I have a very old application which I've moved from computer to computer over the years. I was probably running NT or maybe even Windows 95 when I got it. It still runs fine, but I recently tried to back up some of the files I created using it and I find that they are hidden. When I run the app I can read them or write them, but when I try to access them either via the command line or Windows Explorer they are not found. I can see them from the cygwin command line, but I would really prefer explorer.
My theory is that this is because my app is so old that it is putting user data in c:\ProgramFiles(x86)\MyApp\data rather than in some User\AppData directory which is what more recent versions of Windows are happier with.
What I've tried:
Using attrib to remove hidden attributes (failed with permission issue)
Same, but running attrib in cmd window with admin privileges (no permission error message, but the files do not subsequently show up)
Copying using cygwin command line (got unhelpful message "omitting directory `data'")
Any suggestions what I could try next? I am running Windows 7.
I would happy with a fix that I could do once and would fix it for good (setting permissions somehow?); I would be satisfied with a workaround like "run the following command every time you want to back files up").
Edit: I noticed something strange which may be a clue for someone more knowledgeable than I am: for files which have been modified recently, as opposed to created, doing a dir shows the file information for the old version, even though cygwin shows the new information and that's what I see when I read the file using the app.
Related
I have a Mac with Yosemite on it. Upon downloading SmartCVS 7.1.9 from https://www.syntevo.com/smartcvs/ , I try to run the application and receive an error that states "SmartCVS seems to already be running. Instead of running separate instances you can open multiple project windows in SmartCVS. If you are sure that no SmartCVS instance is running any more you should delete the lock file $FILE_PATH$/_lock_".
I've tried to delete the _lock_ file multiple times and that doesn't help (the lock file is empty. The application hasn't ever successfully run. Rebooting doesn't help. Deleting it from the computer and downloading it again doesn't help. Downloading previous versions has yielded the same error (7.1.3). I've tried running it from the terminal to get the crash log, but it doesn't make much sense.
In case it helps, upon downloading the first time I had a pop up stating that SmartCVS was by an unidentified publisher and couldn't open. I got around this problem found here: http://www.imore.com/how-open-apps-unidentified-developer-os-x-mountain-lion
I know that the program can work on my Mac OS since my boss has it running on her computer. Though, strangely, she did not have to deal with either of the two problems I've had to deal with.
Thanks
so at the time I posted this I also reached out to a SmartCVS community support group. They were able to solve the problem as follows:
My computer is part of a Network. As such, the files are technically stored locally since my User Home is on the Network. SmartCVS can't interact with the lock file since it's not on the local machine. Therefore in the file at "~/Library/Preferences/SmartCVS/7.1/smartcvs.properties", I needed to append the following line to the end of the file:
smartcvs.applock=false
I have a huge .bat file build script that calls into compilers and what not.
I have until recently been able to run this without any problems (and as I have not made any changes, I suspect there's a Windows update and/or setting at play?)
Using Windows 7
I am logged in as Administrator
I run the command line with "Run as administrator"
My build script then compiles and run my application (shuts down itself which I have confirmed in "Task manager") the first time.
This goes well.
But when it tries to delete the file (the application)
I get "access denied"
This basicly stops me completely because it is a large build system which non-automated takes a very long time and is very error prone to do manually.
The kicker is that if I try delete the file in Windows explorer I get "need admin rights" which is kinda peculiar since... I am already an administrator... and I have also run Windows explorer with "Run as administrator". However, after some time and attempting a rename it seeems to budge and allow the file to be deleted. (I have checked, and there is no process listed in task manager which should be "holding" the file in any way, so I tend to think this is an access rights issue... somehow)
I am... Open to ideas? :)
I have decided to move this question to:
https://superuser.com/questions/493249/windows-file-access-denied
as I think it is my Windows that is messed up somehow :(
I will still monitor this question at SO, but I think this a peculiar Windows issue I am experiencing
I've recently installed ClojureBox on a Windows 7 machine after using it on a different, XP machine for a while. When I created and saved a file, it wasn't being saved where I expected, but to the \Users\xxxx\AppData\Local\VirtualStore directory. This happened as long as I wasn't running emacs as the local administrator.
A Google search returned only a couple of hits, and with nothing I could really apply other than to run emacs as a local admin.
Any other way to get around this? Is there a windows setting, or something I could configure in emacs?
Thanks.
You can right-click Emacs and "run as Administrator" which I expect will get annoying quickly. Further, if you launch other apps from inside it you might be misled about the behaviour of those apps under normal circumstances. A better approach would be to save your files somewhere other than under Program Files or the root of C, thus avoiding virtualization.
We have a program that the installer checks for the existence of a config file, and if it exists, it doesn't copy that file over (it assumes the user has modified their config file and wants to keep those modifications). Unfortunately, this is a pre-Vista application and it keeps the config file in Program Files. The problem is, if you manually wipe out the directory when it re-installs certain API still thinks that there is a directory there. VB6, for example, and its browse for file dialog sees the folder, however explorer, cmd shell, etc cannot see folder. Writing over the file still leaves the old file there (to some API's, but not to explorer) which cannot be removed except form within the Browse for File dialog.
What is going on with these Phantom folders, and how do we delete the file so that all API's see the same thing? Maybe it has something to do with TxF, or the indexer for search, but both the installer we use (InnoSetup) and parts of the application (the parts written in VB6) are seeing the old version of the file, and everything else sees the current version.
As Oskar Duveborn said, it's very likely that what you're seeing is Vista's virtualization behaviour.
When a machine has User Account Control (UAC) enabled, standard users and non-elevated programs aren't allowed to write to the Programs folder. Windows instead silently redirects files to the appropriate subfolder of %AppData%\Local\VirtualStore (for example, C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\VirtualStore).
If you browse the real folder in Explorer, you'll see the 'Compatibility Files' toolbar button, which you can use to browse the virtual store instead.
Note that this is only compatibility behaviour from Windows - your program should write to its own subfolder of %AppData%.
For more information, see this TechNet Magazine article.
Dunno if I'm on the right track, but doesn't Vista virtualize %programfiles% for applications that tries to write to it or otherwise are flagged as "not going about this the right way"? (and hence moves it somewhere into the user part of the filesystem instead, without telling the legacy app about it - making it kinda transparent)..?
Virtual Store Redirected files are stored somewhere in %appdata% - you can also find out the location by checking the "Compability Files" option in Explorer when at the aliased location. You need to stop writing to %programfiles% to get rid of this behaviour as far as I know.
Do you mean the AppData folder (C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\AppData)? I'm not on my vista machine, but I think that's the path, and afaik it's not wiped after an uninstall.
The TechNet link by Ant above (accepted answer) is no longer valid. The new link is:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927387 - Common file and registry virtualization issues in Windows Vista
I have a setup project created by Visual Studio 2005, and consists of both a C# .NET 2.0 project and C++ MFC project, and the C++ run time. It works properly when run from the main console, but when run over a Terminal Server session on a Windows XP target, the install fails in the following way -
When the Setup.exe is invoked, it immediately crashes before the first welcome screen is displayed. When invoked over a physical console, the setup runs normally.
I figured I could go back to a lab machine to debug, but it runs fine on a lab machine over Terminal Server.
I see other descriptions of setup problems over Terminal Server sessions, but I don't see a definite solution. Both machines have a nearly identical configuration except that the one that is failing also has the GoToMyPC Host installed.
Has anyone else seen these problems, and how can I troubleshoot this?
Thanks,
I had LOTS of issues with developing installers (and software in general) for terminal server. I hate that damn thing.
Anyway, VS Setup Projects are just .msi files, and run using the Windows installer framework.
This will drop a log file when it errors out, they're called MSIc183.LOG (swap the c183 for some random numbers and letters), and they go in your logged-in-user account's temp directory.
The easiest way to find that is to type %TEMP% into the windows explorer address bar - once you're there have a look for these log files, they might give you a clue.
Note - Under terminal server, sometimes the logs don't go directly into %TEMP%, but under numbered subdirectories. If you can't find any MSIXYZ.LOG files in there, look for directories called 1, 2, and so on, and look in those.
If you find a log file, but can't get any clues from it, post it here. I've looked at more than I care to thing about, so I may be able to help
Before installing, drop to a command prompt and type
CHANGE USER /INSTALL
Then install your software. Once the install has completed, drop back to the command prompt and type:
CHANGE USER /EXECUTE
Alternatively, don't start the installation by a double click but instead go to Add/Remove Programs and select "install software" from there.
Good luck!