Total Commander's fresh install to another dir takes INI files from previously installed copy

[nice]

Total Commander's fresh install to another dir takes INI files from previously installed copy.
INI files are in program folder.

[ghisler(Author)]

Yes, this is fully intentional. Why do you think that this is a bug?

[nice]

If I want to overwrite installation to the same dir, then it should use existing ini files.
If I install to separate dir, it should use new ini files.
Why it takes only INI, and not plugins?
INI becomes partially non-functional because entries for plugins/external editor is present, but files are missing.
I found this when the external editor was missing, which is in the %COMMANDER_PATH% folder in a previous existing installation, but certainly not in a fresh installation.

[ghisler(Author)]

If I install to separate dir, it should use new ini files.

But why? You will have to re-do all your settings. It only copies the ini files when there are no ini files in the target yet, so you don't risk any data loss.

Why it takes only INI, and not plugins?

The plugins are usually referenced by full path in the ini, so they will still work.

[Usher]

The plugins are usually referenced by full path in the ini, so they will still work.

Many people use the following setting:
pluginbasedir=%COMMANDER_PATH%\plugins

...and they did set it long time ago.

[white]

Total Commander's fresh install to another dir takes INI files from previously installed copy.
INI files are in program folder.

To clarify for other readers: The installer copies the ini files from a previous installation.

Yes, this is fully intentional. Why do you think that this is a bug?

Why do you think this is transparent?

If I install to separate dir, it should use new ini files.

I think people would normally assume this would happen if the ini files are stored in the program folder.

But why? You will have to re-do all your settings. It only copies the ini files when there are no ini files in the target yet, so you don't risk any data loss.

It's not obvious behavior and the user is not informed about it or given a choice. It doesn't give you the feeling of being in total command over your files.

Not only does the installer look for ini files of a previous install by the current user (by examining registry HKCU), but if it can't find it, it also looks for ini files of a previous install on the machine (by examining registry HKLM). So, if you choose to install Total Commander in a different folder and choose the program folder as the location for the ini files, the installer may copy some seemingly random other user's ini files.