[REF][TUT] Improve program launch times - UPX Squeezer BATCH

[Sir.B]

this is an old trick that was/is used for older devices to fit WinMo 6 on them
but a side effect is faster application load times

i figured i'd try it on the Blackstone and difference is noticeable
HTCAlbum loads in about 1 Second, before it took about 4
so i'm sharing this with anyone who is interested

The batch file is kept as simple as possible for everyone's ease of use
but this is pretty advanced tweaking, so all common warnings apply
and/or
if you are not comfortable with getting files from/to your PocketPC
and/or
can't figure out how to extract this zip and read the "read me.txt"
and/or
don't know what “any key” is DO NOT TRY THIS!
(read the forum and the wiki a bit more, and you'll gain the knowledge)

Version History:
v 1.0 - initial release
v 1.1 - no icon compression switch added to the batch, for more general compatibility

v alt - here geistteufel has released a new branch of the batch file,
this version uses a different method for packing files and may achieve better compression.
At the same time problems have been reported in the past with this method so all usual warnings apply.

a short list of EXEs that i have UPXed and work well for me

AdobeReaderLE.exe
ASyncKiller.exe
BCR.exe
Camera.exe
FMRadio.exe
GoogleMaps.exe
HTCAlbum.exe
iContact.exe
KeePassPPC.exe
kinoma.exe
Labyrinth.exe
LongPressEndKeyApp.exe
MP3Trimmer.exe
MusicID.exe
Opera9.exe
OperaL.exe
QuickGPS.exe
RSSHub.exe
s2p.exe
s2u2 Settings.exe
s2v.exe
StreamingPlayer.exe
TomTom Navigator.exe
USBtoPC.exe
WMRegOptimizer.exe
YotaCenter.exe
YotaCenterUpdater.exe
YouTube.exe

and here is a list of things NOT to compress

manila.exe
cprog.exe
thumbCal.exe
calculator.exe
wt5jetpr.exe
any DLL

Please share your findings so that others can benefit from it
(SEARCH this thread for your application name or EXE filename)
note: you'll have to repeat this proses after upgrading your applications

big thanks to;
edhaas - for the original simple to use batch file More info in this THREAD
UPX Team - a lot of technical info on the Website
kwbr - for a great ROM
and especially XDA-DEVELOPERS as a whole

 

[AllTheWay]

Wow!

Thank you for sharing this. This also works great for S2U2. I noticed a difference in loading times. Also applied to this to iGO.exe and a few other .exe's

Thanks again for posting this.

Looks like hdtweak.exe and fdotfreds taskmanger have this done already.

 

[andrewk21]

Thanks for your explanations, everything worked fine till I had to copy files to Windows directory: access denied. What must I do to be able to copy files to WD?
Thanks and kind regards,

 

[nicotin]

very very good! I try with commManager, yota contact, opera 9, resco explorer 2008 .....there is a time reduction in all! best performance in yota contacts from 5 seconds to 1 second

 

[sschrupp]

If this works so well I wonder why Microsoft doesn't implement it?

 

[usrname]

upx also works for large dll files!

 

[Svegetto]

Thanks for your explanations, everything worked fine till I had to copy files to Windows directory: access denied. What must I do to be able to copy files to WD?
Thanks and kind regards,

for that you'll need something along the lines of total commander

 

[elite-fusion]

i wish we could do this with manilia.exe but i tried and failed, it doesnt load, so had to restor it

 

[Rozenthal]

I'm also having problem removing protection from some of the files :/

I tried to change properties via Resco Explorer, but without succes. As soon as I remove "Read only" attribute and click "Done", the attribute restores itself and I can't overwrite the new files.

I managed to update Yota; GoogleMaps, Nimbuzz and Opera - all load with visible speed improvement.

Tried Total Commander but can't get it to see my phone

 

[kuyichi]

It isnt working on the diamond saber. Icontacts and Yota center went well
WAUWW!!! my TomTom is now really fast!!

Thanks for sharing this app.

 

[Sir.B]

Thanks for your explanations, everything worked fine till I had to copy files to Windows directory: access denied. What must I do to be able to copy files to WD?
Thanks and kind regards,

some files maybe in memory (used by your phone)
a trick to try is

connect with ActiveSync to the phone
browse into windows folder
rename the file you will be replacing (ex. HTCAlbum.exe to HTCAlbum.old.exe)
copy the UPXed version
restart device and test
if everything works delete the ".old." file

upx also works for large dll files!

it does indeed,
but in my experience with less noticeable results and much less reliability
so i didn't mention this

please list any DLLs that you have UPXed with us so that we can all benefit

i wish we could do this with manilia.exe but i tried and failed, it doesnt load, so had to restor it

i had the same experience, but
best performance boost for Manila/TouchFLO is CFC compression of images (more info here)

 

[Rozenthal]

Sir.B, can you please share info on how to remove attributes from System files? Tried through Resco File Explorer, but no effect - still can't overwrite old files, always having errors :/

 

[cybermaus]

Wow. This is great!

TomTom V7.450 From 6 down to 3 sec to splash screen!

I wonder if it would be possible to do this to all the exe and dll before cooking.

PocketPlayer also works. But most startup time is the drive scanning.
Google Maps also works, but it started up fast anyway. (also the 2 largest dll worked)
gpsVP works, but was already subsecond.
CommManager.exe worked, was a little faster
AdobeReaderLE worked but despite being a huge program, loaded fast to begin with.
PowerPoint worked but also despite being a huge program, loaded fast to begin with.

CorePlayer reports 'Already compressed'
G-Alarm reports '.net not (yet) supported), except for 2 dll's, they worked.

 

[elite-fusion]

Wow. This is great!

I wonder if it would be possible to do this to all the exe and dll before cooking.

yea true, that would be GREAT!!!!! the roms would be superfast!!!!

 

[kwill]

thanks much for this tutorial. i upxed most of the exes u had listed and MAN, it really changed launch times in the apps. htcalbum is awesome and even s2p is launching faster

 

[Sir.B]

Sir.B, can you please share info on how to remove attributes from System files? Tried through Resco File Explorer, but no effect - still can't overwrite old files, always having errors :/

i recommendation you read the WIKI and FORUMS,
this is a general question that has been addressed better than i can many times

...I wonder if it would be possible to do this to all the exe and dll before cooking.

yea true, that would be GREAT!!!!! the roms would be superfast!!!!

to replace all EXE & DLL files would be quite an undertaking
because it's such a trial and error process (manila.exe and mode9.dll don't like to be UPX-ed, maybe many more)
and benifits are only noticeble for the largest of files

never hurts to talk with your chefs

 

[Rozenthal]

some files maybe in memory (used by your phone)
a trick to try is

connect with ActiveSync to the phone
browse into windows folder
rename the file you will be replacing (ex. HTCAlbum.exe to HTCAlbum.old.exe)
copy the UPXed version
restart device and test
if everything works delete the ".old." file

No matter what software I tried, I just can't get to replace the protected system files.

I tried Resco, I removed the attributes but they're back as soon as I click "Done".

I also tried your described method, but clicking on "rename" in Windows Explorer via ActiveSync - nothing happens. The files seem to be permanently locked

 

[Rozenthal]

i recommendation you read the WIKI and FORUMS,
this is a general question that has been addressed better than i can many times

Actually, I have been searching all over forums, but none of the methods described worked for me. Most recommend using Resco or Total Commander, both of which don't work for me. All of the files that have "ROM" attribute simply refuse to be modified in any way.

 

[cybermaus]

Thats right. You cannot modify ROM files. You cannot even copy ROM files. You'd have to dump the ROM to PC, which is not trivial. Best to only use this on post-installed programs that are not in ROM.

 

[cybermaus]

Interesting: Coreplayer gives me an "already packed by UPX"

Seems they learned this trick before.....