Stamp files disappearing

[Martin Berg]

Hello!

We have a bunch of custom stamps in my organization and a small number of users have reported their stamps suddenly disappearing. As it turns out, the folder AppData\Roaming\Tracker Software\PDFXEditor\3.0 is just empty.

I'm trying to figure out what might be causing this, so I wonder if anyone has had a similar issue? Can you think of a way stamps would be deleted accidentally from some functon in PDF-XChange?

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello Martin Berg,

None of our tools or products would automatically clear up that folder - so it is likely some third party tool doing that.
Even when updating (and I presume your users do not have admin rights to do this on their own) - our updater would leave stamps as they are and not remove them. So I suspect either a full uninstall, and then running some 'cleaning' tool, or something similar has wiped the custom user stamps collections.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[Willy Van Nuffel]

Probably the "users" are connected to a local area network where they have to "sign in" for having access to their data and applications?

When they "sign out" (most of) their 'user profile' (data and settings) is written to a central server and in some organizations these data and settings are wiped from their local computer. When they sign in again, their user profile is restored to the local computer.

So, you might have to verify with your system administrator if the data from the folder AppData\Roaming\Tracker Software\PDFXEditor\3.0 is included in this copy/restore process. I suppose the problem only arises after a sign out / sign in ?

Kind regards.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello Willy Van Nuffel,

Thanks for the input!
Valid points indeed.

@Martin Berg - please do let us know if any of the above was helpful or if you managed to find out more on your end!?

Kind regards,
Stefan

[dasy2k1]

I have had the same issue at my employer although it only happens when the company microsoft software centre updates the software to the latest version. it appears that it does a removal and re-install every time which resets all saved presets to defult

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello dasy2k1,

If it is a third party tool that wipes out everything and reinstalls afresh - it is beyond us to control.
I hope that Martin figures out what is causing it at their end and find a solution soon!

Kind regards,
Stefan

[UeliF]

I have just encountered the same problem. This morning when I opened a file in PDF-XChange non of my custom stamps have been available. I re-entered all of them (a bit of work that is), did my work, saved the file and closed the app PDF-XChange (Version 7, Build 326.1). After some other work, I opened another pdf-file and .... oh, no!!.. all custom stamps gone!!!

I have been using PDF-XChange Editor for many years. This never ever happended!??

I have just updated to latest version 7.0 328.2 - unfortunately the problem persists.

Can someone help me please?
Thanks
Ueli

[PHK]

Did you check to see if the missing files were in the Windows recycle bin?

[Dimitar - Tracker Supp]

Hello UeliF,

Please go to this folder:

C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME\AppData\Roaming\Tracker Software\PDFXEditor\3.0\Stamps\

...and check if they are not renamed to something like this - file_name.BAK

If they are, please rename them back to file_name.PDF

Regards.

[UeliF]

Dear Dimitar

Thank you so much for your support.
I have checked. Unfortunately under

.....Tracker Software\PDFXEditor\3.0\
there is no subfolder \Stamps

in folder 3.0\
I can only see two files History.dat and HistoryThumbs.dat

This brings up the question: Is there an option to actively save the 'stamp' file?

Kind regards
Ueli

[UeliF]

Did you check to see if the missing files were in the Windows recycle bin?

Dear FringePhil

Thanks for your reply. How would I recognise such a file in Windows recycle bin?
I have searched for "PDFXChange" and "X" and "tracker" but found no entry whatsoever in recycle bin.

Do you have any idea how this file would be named?

Thank you for any help
This bug is really annoying. Just wanted to work in a pdf-file and all stamps I had re-entered yesterday have disappeared again.
Ueli

[Jordan - Tracker Supp]

Hello UeliF,

The stamp are saved in collections that when in PDF format looks something like this:

image.png

If you see files with similar name format check if they are pdf files.

I will advise you to use the Export/Import function in File >> Manage Settings. There you can back up your stamps into a file until the issue is resolved:

image(1).png

Best regards,
Jordan

[UeliF]

Dear Jordan

Thanks so much for your support.

I have tried to do what you adviced so kindly.
In my version the export window looks a bit different though

PDF-XChange_export.PNG

As you can see there is no checkbox for 'Custom Stamp Collection' available.
So I have checked all boxes and exported. This created a file named
PDFXChangeEditorSettings.xces

This file sits right at C:\Users\NLP\AppData\Roaming\Tracker Software\PDFXEditor\3.0
Interesting enough a subfolder 'Stamps' has been created too, but this subfolder is empty.

After this I closed the PDF-XChange app and re-opened. The stamp collection is empty.
So I did File/Manage Settings/Import and imported that file PDFXChangeEditorSettings.xces
Stamp collection is still empty.

Hhmm, hope we can solve this riddle...

Ueli

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello UeliF,

If you have an older build - it might indeed not be able to copy custom stamp collections for you with just the settings export.

The custom collections are however stored in special type of .pdf files in
%Appdata%\Tracker Software\PDFXEditor\3.0\Stamps
So just copy that folder from your one machine to the other and all should be well.

And then if you update your machine(s) - you should see the same options as in Jordan's images.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[UeliF]

Thank you Stefan for your reply.

What do you mean by "if you update your machine(s)" ???

Update Windows 11 ?
I have just done this very morning.

Update PDF-XChange Editor ?
As I have noted in my post yesterday, I have updated to latest version 7.0 328.2 - unfortunately the problem persists.
>> Is this then still 'an older built' ?

Ueli

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, UeliF

Yes, Version 7 was released around 5 years ago now, it is quite out of date, We are already in version 10.1, build 383. The updater will only offer updates which your maintenance is compatible with, so if you wish to update beyond that version, you will need to renew your license, or (if you have already renewed) download and run the installer present on your account page.

Kind regards,

[UeliF]

Dear Dan

This was the solution!
I went to https://www.pdf-xchange.com/myaccount
Here upgrade to version 10.1.3.383 was available free of charge.

After upgrade everything works as your support has described.
So this should have been the first action to take. But since I did 'search for new version' and the app said that version 7 is latest, I did not expect that there would be newer version available via tracker webpage.

Thanks for you support
Ueli

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello UeliF,

We have improved our updater tool over the years, but indeed in the past there were some builds of that tool which would not correctly show all of the newer versions you are entitled to upgrade free of charge. The updater should work much better for you from here on, and I am happy to hear that the new version works well for you!

Kind regards,
Stefan

[UeliF]

(｡◕‿◕｡)

Issue solved.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello UeliF,

Love the dimples on the smiley face you used!!!

Happy to hear it's all solved for you now!

Kind regards,
Stefan