Minor computer irritation. Can anyone help?

[sploo]

The issue is the same wherever I store and open them, but I keep them all in a folder on my desktop.

Worth checking porker's suggestion.

Does the tool have any configuration for a temporary folder? It may be having issues accessing that.

One other thought; are you running an anti-virus product? It's not impossible it might be scanning files as they get opened, and that annoys Draftsight.

 

[MikeG.]

I don't know the app but you could try this, go to the folder your files are in, make sure you can see hidden files and see if there are any tilda fies (files that start with a ~) with the name of the file causing the problem, if there are delete them. These are backup files used by a program when its open and are normally deleted when the program closes.

Yes, I tend to stay on top of that. It isn't the issue this time.

 

[MikeG.]

Worth checking porker's suggestion.

Does the tool have any configuration for a temporary folder? It may be having issues accessing that.

One other thought; are you running an anti-virus product? It's not impossible it might be scanning files as they get opened, and that annoys Draftsight.

Temporary folder? Well, it has an Autosave folder, where it copies the latest version of each open drawing every X minutes (under my control of X). I'm using Avast, and that hasn't changed since before the issue arose.

 

[MikeG.]

Have you checked the attributes of the files that are causing a problem? You can do this in Win 10 by right clicking the file in question and picking "Properties" from the menu. See if the "Read Only" box is ticked. This is where I would start.

It is. In each and every drawing-containing folder. I have no idea how or why. So if I just untick that in the three and a half million drawing folders I have all will be well?

 

[sploo]

It is. In each and every drawing-containing folder. I have no idea how or why. So if I just untick that in the three and a half million drawing folders I have all will be well?

If you have one master folder (under which all your drawing folders live) then you can use the Command Prompt and run:

attrib -s -h -r "c:\mikes_drawings_are_all_under_here\*.*" /s /d

That will remove the system, hidden, and read-only attributes from all files under c:\mikes_drawings_are_all_under_here and any children; ensuring it hits both files and folders.

You could try it first without -s and -h (i.e. just -r). If that works then leave it there.

 

[MikeG.]

It may be more complicated.....

I've just gone through half a dozen folders and and unclicked the "read only" box, clicked "apply, and then in a couple of cases watched the sand-timer thingy count down whilst it does the work.........then gone back to check and found that "read only" is still selected! Something is over-ruling me.

 

[sploo]

It may be more complicated.....

I've just gone through half a dozen folders and and unclicked the "read only" box, clicked "apply, and then in a couple of cases watched the sand-timer thingy count down whilst it does the work.........then gone back to check and found that "read only" is still selected! Something is over-ruling me.

If you hit the Windows key and type cmd, then instead of immediately pressing Enter, right click on it, and you should get a small menu that includes "Run as administrator". It might ask for an admin password (if one has been set up). Once you have an Administrator: Command Prompt open, the attrib command should squash the read-only flag on files with nothing over-ruling you.

The only thing that could/would stop it would be if the file(s) were currently open in an application (and locked).

 

[MikeG.]

Blimey, Sploo, you know your onions. How badly could I pipper the whole thing up if I get a bit clumsy in Administrator mode?

 

[MikeG.]

Right, I went through that whole thing carefully as instructed, and it did a whole lot of computery stuff in the black box for about 30 seconds...........and still all the folders revert to read only despite me unticking the box.

 

[sploo]

Blimey, Sploo, you know your onions. How badly could I pipper the whole thing up if I get a bit clumsy in Administrator mode?

Badly? Very, if you used Admin mode to delete everything

The attrib command just changes flags on a file (technically; the metadata for a file), and -r will remove the read-only setting so it should be pretty safe. It won't change any file contents or delete files.

The only risk might be if there were files in your folder tree that should be read only; but if they're all your drawing files then that should be OK.

If after running that command they're still read-only then there is something odd going on. Possibly the sort of thing that happens when you have a computer that's owned and administered by a third party (e.g. an employer).

 

[MikeG.]

No, it's my own computer, and I'm the only person who has legitimate access to it.

 

[Garno]

There has been a windows update over the last week was the problem there before that or is it a new one?

I am useless regards computers but I do think you are in good hands with Sploo.

 

[MikeG.]

No, it's been here for a month or two.

 

[sploo]

No, it's my own computer, and I'm the only person who has legitimate access to it.

Grand. That shouldn't be the problem then.

Did you try running the attrib command, and if so, what did it do?

 

[MikeG.]

I keep running into "Path not found". I've tried all sorts of variants of c:\ Desktop_Work with no luck. All my important folders are stored on my desktop.

 

[billw]

Have you tried moving one or two of your design files to a brand new folder and then opening them? Might highlight if it's a problem with the particular folder, or something else.

 

[MikeG.]

Yes, Bill, and it makes no difference. It seems that every folder on my desktop, new or old, has "Read Only" ticked, no matter what I do.

 

[billw]

Do you have an external hard drive you can plug in? Or a USB stick? When you say the folder's on your desktop do you mean there's a shortcut to it?

 

[MikeG.]

Do you have an external hard drive you can plug in? Or a USB stick? When you say the folder's on your desktop do you mean there's a shortcut to it?

I've got both an EHD and a USB stick.

The folders were created on my Desktop. They're not shortcuts.

 

[--Tom--]

This is sounding more like controlled folder access being on. If you give the following sequence a try:

Windows Key+i > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus and threat protection > Manage Settings under Virus and threat protection Settings > Manage Controlled Folder access > Toggle off Controlled Folder access