

Till then stick to the topic, or better yet ignore it so far i've gotten 3-4 even remotely helpful replies the rest have been garbage and still have managed to map out a basic concept that should work ok despite the bullshit due to lack of reading/comprehension or due to lack of grammar / structure on my part which really shouldn't matter here to a large degree.

If your unsure about something point it out and do better than vagueness that shouldn't be hard for the brain trust around here I would think. iago and Joe are always helpful when they have the time, so are alot of other's but some (look thru this thread as an example) really waste alot of time. Not that im in any rush as I probably won't even have time to start on this for another month or two but still it's mind boggling to see alot of the same ppl wasting other ppl's time on forums like this. Specially considering this is one of few forums with a few ppl i actually respect enuff to seek help from in any fashion as most sites/forums it's usually alot of the same as what has gone on here in this thread alot of random ppl showing up to do alot of random pointless replies.

Because no one is going to respect you when you write like that. This is a bigger problem than whatever bug/roadblock you're facing.

[LordVader]

Seems to me that you already know what you need to do. I'm not sure what kind of help you're asking for. Perhaps just confirmation on your approach? If that's what you're looking for then I think your entire idea is really bad. You've said why you want to do this ... but ... why?!

Was asking for idea's to check if installers or similar were active via registery keys or other means.. And yes looking for possible other idea's to handle situations where the systems performance is degrading and it may take time to get into the taskmanager to end a process.. In your views why is this approach a bad idea? Am mainly looking for methods that could save time when system is in a state that the user can't get into task manager quickly due to degrading system performance (memory leaks/run away threads) to kill a process, and instead have something in place that could potentially do it for you if you have identified programs that tend to be the cause.

Dude.....

Improve your English......

thanks but why don't you spend the time to pick that apart first I mean you are attempting to be helpful in some vague way right? Why not point out the bad English, or actually you probably ment bad grammar right? While your at it write a 1000 word essay on why someone should take that much time when we're on a forum and not in school or the workplace.

Till then stick to the topic, or better yet ignore it so far i've gotten 3-4 even remotely helpful replies the rest have been garbage and still have managed to map out a basic concept that should work ok despite the bullshit due to lack of reading/comprehension or due to lack of grammar / structure on my part which really shouldn't matter here to a large degree.

If your unsure about something point it out and do better than vagueness that shouldn't be hard for the brain trust around here I would think. iago and Joe are always helpful when they have the time, so are alot of other's but some (look thru this thread as an example) really waste alot of time. Not that im in any rush as I probably won't even have time to start on this for another month or two but still it's mind boggling to see alot of the same ppl wasting other ppl's time on forums like this. Specially considering this is one of few forums with a few ppl i actually respect enuff to seek help from in any fashion as most sites/forums it's usually alot of the same as what has gone on here in this thread alot of random ppl showing up to do alot of random pointless replies.

Because no one is going to respect you when you write like that. This is a bigger problem than whatever bug/roadblock you're facing.

As for "Respect" why would I want the respect of someone who can't take the time to form a proper response that is anywhere close to what the topic is about, beyond some short offhanded responses that are nothing but off topic? I get the need for formality with grammar and clarity in some of this, but none of the short off topic responses in no way elicit a response of me respecting the poster in way either so what to do then.. Answer: "Try or move on" but sadly most don't seem to be capable of doing much more than trolling for reasons to post 6 off topic words and seeking reasons to ignore the topic at hand.
What is the use of that?

[Ender]

Seems to me that you already know what you need to do. I'm not sure what kind of help you're asking for. Perhaps just confirmation on your approach? If that's what you're looking for then I think your entire idea is really bad. You've said why you want to do this ... but ... why?!

Was asking for idea's to check if installers or similar were active via registery keys or other means.. And yes looking for possible other idea's to handle situations where the systems performance is degrading and it may take time to get into the taskmanager to end a process.. In your views why is this approach a bad idea? Am mainly looking for methods that could save time when system is in a state that the user can't get into task manager quickly due to degrading system performance (memory leaks/run away threads) to kill a process, and instead have something in place that could potentially do it for you if you have identified programs that tend to be the cause.

Dude.....

Improve your English......

thanks but why don't you spend the time to pick that apart first I mean you are attempting to be helpful in some vague way right? Why not point out the bad English, or actually you probably ment bad grammar right? While your at it write a 1000 word essay on why someone should take that much time when we're on a forum and not in school or the workplace.

Till then stick to the topic, or better yet ignore it so far i've gotten 3-4 even remotely helpful replies the rest have been garbage and still have managed to map out a basic concept that should work ok despite the bullshit due to lack of reading/comprehension or due to lack of grammar / structure on my part which really shouldn't matter here to a large degree.

If your unsure about something point it out and do better than vagueness that shouldn't be hard for the brain trust around here I would think. iago and Joe are always helpful when they have the time, so are alot of other's but some (look thru this thread as an example) really waste alot of time. Not that im in any rush as I probably won't even have time to start on this for another month or two but still it's mind boggling to see alot of the same ppl wasting other ppl's time on forums like this. Specially considering this is one of few forums with a few ppl i actually respect enuff to seek help from in any fashion as most sites/forums it's usually alot of the same as what has gone on here in this thread alot of random ppl showing up to do alot of random pointless replies.

Because no one is going to respect you when you write like that. This is a bigger problem than whatever bug/roadblock you're facing.

As for "Respect" why would I want the respect of someone who can't take the time to form a proper response that is anywhere close to what the topic is about, beyond some short offhanded responses that are nothing but off topic? I get the need for formality with grammar and clarity in some of this, but none of the short off topic responses in no way elicit a response of me respecting the poster in way either so what to do then.. Answer: "Try or move on" but sadly most don't seem to be capable of doing much more than trolling for reasons to post 6 off topic words and seeking reasons to ignore the topic at hand.
What is the use of that?

Joe has already found the solution: prompt the user to see if he/she wants to kill the process. This way you're not killing important processes unintentionally. You should also avoid processes run under admin.

What's interesting is that you completely dismissed the solution to your problem. All that you had to say in response to it was:

@Joe: Yah may do a few methods including that, and allow the users to pick from various options at various times (for unknown and known/defined apps) that would probably work as well as anything for what I need and keep it flexible enuff where other users may find it useful.

And yet you write paragraph-long essays to me and iago in defense of your solecisms. If you were really so intent on the issue at hand, the "topic" so to speak, then why did you make a one-line response to Joe's solution, admitting merely that it is a "possible solution". Why don't you say, "thanks, that's a good idea, case closed!"

And last but not least, why are you pressing me to advise you on your topic question when it has already been solved? I'm sorry if my remark on your grammar offends you, but it wouldn't be useful now to repeat Joe's solution, would it? That would just be... redundancy... unnecessary waste.

[LordVader]

If I had an Android...I'd do it.  Anyway, it's definitely possible to do what you want.  ProcessExplorer pretty easily get the CPU usage (and even graphs it!) and killing a process is trivial if you run it with elevated rights.  I haven't really paid attention to this thread (because, like iago said, many of us skim or ignore poorly crafted posts), so I don't know what language you're using.  After a quick search, you can use System.Diagnostics in .Net or GetSystemTimes() API for....uh...either.

@Rabbit:
Thanks,not used .net/c# alot may look into that for this..

One more question i've seen a problem on vista where a process can go unresponsive, and even thru the taskmanager->end process it's impossible to close the application. Only seen it a few times and only seen it happen on vista, I believe the user account admin account with UAC turned on.  Any ever seen that before or have any idea what could cause that?

@Ender: Em? Eh? Am still lost as to the purpose of your posts other than to be an antagonist.
Thx for that bout watching for admin user processes, but am pretty sure I covered that (as well as alot more) in a few places even if not verbatim to how you view joe's post as the "OMG SOLUTION!"..  Is more important to me to include a few different methods as personally I do want to be able to auto kill some defined processes without a prompt ok if  you read nothing else read that? Get that thru ur head. If you take the time to read a little you'd see doing exactly what joe said would actually be one of a few options it could do potentially. As for the rest of what u said our own logic clearly suggests that there isn't even any point in you even posting once in this thread so why did you at ALL?
As I said thx.. but really - No thanks  :)

[warz]

Like I said before, it sounds like you already know what you're going to do. What else are you looking for?