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Add 'Installing on Windows without admin rights'; fix portable steps on Downloads; drop merged #1135-#1138 notices

ispyisail
2026-09-29 22:36:44 +13:00
parent 6e0c0b3c41
commit 5997378c3f
4 changed files with 145 additions and 31 deletions
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_Sidebar.md
+2
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
**[Downloads](downloads)**
**[Windows without admin rights](windows_without_admin)** — the portable archive, no installer
**[Quick Start Guide](quick_start_guide)**
**[User Manual](user_manual)**
ai_assistants.md
+3 -26
@@ -222,53 +222,30 @@ The server speaks MCP over standard input and output.
## Not merged yet
Four changes will make this simpler. Until each lands, the setup above is
the way.
Four changes make this simpler. All four merged on 29 September 2026, so
they are in builds made after that (on Windows, nightlies newer than
git10275). With an older build, the setup above is the way.
### Windows: exports and edits
> **Status: pending.** This section describes
> [PR #1135](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1135),
> not yet merged. Nothing here works until that lands — check the PR
> before trying any of this against your own build. This section will drop
> this notice once it does.
Without it, on Windows only the reading tools work: every export, edit,
check and query fails, because the server could not start QElectroTech
there.
### The server installed with QElectroTech
> **Status: pending.** This section describes
> [PR #1136](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1136),
> not yet merged. Nothing here works until that lands — check the PR
> before trying any of this against your own build. This section will drop
> this notice once it does.
`qet_mcp.py` comes with QElectroTech (`share/qelectrotech/mcp/` on Linux,
`mcp\` in the Windows installation folder) and finds that QElectroTech and
its symbols by itself, so no download and no `QET_BINARY` are needed.
### Python with the Windows installer
> **Status: pending.** This section describes
> [PR #1137](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1137),
> not yet merged. Nothing here works until that lands — check the PR
> before trying any of this against your own build. This section will drop
> this notice once it does.
The installer offers "Python for the AI assistant" (unticked by default),
so Windows users need not install Python themselves. The command becomes
`C:\Program Files\QElectroTech\mcp\python\python.exe` (in JSON, each `\` is written `\\`).
### Help → Connect an AI assistant
> **Status: pending.** This section describes
> [PR #1138](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1138),
> not yet merged. Nothing here works until that lands — check the PR
> before trying any of this against your own build. This section will drop
> this notice once it does.
**Aide → Connecter un assistant IA...** (*Help → Connect an AI assistant*)
writes the setup for your assistant with this installation's paths filled
in:
downloads.md
+9 -5
@@ -58,10 +58,14 @@ Get QElectroTech running on your system. Choose your platform below for specific
**No installation required; run from USB or folder.**
1. **Download** the portable ZIP from downloads page
2. **Extract** the ZIP file to a folder
3. **Run** `QElectroTech.exe` directly from the folder
4. No registry changes; safe to run from USB
**Also the way to install without administrator rights.**
1. **Download** the archive whose name ends in `-readytouse` (`.7z` for 0.100.0, `.zip` for the 0.200.1 nightly)
2. **Extract** it to a folder you can write to
3. **Run** the launcher in the top folder: `Lancer QET.bat` (0.100.0) or `Lancer QET_qt6.bat` (0.200.1), not `bin\QElectroTech.exe`
4. Your own symbols and title blocks stay in `conf\` inside the folder, so it runs from a USB stick too
Full steps, where things are stored, file associations and updating: **[Installing on Windows without admin rights](windows_without_admin)**.
### Option 3: Microsoft Store
@@ -351,7 +355,7 @@ sudo snap refresh qelectrotech
### When to Use Portable
- ✅ Running from USB drive
- ✅ No admin rights on computer
- ✅ No admin rights on computer — see [Installing on Windows without admin rights](windows_without_admin)
- ✅ Temporary installation
- ✅ Trying before full install
- ✅ Multiple versions
windows_without_admin.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
# Installing on Windows without admin rights
Both Windows installers need administrator rights: the `.exe` installer asks for them outright and installs into `Program Files`, and the `.msi` installs for every user of the machine. On a company PC where you are a standard user, neither will run.
You don't need them. Every release also comes as a **portable archive**: a folder you extract anywhere you're allowed to write, and start from a launcher script inside it. It is the same program as the installed one.
---
## Which file to download
| Version | Where | File |
|---|---|---|
| **0.100.0** (latest stable) | [Release 0.100](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/releases/tag/0.100) | `qelectrotech-0.100.0+git8590-x86-win64-readytouse.7z` |
| **0.200.1** (development, Qt 6) | [Nightly build](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/releases/tag/nightly) | `qelectrotech-0.200.1-qt6+git<number>-x86-win64-readytouse.zip` |
Take the name ending in **`-readytouse`**, not `Installer_…exe` or `….msi`.
On the nightly page, files with `-qt6` in the name are the current build. Files without it are the last Qt 5 build, kept frozen and no longer updated.
The stable `.7z` opens in Explorer on recent Windows 11 (23H2 and later). On Windows 10 you need 7-Zip; if you can't install that either, use the nightly `.zip`, which Windows opens natively.
> **0.200.1 is a development version.** It is what most new work goes into, but it is not tagged as a stable release yet (see [issue #1112](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/issues/1112)). If your company only allows released software, use 0.100.0.
---
## Installing
1. **Unblock the download.** Right-click the downloaded file → **Properties** → tick **Unblock** at the bottom of the *General* tab → **OK**. Without this, Windows marks every extracted file as "from the internet" and SmartScreen warns about each one.
2. **Extract it to a folder you own**, for example:
```
%LOCALAPPDATA%\QElectroTech
```
(paste that into Explorer's address bar; it expands to `C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\QElectroTech`). `Documents\QElectroTech` or a USB stick work too. Avoid `Program Files`, which you can't write to.
3. **Start QElectroTech with the launcher** in the top folder:
| Version | Launcher |
|---|---|
| 0.100.0 | `Lancer QET.bat` |
| 0.200.1 | `Lancer QET_qt6.bat` |
("Lancer" is French for "launch".)
4. Optional: right-click the launcher → **Send to** → **Desktop (create shortcut)**. That needs no special rights either.
If SmartScreen shows *"Windows protected your PC"*, click **More info** → **Run anyway**. The builds are not code-signed, so this warning is expected.
### Always use the launcher, not `bin\QElectroTech.exe`
The launcher tells QElectroTech where everything in the folder is. Run the `.exe` directly and it can start without its symbol collection, title blocks or translations.
What the launcher does:
| Step | Effect |
|---|---|
| `cd` to its own folder | The paths below work wherever you extracted it |
| `attrib +r elements/* /S /D` | Makes the shipped symbol collection read-only, so it can't be edited by accident |
| `--common-elements-dir=elements/` | Shipped symbol collection |
| `--common-tbt-dir=titleblocks/` | Shipped title block templates |
| `--lang-dir=lang/` | Interface translations |
| `--config-dir=conf/ --data-dir=conf/` | Your own symbols, title blocks, logs and config files stay in `conf\` inside the folder |
Anything you add after the launcher's name is passed on to QElectroTech. So a project file dragged onto the launcher opens in QElectroTech.
---
## Where things are stored
| What | Where | Needs admin? |
|---|---|---|
| The program, shipped symbols and title blocks | The folder you extracted | No, it's your folder |
| Your own symbols, title blocks, logs | `conf\` inside that folder | No |
| Preferences (the *Settings* dialog) | Registry, `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\QElectroTech\QElectroTech` | No, it's your own part of the registry |
| Your projects (`.qet`) | Wherever you save them | No |
Nothing goes into `Program Files` or the machine-wide part of the registry.
---
## Opening `.qet` files by double-click
The archive includes `register_filetypes.bat`, which makes Windows open `.qet` projects, `.elmt` symbols and `.titleblock` templates in this copy of QElectroTech when you double-click them.
It registers them for your account only, which needs no admin rights. This works in builds **newer than the git10275 nightly** ([PR #1149](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1149), merged 29 September 2026). In 0.100.0 and in nightlies up to git10275 the script is broken; see *Older downloads* below.
1. Run `register_filetypes.bat` from the top folder.
2. It should say *"Les associations de fichier ont bien ete crees."* ("the file associations were created"). Press a key to close it.
The associations point at this folder. If you move or rename it, run `register_filetypes.bat` again.
**Older downloads:** in 0.100.0 and nightlies up to git10275, the script doesn't work for a standard user. In the 0.200.1 nightlies it stops at once; in 0.100.0 it tries to write to the machine-wide part of the registry. With those, open a project like this instead:
- use **File → Open** inside QElectroTech, or
- drag the `.qet` file onto the launcher (`Lancer QET_qt6.bat` or `Lancer QET.bat`).
Don't use *Open with → Choose another app → `bin\QElectroTech.exe`*: that starts the program without the launcher, so it can come up without its collection (see above).
---
## Updating
1. Extract the new version to a **new** folder, next to the old one.
2. Copy the old folder's `conf\` into the new one, so your own symbols and title blocks come with you. Preferences are in the registry, so they carry over by themselves.
3. If you registered file associations, run `register_filetypes.bat` in the new folder.
4. Delete the old folder when you're happy.
---
## Removing it
1. If you registered file associations, double-click `qet_uninstall_file_associations.reg` in the folder and confirm. (In builds newer than git10275 this also removes the per-user entries.)
2. Delete the folder.
3. Optional: remove your preferences. Run `regedit` and delete `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\QElectroTech`. If your company blocks `regedit`, you can leave the key: it's only settings.
---
## When it still won't run
| Symptom | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| *"Windows protected your PC"* | The build isn't code-signed | **More info → Run anyway**, or unblock the download before extracting |
| *"This app has been blocked by your system administrator"*, or nothing happens | The company allows only approved programs (AppLocker or similar) | Only your IT department can allow it. Point them at the release page. |
| The symbol collection is empty | QElectroTech was started as `bin\QElectroTech.exe` | Start it with the launcher |
| `register_filetypes.bat` says *"…Lancer QET.bat n'a pas été trouvé"* | Bug in nightlies up to git10275 | Use a newer nightly, or open files as described above |
---
## See also
- **[Downloads](downloads)** — every platform and package
- **[FAQ](faq)** — general questions
- **[Preferences reference](preferences)** — what the settings stored in the registry control
- **[CLI Reference](cli_reference)** — the command-line options the launcher uses