File blocked by explorer.exe

Forum for the PDF-XChange Editor - Free and Licensed Versions

Moderators: TrackerSupp-Daniel, Tracker Support, Paul - Tracker Supp, Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team, Chris - Tracker Supp, Sean - Tracker, Ivan - Tracker Software, Tracker Supp-Stefan

Post Reply
andler
User
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:06 am

File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by andler »

Version installed 6.0 rev 322.3

When i select a file to edit explorer.exe show me the preview of the file.
i open the file with pdf-xchange editor, i modify the file and then when i try to save it a message advise me that is impossible to save the file for an error (operating system). it's imposible to access to the file because is used by another process....
If i do the same things with acrobat reader i've no problem..... I prefer to use pdf-change editor because is better than acrobat,,, but i would like to solve the problem.

thanks.
andrea
Willy Van Nuffel
User
Posts: 2347
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:10 pm

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by Willy Van Nuffel »

Not 100% sure, but often caused by the fact that "Preview pane" and/or "Details pane" are active in Windows File Explorer.

In Windows 7 > Windows Explorer > Organize button > Layout

In Windows 10 > File Explorer > View ribbon
andler
User
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:06 am

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by andler »

The preview panel is active.... but is active in the two different case.
is active if i use pdf xchange and if i use Acrobat reader.
but i've the problem only with pdf xchange.
Andrea
Willy Van Nuffel
User
Posts: 2347
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:10 pm

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by Willy Van Nuffel »

I just wonder if the problem goes away (for PDF-XChange Editor) when the preview and details pane are turned off ...

And, does it make a difference when you just open the file from within PDF-XChange Editor ...

It might be a 'hint' for Tracker Software development.

Best regards.
andler
User
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:06 am

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by andler »

hi
i don't know.
i've tried as you suggested but this evening the problem doesn't appear.... mystery
User avatar
Patrick-Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 1645
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:14 pm
Location: Vancouver Island
Contact:

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by Patrick-Tracker Supp »

Hello Andrea,

This is a known issue which we believed was caused by Windows, though the fact that it is not an issue when using Adobe is indeed news. I will discuss this issue with the development team during our next meeting.

You should find that closing the preview pane or file explorer (or simply selecting another file in file explorer) will allow you to save this correctly.

Thank you for bringing this to light!
If posting files to this forum, you must archive the files to a ZIP, RAR or 7z file or they will not be uploaded.
Thank you.

Cheers,

Patrick Charest
Tracker Support North America
andler
User
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:06 am

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by andler »

Hi.

if i close the preview i can save without any problem......
Bye
andrea
User avatar
Will - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 6815
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:21 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

Hi Andrea,

There are several methods by which preview handlers provide previews. One of those methods can sometimes cause the Windows Prev. Host to lock down the file. While this in itself is a Windows issue, we are planning to change the method that we use when the re-write of the Shell Extensions has been completed and this should help.

Cheers,
If posting files to this forum, you must archive the files to a ZIP, RAR or 7z file or they will not be uploaded.
Thank you.

Best regards

Will Travaglini
Tracker Support (Europe)
Tracker Software Products Ltd.
http://www.tracker-software.com
andler
User
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:06 am

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by andler »

ok.
thanks.
can you advice me when do you find the alternative method?

Andrea
User avatar
Will - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 6815
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:21 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

Hi Andrea,

We'll certainly do our best, but we're not always informed prior to release and deal with quite a large number of users, so I cannot promise to do anything but our best.

Cheers,
If posting files to this forum, you must archive the files to a ZIP, RAR or 7z file or they will not be uploaded.
Thank you.

Best regards

Will Travaglini
Tracker Support (Europe)
Tracker Software Products Ltd.
http://www.tracker-software.com
andler
User
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:06 am

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by andler »

thanks
User avatar
Will - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 6815
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:21 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by Will - Tracker Supp »

:D
If posting files to this forum, you must archive the files to a ZIP, RAR or 7z file or they will not be uploaded.
Thank you.

Best regards

Will Travaglini
Tracker Support (Europe)
Tracker Software Products Ltd.
http://www.tracker-software.com
andler
User
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:06 am

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by andler »

Same problem again with windows 11 and Pdf xchange editor plus 9.2 build 358.0
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8440
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, andler

Thank you for the report, Ive spoken with our Dev team and they have two preliminary questions for you on this.

1. How large is the file in question? Does this also happen with small files (under 1mb) or is it something exclusive to larger files?
2. Is the file stored locally, on your machine only or; is this a networked location or making use of a cloud service, such as onedrive sync functions?

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
andler
User
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:06 am

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by andler »

Hello.

I've tried also with small and larger files in a networked location and i've the problem.
In a file stored locally i don't have the problem.

Regards

Andrea
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8440
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, andler

Thank you for confirming, one of our developers has managed to reproduce the issue, and found an oddity. Our Preview handler would operate within the "prevhost.exe" and not "explorer.exe" but as you said, explorer.exe is what is blocking the file. This should not be able to happen, and again, in tests, we see this does not happen with some of our competitors.
Now we are looking into what else may be the cause of this, and how we can resolve it, I cannot say when this will be fixed, so in the meantime you will need to ensure that the file explorer is not actively looking at the file you are trying to make changes to.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
User avatar
David.P
User
Posts: 1510
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:16 pm

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by David.P »

Hello all,

I'm also seeing PDF files being write-blocked sometimes when they are previewed in Windows Explorer. However, this seems to happen mostly only if the PDF is located on a slow file server connection, e.g. on a company server connected via VPN.

Not sure how Windows Explorer or other PDF software vendors handle file preview, but the arguably most powerful file explorer on the market, aussie-based Dopus, does it this way:

Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directory_Opus

Hope the information is helpful
Best regards
David
:)
David.P
PDF-XChange Pro
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8440
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, David.P

Yes, the issue is only shown (at least from our side) with network locations, but it is certainly something that needs attention, so we can see if there is anything to be done from our end.

As for Directory opus, I am unsure if that will help with the investigation, but we have passed it along to the Dev team so that they can take a look.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
User avatar
Ivan - Tracker Software
Site Admin
Posts: 3549
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:36 pm
Location: Vancouver Island - Canada
Contact:

Re: File blocked by explorer.exe

Post by Ivan - Tracker Software »

From what we see, I can say the following. When previewing a local file, Explorer provides us (or any other IPreviewHandler implementation) a copy of the file data (we do not work with files directly, Explorer provides us the file data as IStream) and the file is not blocked. That's true for files of any size (reasonable).
But the situation is different when a network file is previewed. In this case, Windows Explorer keeps the file opened and blocks writing to it if we keep using the original IStream provided to our Preview handler.

At the moment, PDF-XChange Preview Handler makes own copy of previewed IStream if its size is less than 10 MB, no matter local or network file is, as we have no guaranteed method to know original file location.
Making own copy of any file might be a solution but it also may slow down preview for large files, especially on slow networks.
Tracker Software (Project Director)

When attaching files to any message - please ensure they are archived and posted as a .ZIP, .RAR or .7z format - or they will not be posted - thanks.
Post Reply