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RE: Portable WinPT from usb and floppy disk!! [ Reply ]
By: hamada mansour on 2007-09-02 08:26		[forum:1102]
no, an executable file compressor used to make the files smaller so they can fit on a floppy.more at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPX

RE: Portable WinPT from usb and floppy disk!! [ Reply ]
By: David Vallier on 2007-09-01 23:15		[forum:1101]
<< Also, UPX (if it doesn't cause any problems down the line) is a nice program.. I'm surprised I never heard of it before. >>

Ok so what is UPX?? another "shell" for GnuPg or what?

Cheers

RE: Portable WinPT from usb and floppy disk!! [ Reply ]
By: William Gates on 2007-08-31 00:45		[forum:1100]
Thanks hamada mansour, that helps a lot. I was working on a vbs script to do this same thing but I was missing a few of the keys.

I had a little trouble getting it to work but then I noticed the semicolon at the end of the 5th line. Taking that out makes the script work great.

I submitted this fix to Digg, I hope it gets people to start using GPG/WinPT and maybe someone will pick up this project again. Encryption is more important now then ever.

Also, UPX (if it doesn't cause any problems down the line) is a nice program.. I'm surprised I never heard of it before.

RE: Portable WinPT from usb and floppy disk!! [ Reply ]
By: hamada mansour on 2007-08-03 10:53		[forum:1042]
here is a guide I used to it don't save anything into the registry.
=========================
Creating a nomad WinPT.

Abstract: WinPT is a Windows GUI front-end for GnuPG.
WinPT and GnuPG rely on registry settings and can only be used after
beeing installed. You cannot run them from a floppy or an USB key.

Solution: This guide will help you to create a "no-install" version of WinPT.
You will be able to run WinPT directly off a floppy disk or a USB key.

You will be able to use WinPT+gpg+your keyring without:
- having to install WinPT + gpg on harddisk.
- having to write your keyring on the harddisk.
- having to manually create/update WinPT and GnuPG registry settings

This does _not_ involve recompiling or tweaking WinPT nor GPG.

Required tools:
- GnuPG : encryption program
- WinPT : Shell to GnuPG
- AutoIt : Windows scripting
- UPX : Executable compressor.

Instructions:

1) Create an empty directory.

2) In this directory, create the file nomad_winpt.au3 with a text editor:
-----------cut here %-------------
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GNU\GnuPG", "HomeDir", "REG_SZ", @ScriptDir & "\keyring")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GNU\GnuPG", "gpgProgram", "REG_SZ", @ScriptDir & "\GnuPG\gpg.exe")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GNU\GnuPG", "OptFile", "REG_SZ", @ScriptDir & "\GnuPG\gpg.conf")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\WinPT", "Extensions", "REG_SZ", "1")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\WinPT\Keyserver", "Default", "REG_SZ", "http://wwwkeys.nl.pgp.net";)
$val = RunWait(@ScriptDir & "\WinPT\winpt.exe", @ScriptDir & "\WinPT")
RegDelete("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GNU\GnuPG")
RegDelete("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\WinPT")
Exit
-----------cut here %-------------

2) Download latest winpt-X.X.X-exe.zip
from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=71360
and unzip to the \winpt subdirectory.

3) Download latest gnupg-w32cli-X.X.X.zip
from ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/binary/
and unzip to the \gnupg subdirectory.
(You can get rid of *.mo files)

4) Create an empty gpg.conf file in the \gnupg subdirectory

5) Create the \keyring subdirectory.
If you have an existing keyring, put it here
(otherwise WinPT will prompt you to create one.)

6) Download AutoIt v3 from http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/
and install it.

7) With AutoIt, compile the script nomad_winpt.au3 into nomad_winpt.exe
(Right-click on the script, choose "Compile Script"
or use the Script Compiler in the AutoIt menu.)
You can delete the nomad_winpt.au3 file.

8) Download latest upxXXXw.zip
from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=2331

9) In the \gnupg subdirectory, run: upx --best *.exe
In the \winpt subdirectory, run: upx --best *.exe

10) You should have now:
\winpt (containing WinPT binaries)
\gpg (containing GnuPG binaries)
\keyring (empty directory ; will contain your keyring)
nomad_winpt.exe

That's all.
The whole thing is slightly above 1 Mb, which fits on a floppy.

Run nomad_winpt.exe
You will see AutoIt and WinPT icons in tray.
If you do not have a keyring, WinPT will prompt you to create one.
Note that once you close WinPT, the registry setting will automatically be cleared
and the AutoIt script will exit.


Note:
GnuPG settings changed from WinPT GUI will be saved to gpg.conf
WinPT settings changed from WinPT GUI will be discarded. You have to add them
to the nomad_winpt.au3 script.
================================

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: S HH on 2007-07-25 08:39		[forum:1034]
Hi all,

I build my own Portable WinPT via gpg4win and it works well (of course you have to reconfigure the drive letter from time to time).

But now I get a problem at work, where WinPT does not run at all (first time Win2000, other times always XP). Is there a general problem with WinPT under Win2000?

I think I got some messages first time I started WinPT (like file associations). But now - nothing - not in the tray not in Tasklist.

Any hints or help appreciated.

Grettings

Sebastian

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: Timo Schulz on 2007-02-03 18:30		[forum:879]
No, sorry.

Currently I'm very busy with other things.
I can't say when it's ready but it will be ready.

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: Ben St on 2007-02-02 09:34		[forum:875]
Are there some news about the "portable/mobile" version of WinPT?
Thanks for had work.
Ben

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: Timo Schulz on 2006-12-17 17:42		[forum:801]
As I said before, the "portable/mobile" mode is almost ready. But because I need to make sure no stuff is stored/written on the harddisk, I need to do careful tests.

This is why there is such a long delay. I can't promise it will be ready with in a week because I need to pay attention to other issues first.

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: Julian Tosh on 2006-12-12 06:02		[forum:779]
I agree that WinPT is almost a complete product. I wish I had something to offer the developer to help him with the project and push it over the top.

As for the registry stuff, the best bet is to do exactly like you said and record/replace the registry with the opening and closing of winpt. The HKCU keys should be RW (CU stands for current user) so you should be able to use the regedit utility to save the keys and data after you call winpt:

regedit /e winpt.reg HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\WinPT

Before you start it the next time, import the registry settings:

regedit /s /c winpt.reg

If there are other places in the registry that are being used, you'll have to do the same procedure on those keys... I would suggest using RegMon to verify if that's the case:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/regmon.mspx

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: James Pesko on 2006-12-12 05:30		[forum:777]
Alright, Julian. I didn't post here to pick a fight with anybody and I'm certainly not bashing someone for developing an app that I couldn't come close to reproducing. So I'll leave it at that.

I'm just frustrated because I've been searching for a portable PGP-based encryption solution for over a year. WinPT comes soooooooooo close to being ideal in that regard.

Since looking at the source code, it's clear that the registry is intricately involved. But most of WinPT's registry settings are in the HKCU space. Can non-admin users write settings to HKCU or does that require admin access rights? If it doesn't require admin access then I might be able to write an NSIS script that just pops in the required registry settings before starting up WinPT. Definitely worth a try.

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: Julian Tosh on 2006-12-12 04:29		[forum:776]
I'm not barking at you for asking a question nor suggesting an improvement. I'm only calling you out on your derogatory attitute towards the developer and how he decided to write his software.

The registry is a perfectly legitimate method for storing application data. PERIOD.

Maybe portability wasn't on the developer's mind when he started out. But to say that there's no reason for a program to ever read or write to the registry and should only use INI files is a bit out of line.

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: James Pesko on 2006-12-12 03:59		[forum:775]
I'm not sure what this has to do with financial contributions, price of the software, Microsoft, or whatever else you were babbling about.

I don't have a demanding attitude. I was just wondering if there's a way to make WinPT/GnuPG portable. This would add great functionality to the product and perhaps make it's popularity increase dramatically (because there's currently no software that can do PGP encryption exclusively from a USB drive on a computer without administrator access).

The only thing preventing this from currently happening is the registry reads. If you'd like to promote sub-par software design, Julian, that's fine. But don't bark at me for trying to suggest improvements that will make a good piece of software much better.

RE: Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: Julian Tosh on 2006-12-12 03:42		[forum:771]
Wish such a demanding attitude, I hope you're financially contributing to this project or SOMETHING. This is free software. If you dont like how it works, then go use something else. As for using INI vs Registry files... The registry was built around this type of functionality, a common resource for storing application configuration data. If you dont like that, then perhaps you should get a job at Microsoft and re-engineer their products.

Portable WinPT [ Reply ]
By: James Pesko on 2006-12-12 03:10		[forum:770]
I'm trying, without luck, to run WinPT/GnuPG exclusively from a USB disk. The biggest problem with these programs is that they read the registry. There's no reason for that. They should use INI files. Period.

Does anyone know how to get WinPT portable?