Larkator somehow uninstalled itself(?); re-installed and home-made shopping lists are gone.

[DiaborMagics2]

I don't know what happened here, but today suddenly the Larkator shortcut that I had put onto my desktop is an Application Reference file (.apprev-ms) and when I open it I see a connecting interface, after which the security error is thrown because the publisher can't be verified - which I know is from installing it the first time. But it should not be happening. It has been installed for months and now suddenly the shortcut I made changed into an installer of sorts? Super strange, right?

In the details it does say it was created in 2022 when I first installed Larkator, but it's still a different filetype and icon now somehow. And I cannot let it direct me to the path Larkator can actually be found - because it wants to "install it" while it should already be up and running.

I just installed it again anyway and while it has remembered my tames list, it has sadly overwritten or not remembered my shopping list and ARK Additions creatures list. Having to find and re-add every creature I'm missing again is a pain, it took a couple of hours of dino wipes and moving to locations the first time. Is there a way to retrieve the list I had already made?

[coldino]

I couldn't guess what happened with the uninstall, but I can point you to the location that the config files are kept so you might be able to discover your old shopping list and copy it over.

In the folder %LocalAppData%\LarkatorGUI\ you'll hopefully find more than one folder. The strange name is somehow related to the install location of the app, so in theory you can look through them and find the one you wanted - check in the user.config file with a text editor like Notepad.

If you are able to find the good config, you should be safe to copy into the config folder of the new install.

[Tharkon]

I have had the same problem multiple times now. For me the folder %LocalAppData%\LarkatorGUI\ did not exist. I found the user.config files in %LocalAppData%\Apps\2.0\Data\[Random Hash]\[Random Hash]\lark..tion_0000000000000000_0001.0012_8e1849f75e1501a3\Data\1.0.0.\user.config. There were four files with a last modified date which seem to correlate with the times the problems occurred. So it seems that the application wants to be re-installed into a different location every now and then which causes it to create a new user.config file.

While it helps a lot to be able to retrieve the old user.config file the fact that this seems to happen every couple of days suggests something might not be working correctly.

Interestingly, when I just uninstalled it and then re-installed it, it did keep the right user.config file.

[DiaborMagics2]

Oh awesome, thanks, I will try to fix that shopping list once I get home then!

[DiaborMagics2]

So, for me the folder did not exist either, only a normal Larkator folder. I was able to find it with Tharkon's instructions, thank you both kindly.

However, I just finished setting it up again, but only because yesterday it uninstalled again. I really have no clue what is causing it. No messages from my antivirus. Haven't played the game in a couple of weeks due to lack of time, so that is not it either. Very confusing. In case it is the antivirus, do you use BitDefender, Tharkon? Since you have the problem, too.

EDIT: Tharkon already said the random uninstallation happens every couple of days and while it was fine for me for months, it is possible that that problem has started for me now, too. After all it was only a couple of days since I last reinstalled it.

[Tharkon]

For me it was fine for months too, and I used it for a while without problems last year as well. I did switch to a new pc recently, but I think it was still fine for a couple of weeks on the current pc. I do not use BitDefender, I use the built-in Windows Defender.

[mkoz1212]

Same happen to me. Used it a few weeks ago and now it asked me to install it with warnings from Windows Defender. Not sure why? Maybe Windows deleting things it believes is dangerous?

[DiaborMagics2]

Fixed yesterday, uninstalled again today. Something fishy is going on. I also had a windows update last night. Maybe it's indeed Windows doing weird stuff. Don't think it is BitDefender then, if you guys do not use it.

[DiaborMagics2]

Sorry, hit the wrong option, did not mean to close it.

[Tharkon]

I have new information. I kept wondering where Larkator was actually installed because I don't understand this appref-ms file. So I found that it is installed in %APPDATA%\Apps\2.0\[Random hash]\[Random hash]\lark..tion_0000000000000000_0001.0012_8e1849f75e1501a3 These are different random hashes from the where the config file was. When I ran the program directly from this executable some interesting things happened. First, it had all the default settings. Second, it had a set of extra buttons that seem to related to debugging. The title bar also names it Larkator DEVELOPMENT. Third, when changing the settings in this version and saving them, the application quits. It does save them though. And lastly, the missing LarkatorGUI folder that coldino mentioned was now created and this is where the settings were stored for this version.

I am also experiencing a different issue which is probably not related since I think it only started today, but if all affected people also have that issue it may be related after all so that's why I mention it. I am no longer able to access the clipboard when using the copy teleport command. I don't use the command often so it may have started before today.

[DiaborMagics2]

I dont mind checking that but I dont know how to access the clipboard aside from ctrl c ctrl v and idk what a copy teleport command is. Or do you mean like the command history in the game's console? (still wouldnt know what a copy tp command is)

[Tharkon]

In Larkator when you right click any creature (either wild or tame) in the list on the right you can copy the teleport command to teleport directly to the location of that creature at the time the game was last saved. Assuming default setting it will teleport you 1500 units above the creature and activate the fly command. For about two days I had the issue that I got an error when using this feature but have not experienced this issue anymore in the past 3 days. The original issue where it re-installs itself is still occurring.

[DiaborMagics2]

Oh wow... I never knew, this would have saved me a lot of time haha. I am reinstalling Larkator now, I have a little bit of time to play and test. The uninstallation of Larkator still seems to happen pretty much every next day after I reinstalled. I left it uninstalled for a while because of that since I didn't have time anyway. I don't expect the teleport to be an issue then but it can't hurt to check.

EDIT: no issue with the teleport command. Thanks for the tip (I may have read about it when I first installed it but forgot it was a thing because I didn't try it immediately. It helped locate one of those creatures that got spawned inside a mountain... that stuff is so annoying. Especially if it's right outside the map border and its a max level).