broken product and version indication

[garretwilson]

I'm security conscious. I don't easily install something that integrates with Windows Explorer unless I trust it. I've been using HashCheck for years, but I've been hearing good reports about OpenHashTab.

So I went to the 3.1.1 releases page. None of the downloaded executables have version numbers in the filenames, which is standard practice. (Otherwise how do I know which version I have downloaded for later installation?)

I download and right-clicked on OpenHashTab_User_x64.msi in Windows Explorer, and went to the "Details" tab. I looked for a version number. There was no version number, just a GUID! In fact there isn't even a product name. There's a "Title" of "Installation Database" with a subject of "OpenHashTab". (I'll note that if I do the same for HashCheckSetup-v2.4.0.exe, there is a "Product name" of "HashCheck Shell Extension" and a "Product version" of 2.4.0.55.)

As a security-conscious user trying to evaluate trust for an Explorer shell extension, if the product team can't be bothered to make the end executable professional and indicate product name and version number, it makes me, as a potential user, fear that the team may have a less-than-details-oriented approach to other areas of the application such as security. I'm sticking with HashCheck for now.

[namazso]

Hello,

None of the downloaded executables have version numbers in the filenames, which is standard practice. (Otherwise how do I know which version I have downloaded for later installation?)

GitHub's automatic redirection for download links (which were used in the README at some point) are only really automatic if you keep the filename the same. While that is no longer used in the README, I'm not sure how well putting the version in the download name would work with WinGet automatic metadata updates.

I download and right-clicked on OpenHashTab_User_x64.msi in Windows Explorer, and went to the "Details" tab. I looked for a version number. There was no version number, just a GUID! In fact there isn't even a product name. There's a "Title" of "Installation Database" with a subject of "OpenHashTab". (I'll note that if I do the same for HashCheckSetup-v2.4.0.exe, there is a "Product name" of "HashCheck Shell Extension" and a "Product version" of 2.4.0.55.)

This is a limitation of Microsoft Windows, as there is no metadata provider that provides such information from Windows Installer packages. You can see this on Microsoft's own PowerShell as well:

You can forward your complaints to https://support.microsoft.com/ or consider using a different operating system instead.

[garretwilson]

I appreciate your quick response and reasonable answer, although I'm suspicious that these issues would be insurmountable. I'll do some more research and reconsider installing the extension. Have a good weekend.