RTPatch Overview

Byte-Level Differencing

Features

What's New

17 Years of RTPatch

Platforms

RTPatch for Online/PC Games

RTPatch/Telematics

More Information

RTPatch: Version 11.00

Current version 11.00 introduces a new Windows Vista that dramtically reduces end-user confusion and hassle when applying patch files under User Account Control (UAC). Version 11 also includes several new commands to make it easier to Build and Apply complex patch files - each of the following features are direct results of requests made by RTPatch users.

Highlighted Features

1. New RTPatch File Service enables application of patch files under User Account Control, without Administrator level rights
2. New Build commands helps control Apply time search path
3. Increased buffers improve speed
4. New Auto RTPatch callback ID assists in caching patch files
5. New Windows Installer command line options to retrieve relevant erorr codes
6. New Apply flag helps conditionally add new files
7. Auto RTPatch now support the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive in addition to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
8. Byte handling commands now work with wildcard specifications

RTPatch 10.xx users with current Support and Upgrade Protection Service receive new version 11 at no charge. Email your RTPatch serial number to Technical Support to obtain download instructions.

New RTPatch File Service enables application of patch files under User Access Control, without Administrator level rights

A new Windows Service, called the "RTPatch File I/O Service," is introduced to assist in patching files in restricted file locations, without the need for elevated rights granted to the process applying the patch. Primarily, this feature is intended for users running Windows Vista, with User Account Control (UAC) enabled, but the service will run under any NT-based operating system. Once installed by a user with appropriate privileges (a member of the Administrator group), the RTPatch File I/O Service passively runs under the LocalSystem account, consuming no CPU cycles. When a patch is applied, patchw32.dll automatically detects if the process has Administrator level rights, and if not, and the RTPatch File I/O Service is installed and running, RTPatch will request that the patch file be applied by the Service. Under Windows Vista with UAC activated, for example, this will permit modification of the Windows, System and Program Files directories, as well as the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive, without elevation of the calling process to Administrator.

New Build commands helps control Apply time search pat

A new command, NOSEARCHROOT, disables RTPatch Apply's automatic search of the root of the Apply directory for any files to modify. Previously, RTPatch searching would default to the update directory, the "expected" subdirectory, and any directory listed on the user's PATH. The latter two (subdirectories and PATH) could be disabled, but searching the root of the update directory could not. NOROOTSEARCH disables this search when needed.

Increased buffers improve speed

The RTPatch Apply file I/O buffer size has been increased, which improves the speed of the Apply process by up to 20% in cases of numerous sequential file reads/writes.

New Auto RTPatch callback ID assists in caching patch files

The Auto RTPatch client DLL API now generates a new callback ID of 0x1019 providing the path to the fully downloaded RTP file, in case the calling application would like to cache the file for later use.

New Windows Installer command line options to retrieve relevant erorr codes

When applying an EXE-style MSP patch created by RTPatch for Windows Installer, new command line flag -w instructs the EXE to return the return code of the MSI API call (primarily MsiConfigureProductEx), rather than the internal RTPatch error code.

New Apply flag helps conditionally add new files

New command ADDDEPTH instructs RTPatch to only add a file if a specified level of parent directories already exist for the intended add location of the file. This is used to conditionally add files to existing locations, but ignore the new file if its expected directory (or parent directory) is not already present on the user's machine.

Auto RTPatch now support the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive in addition to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

The Auto RTPatch schedule now works with the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive, in addition to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive. Previously, only the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive was used, which caused no problems when the Auto RTPatch Scheduler was run as a service, but could fail if executed as a standard (non-service) process. Adding support for HKEY_CURRENT_USER enables the Auto RTPatch Scheduler to run as a normal process without the need for Administrator rights.

Byte handling commands now work with wildcard specifications

The byte-handling commands (IGNOREBYTES, READBYTES, RETAINBYTES) now work with wildcard FILE specifications. Previously, a separate BEGINFILE/ENDFILE block was required for each file that used byte-handling features.