Installer cannot write to default folder

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Installer cannot write to default folder

Postby n4aof » Tue Feb 28, 2023 3:45 pm

I'm hardly a Newsbin "Newbie" after over a decade as a registered user, but this seems like the best place for this question.

How can you get NewsBinPro to install on a computer running Windows 10? I know that Win 10 introduced some limits on where programs could install software, but this is the first time I have encountered a program where the installer is trying to install to a folder that apparently Windows won't let it use.

When I try to install NewsBinPro on my Windows 10 computer, everything moves along fine until it comes to a halt with the error "Cannot install Newsbin. Is Newsbin running? If so, please close Newsbin then click "Retry". If Newsbin is not running, something is preventing us from installing to the selected folder. Hit "Abort" and try to install to a different folder."

The progress box shows that the problem is "Can't write: C:\Users\n4aof\AppData\Local\Newsbin\workspace.xml"

I tried looking in the installation guide, but it doesn't match the 6.90 installer and doesn't address any sort of errors.

I don't mind installing Newsbin to some other folder, but I normally let programs install themselves to their own defaults because I find that make it much easier to find everything later, especially if any tech support is needed.
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Re: Installer cannot write to default folder

Postby Quade » Tue Feb 28, 2023 5:26 pm

Newsbin has to install under elevated privileges so, you should get a UAC prompt when you go to install it. If you have UAC disabled for some reason, you'll need to run the installer "As Administrator". Which hopefully will still pick your users tree to install the data files too.

if there anything odd about you windows install? Some people use non-standard drive letters for example.

Your paths look normal. You might want to delete the problem files or rename the entire

"C:\Users\n4aof\AppData\Local\Newsbin\"

folder before the install and see what happens.
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Re: Installer cannot write to default folder

Postby n4aof » Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:00 pm

I just tried it again, doing the same thing that I did several times already. THIS TIME IT WORKED

This was the only time that it asked me for my user ID and password for the news server. Each of the previous times it never opened that dialog box. I have no idea why. But this time it worked.
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Re: Installer cannot write to default folder

Postby Quade » Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:22 pm

If you renamed the folder, it would have done a fresh install instead of an upgrade install. That might be why it asked.

I think you should check your drives. This is all pretty odd.
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Re: Installer cannot write to default folder

Postby n4aof » Tue Feb 28, 2023 8:42 pm

I never changed the default folders in the installer, but I can't imagine it doing an "upgrade" when there has never been a copy of Newsbinpro on this computer and none of its folders ever existed here before.

AFTER the successful install I did find that I needed to change both its download folders because it defaulted to using OneDrive and the amount of space that OneDrive gives for free isn't nearly enough.
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Re: Installer cannot write to default folder

Postby Quade » Wed Mar 01, 2023 12:35 am

I never changed the default folders in the installer, but I can't imagine it doing an "upgrade" when there has never been a copy of Newsbinpro on this computer and none of its folders ever existed here before.


I wasn't sure if this was a fresh install or just a beta install. That makes it even odder.

I've tested the installer on 10, 11 and Linux.
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Re: Installer cannot write to default folder

Postby n4aof » Wed Mar 01, 2023 12:59 am

I don't have a clue what was going on. My initial thought was that the problem was due to the new 'security' features in Win10 but the really strange thing was that it installed fine the last time.

Maybe I was doing something wrong the first half-dozen times, but the only thing I know that I did differently was that on that last install I was switching to the forum after each step writing a step-by-step account of what the installer did and what I did. When the install finally worked I deleted the step-by-step account and wrote the message about it having worked.

I guess I'm a bit of a dinosaur, because I still remember the days when if the user did the same thing each time, the computer would always do the same thing in response. That has become less and less valid with each new version of Windoze. Perhaps Microsoft wants to make computers more interesting, because now you can click a button or press a key and you have to guess what Windoze is going to do next.
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Re: Installer cannot write to default folder

Postby Quade » Wed Mar 01, 2023 1:46 pm

Most people using Newsbin are using Win10.

I guess I'm a bit of a dinosaur, because I still remember the days when if the user did the same thing each time, the computer would always do the same thing in response.


Win10 isn't new. It's the defacto standard for Windows and has been for 5 years or more now. it might make more sense if you were having problems in 11. Some versions of 11 can only install software from the microsoft store. So no outside software is allowed.

Usually odd ball things like this point to some other issue. Are you using any security software beyond that built into Win10? I only use the Win10 built in security stuff. It always works.
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