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I don't feel very confident about permissions and security in Windows.

I have just dowloaded and unzipped the .zip that contains MediaInfo CLI (not the full installer). It works flawlessly from the download folder (pointing the terminal to that location), but it does not seems to be a good place, isn't it?

So, should I drag the whole folder to the Applications folder, or to the Documents folder?

Is there a proper location for a CLI like MediaInfo and use it just writing "MediaInfo.exe" in the terminal?

Thank you in advance

Nacho B
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    Like every other program, you must put it in the path environment variable so that it works from anywhere. – Alejandro Nov 02 '22 at 12:15

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I have a few portable apps as well and I store them in a folder called Tools located in the root of my User Profile:

%UserProfile%\Tools

Some portable programs work as a single exe file while others have additional files they depend on to run - such as CrystalDiskMark - so I tend to place the folder with all its contents in my Tools folder.

%UserProfile%\Tools\CrystalDiskMark

Next you'll want to add the appropriate User environment variables:

Click Start, begin typing "environment..." and select edit the system environment variables once you see it appear > click Environment Variables button.

  1. Under User variables for , select Path > Edit
  2. Click New and add each path that is relevant for all of your portable programs
  3. Click OK to accept the changes

You can leave the System Properties window open for now...

<username> is obviously your username. It's best to Copy/Paste each path needed...

As an example, here are all the ones I have for my Tools:

C:\Users\<username>\Tools
C:\Users\<username>\Tools\CrystalDiskInfo
C:\Users\<username>\Tools\ffmpeg\bin
C:\Users\<username>\Tools\HandBrake
C:\Users\<username>\Tools\MediaInfo
C:\Users\<username>\Tools\mkvtoolnix

I've only got two tools in the root of Tools at this time: exiftool.exe and imagex.exe

These portable programs will now be available from the Command Prompt regardless of the starting path.

One additional step (optional): You can add your Tools folder as a System variable so you can access it for other reasons using %tools%.

Under System variables, click New

  • Variable name: tools
  • Variable value: C:\Users\<username>\Tools
  • Click OK

Now test out your new %tools% variable and run each program to ensure they work. If not, double check you added the full path to each executable.

timetriad
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