obs portable still used C:\ProgramData

[ghost]

Operating System Info

Windows 10

Other OS

No response

OBS Studio Version

30.1.1

OBS Studio Version (Other)

No response

OBS Studio Log URL

https://obsproject.com/logs/8eBLXexJZ6QihpCT

OBS Studio Crash Log URL

No response

Expected Behavior

portable version should only use obs directory instead using system folder.

Current Behavior

obs portable still use C:\ProgramData folder

auto create two folders (even using portable)
C:\ProgramData\obs-studio
C:\ProgramData\obs-studio-hook

Steps to Reproduce

1. open obs portable (obs_portable_mode.txt method)
2. see C:\ProgramData folder
3. two folders created seen
   ...

Anything else we should know?

No response

[RytoEX]

Running OBS Studio 30.1.2 in Portable Mode in a fresh Windows Sandbox, I do not see exactly this behavior. Instead, I get the following folders:

C:\ProgramData\obs-studio
C;\ProgramData\obs-studio\shader-cache

I do not get the obs-studio-hook folder.

[niresh1234]

@RytoEX see this (also included content inside C:\ProgramData\obs-studio-hook folder)

obs-studio-hook.zip

[Fenrirthviti]

Are you absolutely certain this was placed by a portable install? Those files are expected from a traditional installation.

[niresh1234]

@Fenrirthviti yes, portable install..... using zip + obs_portable_mode.txt

[Fenrirthviti]

Thanks, confirmed in sandbox as well that the graphics hook is installed.

I'm not entirely sure this is something we can avoid, as it's required for the functionality of the game capture feature on windows. Potentially there could be a warning on first launch that certain files have to be installed to a shared user location for OBS to function properly, but I feel that just leads to more user confusion than anything else.

[niresh1234]

@Fenrirthviti if I delete C:\ProgramData\obs-studio-hook folder
and
run OBS, the folder (with content) created again.

[Fenrirthviti]

Yes, confirmed that to be the case. As mentioned above, this is currently required for OBS to function, so I'm not sure what the best solution here is. I don't believe that with the way game capture works we can make it fully portable. I'm not a fan of silently breaking functionality, and users don't read popups, so it's a bit of an awkward situation. We'll discuss internally.

[niresh1234]

@Fenrirthviti why not simply include this file in obs studio main\data folder?

[Fenrirthviti]

Because the game capture currently expects it to be there, as well as other permissions and security issues around how the game capture hook works. Putting in OBS's directory and loading it from an arbitrary location could potentially break capture with many games.