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Upgrading the client on WIndows always invalidates icon on taskbar and start menu.

Answered
Jeff Jones
Edited

Why does upgrading the client software on Windows always remove the application shortcut from the start menu and cause the application shortcut on the taskbar to stop working?

Most other Windows applications don't have this problem.

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Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • Norman
    • Network Optix team

    Hi Jeff Jones

    Could you share some more details? From which version to which version did this occur?Personally, I don't experience such issues on my Windows 11 Pro system. 

    Thank you. 

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  • Jeff Jones
    Edited

    As far as I can remember it has done this on all versions of DW Spectrum Client from at least version 4 up to the latest 6.1.2. On both Windows 10 Pro and Windows 11 Pro.

    Whenever we install the client we like to put the icon on the start menu and the taskbar. Whenever we install an upgrade it always removes the icon from the start menu, and the icon on the taskbar becomes dead.

    It is like the upgrader is replacing the original icon (which makes sense because of the versioning system you are doing), but it fails to update any existing links on the Start Menu and Taskbar.

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  • Norman
    • Network Optix team

    Hi Jeff Jones,

    I ran several test updates, both within the 6.0.x releases and upgrading from 6.0.x to 6.1.x, and wasn't able to reproduce the issue on my end.

    Next time, when updting, could you please enable DEBUG logging before your next update? If the icons become unresponsive, go ahead and share those DEBUG logs with your reseller so we can investigate further.

    Best regards.

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  • Jeff Jones
    Edited

    I'm talking about the Windows exe installer. Does setting DEBUG in the client make it aware of the installer?

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  • Norman
    • Network Optix team

    Hi Jeff Jones,

    Just to make sure I understand correctly, it sounds like you're downloading and installing the packages for the new build directly, rather than running a standard system upgrade.

    If that's the case, it makes sense that existing shortcuts are breaking, as manual package installs can't preserve those old path connections. If you use the standard update mechanism instead, your shortcuts should stay intact without any issues.

    Hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any questions.

    Best regards.

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  • Jeff Jones

    Correct. Downloading the Windows client EXE file to upgrade.

    I wonder why the Windows installer would be able to find the old Start Menu icon and delete it, but then can't add the new one back? Other apps don't have this kind of problem when I update them from the EXE installers.

    Your theory might make a little more sense with the taskbar icon because the installer doesn't seem to touch that one at all.

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  • Norman
    • Network Optix team

    Hi Jeff Jones 

    Please keep in mind that the Desktop Client is designed to connect to various versions of the Media Server. Because of this, the Client tracks the specific installation paths for each version during the update process.

    Initial Installation: The first install is saved to this path, with all initial shortcuts pointing here: 

    C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Network Optix...

    Subsequent Updates: When you update the VMS, the updated files are stored here: 

    C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Network Optix...

    When using an .exe file for installation, these existing paths aren't recognized. Since shortcuts are tied to a specific release (e.g., version 5.x.x), installing a newer version (e.g., 6.x.x) over writes the original paths. As a result, the shortcut attempts to launch version 5.x.x, but version 6.x.x has taken over and doesn't know where to find the latest update files and thus the shortscuts are broken. 

    Could you share why you're using the .exe file to install the update instead of the built-in update process?

    Best regards. 

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  • Jeff Jones
    Edited

    We use the .exe file because it is more straight forward and resembles how probably 99% of all other apps require updating.

    One thing we've noticed a few times is there is a new version on the website, that doesn't show up for a few weeks or even a month in the automatic update. That might be intentional to filter out more bugs, but it reinforces the habit of just doing it from the .exe to be predictable. Then there are the offline clients that can't even check.

    A feature request for something I'd like to see is a way to have the server push client updates to the client. If the server had the client installed then it could push from that copy, or create a method of “loading” the client installers into a repository that the server can use. Then offline clients could easily be updated without needing internet or someone taking a USB driver around to each one.

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