Sysinternals Suite Menu running from USB

Sysinternals Suite Menu for Directory Opus

I created the Sysinternals Suite Menu for Directory Opus for use with the popular, powerful, and (best-of-all) free utilities of the Sysinternals Suite. For now, the menu is intended for use from within Directory Opus running from a USB flash drive, where it has the most value.

The Sysinternals Suite Menu for Directory Opus is a derivative of my SSIBuild (Sysinternals Suite Installer Builder) project I maintain over at MSFN.org (I am user DarkShadows over there.)

In order to keep my project maintenance to a minimum, I ask that we only discuss Directory Opus-specific topics here and that you direct all other questions related to the Sysinternals Suite Installer to the relative MSFN forum thread, where all the non-Opus information is already well-documented and discussed. So, you should read both threads, in order to get up-to-speed and get everything running smoothly in Directory Opus from your USB flash drive.

NOTE: I will only maintain one set of download files for this project, which have always been hosted on my FileAve.com account. The download links are only provided over in the MSFN thread, since you need to follow those steps as part of the process documented here.

NOTE: You must always download the SysinternalsSuite.zip directly from Microsoft, which is a legal requirement.

REQUIREMENTS

  1. All buttons inside this menu that launch USB programs (many only launch web URLs) require that you also add my USBProgram user command to your Opus configuration. In fact, running the Sysinternals Utilities from USB is the main reason I wrote USBProgram.
  2. The EULA button launches an HTML application, named AcceptEULA.hta, which I created as part of SysinternalSuite.exe (the final output of SSIBuild (Sysinternals Installer Builder)). This .hta file can be acquired by following the Recommended Process below.

RECOMMENDED PROCESS
To ensure the greatest degree of success, I recommend you follow the process document here soup-to-nuts, which will require that you to follow two other processes documented elsewhere (one here and one over on MSFN.org) soup-to-nuts. In the end, you will have a clean installation of Systinternals Suite both on your desktop or laptop PC, and also on your USB flash drive, in the fewest number of steps.

  1. Follow the Automated Process section documented in the SSIBuild (Sysinternals Suite Installer Builder) thread on MSFN.org to create your own Sysinternals Suite Installer (SysinternalsSuite.exe).

    NOTE: It is okay to permit the SSIBuild script to delete the work files when it prompts you to do so. However, do not manually delete anything else from the Sysinternals Suite download folder until you are finished with this process here.

  2. If required, uninstall any previous versions of SysinternalsSuite.exe (built with my SSIBuild) from your desktop or laptop PC; no reboot is required).
  3. If required, remove any other versions of any Sysinternals utilities from your desktop or laptop PC, especially from folders in your system %PATH%; you won't be needing them anymore.
  4. Install your newly created SysinternalsSuite.exe on your desktop or laptop PC.
  5. If required, install Directory Opus on your desktop or laptop PC.
  6. In Directory Opus, open a dual lister or the Commander style, listing the folders shown below in each file display:
    1. Left: %ProgramFiles%
    2. Right: The main USB programs folder on your USB Flash Drive.
  7. In the left file display, select the Sysinternals Suite folder and copy it, in its entirety, to your main USB programs folder, overwriting any Sysinternals Suite files that previously existed on your USB flash drive.

    NOTE: By default, SSIBuild creates a SysinternalSuite.exe installer that uses "Sysinternals Suite" as the program folder name. However, it is possible for you to customize this name.

  8. In Directory Opus, list the Sysinternals Suite download folder, which should contain the two files below.
    1. Sysinternals.dcf - Directory Opus Sysinternals menu (running from USB).
    2. USBProgram.ouc - Directory Opus user command USBProgram.
  9. OPTIONAL: As downloaded, the Sysinternals menu makes the following assumptions listed below. If any assumption is not correct for your situation, right-click the Sysinternals.dcf file, open it with Notepad, and replace the appropriate strings.
    1. ASSUMPTION: You are using Directory Opus v9.5 or greater, which supports the /homeroot folder alias. If not, replace all occurrences of:
      /homeroot\
      with:
      /home\..\
      NOTE: It is possible to move your Directory Opus USB Program folder from the default location created by the Opus Backup & Restore function. The "/home\..\" replace string above assumes the Directory Opus USB Program folder resides directly in the root of your USB flash drive (its default location). If you moved the Directory Opus USB Program folder is one folder level deeper, then you would need to use "/home\..\..\" as the replace string, and so on. (If you are using a version of Directory Opus earlier than v9.5, it is really time to consider updating to the latest version, which makes things so much simpler.)
    2. ASSUMPTION: Your USB programs folder is named "PortableApps" and it resides in the root of your USB flash drive. If not, replace all occurrences of:
      PortableApps
      with:
      Your USB Programs Folder Name or Relative Path

      NOTE: Do not include anything for the drive letter!

    3. ASSUMPTION: All Sysinternals Suite utilities reside inside a single program subfolder named "Sysinternals Suite", which resides directly under your USB programs folder. If not, you must perform two separate find-and-replace passes.
      1. Replace all occurrences of:
        \Sysinternals Suite\
        with:
        \Your Sysinternals Suite Subfolder\
      2. And also replace all occurrences of:
        RELATIVEPATH="Sysinternals Suite
        with:
        RELATIVEPATH="Your Sysinternals Suite Subfolder
        NOTE: There should only be one double quote and only on the left side of the find string and the replace string!
      When you have completed all of your edits, save the file and close Notepad.
  10. At this point, follow the instructions documented in the USBProgram - User Command to run programs from USB thread to add the USBProgram user command to your Opus configuration, with the exceptions noted below.

    NOTE: Skip the first two steps, since the the Sysinternals Suite download folder already contains USBProgram.ouc. Also, do not close the Customize dialog.

  11. With the Directory Opus Customize Dialog still open, drag the listed Sysinternals.dcf file to any Directory Opus toolbar. You might notice a slight pause and a sleeping mouse cursor while Directory Opus imports the Sysinternals Suite menu, which contains hundreds of menu items.

    NOTE: At This point, many of the icons in the Sysinternals menu will not appear. The program icons will only appear correctly after copying the Sysinternals Suite program folder to the correct program folder location on your USB flash drive, and only when Directory Opus is running from your USB flash drive. (Sub-menus do not have icons at all.)

  12. Click the OK button on the Directory Opus Customize Dialog to save the changes to the Directory Opus user command and toolbar.
  13. In the Directory Opus Settings Menu, click Backup & Restore.
  14. In the Directory Opus Backup and Restore Configuration wizard, select Export to USB Flash Drive. Complete this wizard as you normally would, but ensure you export all toolbars.
At this point, the Sysinternals Suite should be installed correctly on your USB Flash drive. Furthermore, all Sysinternals Suite utilities should run correctly from within Directory Opus when it runs from the USB flash drive.

FUTURE IDEAS
Don't hold your breath while waiting for these; They are just things I have thought of doing. I have posted them here to illicit feedback.

  1. Create a different menu for running the utilities from within Directory Opus on your Desktop PC. this would be based on my Sysinternals Installer Builder work.
  2. Create a third menu where each button will work either from your desktop PC or from your USB flash drive. This will require yet another user command to handle the conditional checking to tell if you are running Opus from USB or your desktop PC. I think this idea has some merit as the same menu could be used in all cases. And I already have a working prototype of the required user command.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE The Sysinternals Suite of utilities was originally authored by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell of Sysinternals. The Sysinternals Suite is Copyright © 2000-2010 by Sysinternals, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Microsoft Corporation. Read the Eula.txt file included in the SysinternalsSuite.zip download from Microsoft TechNet for Sysinternals Suite licensing restrictions.

Kenneth R. Alcock is not a representative of the Microsoft Corporation.