Error creating directory

[jonrichco]

FFS runs fine, but stops every time at one file:
Error: Error creating directory:
"W:\Config.Msi"
Windows Error Code 5: Access is denied.

This is no big problem, as you can just click ignore, and the comparison
completes. However, it means that the comparison cannot complete without user
intervention. Is there a way in FFS to automatically ignore errors. If not,
this would be a useful addition to the next version. You can still tell what
errors it has found as they are listed at the completion of the comparison.

Thanks - great program!

[Zenju]

Yes, you can automatically ignore errors. But how do you get this error?
Config.Msi doesn't seem to be a directory at all, or is it? Maybe this is a
situation FFS does not handle (correctly).

[jonrichco]

Please change your forums rules to allow editing of posts by their authors
Jon

[jonrichco]

Thanks, Zenju.
The error message during Compare is
Error traversing directory:
"F:\Config.Msi"
Windows Error Code 5: Access is denied.

It seems to be a protected operating system directory which may contain
rollback files for an application. Sometimes it can contain much data. It
normally resides in the O/S partition or the partition where the application
to be rolled back resides. In my case it contained no data, so I deleted it
and will wait and see if any thing negative happens.

In the meantime, please let me know how in FFS to automatically ignore all
errors.
Thanks

[Zenju]

I saw this directory exists for Windows 7 installations, however I was able to
successfully copy this directory, probably because I'm working under an admin
account.
Option to ignore all errors can be set in sync-settings "error handling".
(button left to synchronize-button)

[enrico65]

I too sometimes face this problem and I cannot find any explanation to it. I
am always logged in as Administrator or even System (WinXP SP3). The
directories that produce "Access denied" are apparently completely open to any
user and I found no evident restriction to them.
It would really be appreciated to know how to solve this trouble.
P.S.: THANKS for this incredibly useful software, Zhu!

[Zenju]

v3.15 has this feature called "More tolerant directory creation". What's
behind this phrase is, FFS first creates a directory via the most basic means
possible (straight and simple C-API). If this succeeds, more metadata is added
to the directory, possibly using the source directory as a reference, like:
directory attributes, create time, file permissions (if the user had opted-
in), etc.

Before v3.15 a number of these "access denied" issues were due to not having
access to the reference directory, although a straight directory creation
would have been possible. So in case you're below v3.15, just upgrading will
probably help a lot.
Now with v3.15 and upwards, there is very little (an euphemism for nothing :)
that FFS can do to avoid the remaining access denied errors. Most sources are
that the parent directory has access restrictions that don't allow directory
creation in general, or only for a specific set of (admin) users. In these
cases trying to create a directory manually (e.g. via explorer) will also
fail. Other cases where manual creation works, but FFS is not able to do so,
are caused by not starting with admin rights. Cases where FFS fails to create
having been started with the right user and admin permissions, while the same
user account is able to create this directory in Explorer are not (!) known to
me. If you have such a case and are able to reproduce it, I'd like to know.

-Zenju

[enrico65]

Of course I use the last version of FFS and I constantly check if some upgrade
comes (how can you believe the opposite?!?)!!
As I told you, I always use maximum available user privileges and FFS is
always started as Administrator or even System for extreme copies.
Unfortunately it is impossible to reproduce this situation, otherwise I would
have already given you all the details: "access denied" happens sporadically,
on apparently random files and disappears with a reboot.
Today it happened when I tried to copy a system utilities mega-folder and the
offending directory was the one including HiJackThis... Privileges and
permissions were absolutely full.

[Zenju]

The crux is a large number of different error situations are all reported as a
single error code 5: access denied. Here the Windows C-API definitively should
have been more fine-granular. Given that we have no idea what the true reason
for this access denied is, all that's left is trying to find a case which can
reproduce the situation.