save as or save copy as crashes reader

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mhguda
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save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

Title says it: When I try to save a file with a different name the reader crashes with no message.
I have the latest version. This has been going on for some time.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

Welcome to our forums and thanks for your post.
To be able to help you further I will need to ask you a few questions that will clarify the situation, so here they are:

Is it a particular file this happens with, or does it happen with multiple files from various sources? If it is a specific file - can you provide a sample?
You say that you have the latest build but if you are e.g. relying on the updater tool for this - it might still be an older one you have so can you please go to Help -> About, and tell us the exact build number reported there?

Please also note that the Viewer is now no longer an actively developed product, so please consider installing and testing it's successor - the PDF XChange Editor - which should not have the same problem!

Regards,
Stefan
mhguda
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

Hi,
Thanks for approving my post. This happens with any file I try to save as a copy. I usually do it only to change the name of the file, I've not made changes to the file.
The version of my viewer is 2.5, build 322.5. I have indeed used the updater to get this, but I've seen on the website that this is the latest build.
I do not need the full fledged Editor (which is not free) - the reader, with the ability to make small changes and save files with annotations, has served me fine for years and I would like to keep using it, even if it is no longer supported. I do not want to pay for a product that is much more powerful than I'll ever use. If that changes, I can always come back and get the Editor... so I hope you can help me solve this problem.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

Any feature that is free in the Viewer is free in the Editor.
Yes the Editor has more features on offer - and most of the new ones would require a license, but all the annotation features are free in both products - so do download and give the Editor a try :)

As there is very little, if anything, that will be changed for the Viewer.

Regards,
Stefan
mhguda
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

Thanks for pointing that out, I have downloaded and installed the standard version as suggested. Opened a file, added some text, tried to save.
The same thing happens: Window just closes, nothing is saved.
Here is some info about my PC: Running Windows 10 64 bits, plenty of free space on my disk(s), enough free memory. 42% of 8GB at the moment.)
I hope you can figure out what is causing this. It's very annoying.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

Which antivirus are you using?
Can you try to add our products to the lsit of trusted ones in it and see if then things work better?

Regards,
Stefan
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

I'm using Avast internet security. As to adding the Editor or Reader to a trusted software list, I'm not sure I know how to do that. Can you point the way?
I have not had anything like this happen with other applications that write files, so I'm not sure why yours would need a special permission setting...
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

I am not using Avast at the moment - so hope the advise taken from here:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=75711.0
Is useful:
Go to behaviour shield and go to settings, select trusted processes and click add.

Cheers,
Stefan
mhguda
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

Seems I misspoke slightly, my Avast version is now called Premier. I cannot find the option of adding to any list in behavioral shield.
In fact I do not see any way to say a program file is safe to let run. But I also don't have any indication that it's Avast that is blocking the behavior. The log file says all my files were safe. So I'm kind of at a loss here.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

I am afraid that I've not even heard of this AV product - so please search online - there should be a way to add trusted products.
If this does not help - please do let us know!

Regards,
Stefan
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

It is a version of Avast Internet Security with some added options. But there seem to have been some changes to the interface. I am unable to find how to add applications to the list of trusted files. I did manage to find to add it to the list that the Firewall trusts, but this does not prevent the crash.
It has a feature to run programs in a separate environment (called a Sandbox) and this crashes the reader or the editor when I try to even open a file. Not sure yet what this means.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello again mhguda,

With both our products experiencing the same issue - I do suspect it's the antivirus or some other third party software causing those troubles, so can you please try to disable the AV for a few moments, and while it is off - try to open and save a PDF file - and see if it works that way!?

Regards,
Stefan
mhguda
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

The best way to do this is to disable the shields. I tried that, and it seemed to work - the Editor (which I'm now running instead of the Reader) seemed to do some processing, then gave me an error message: it encountered a user-defined breakpoint. Then it quit. Basically the same behavior I saw with the Avast Sandbox, which lets you run a process in a sort of walled-off space that won't affect the rest of the computer. Avast will not let me completely stop it (which I think is actually a good thing).
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

Are you using our end products or the SDK packages?
What user defined breakpoints do you have in mind?

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Stefan
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

I'm using the end products, not the SDK products, whatever those be.
I have no idea what the user-defined breakpoint might be. Totally at sea here: I only want a pdf document reader that allows me the limited extra features that the free reader always did. And somehow ended up with this problem.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

In your previous post you said:
"It encountered a user-defined breakpoint."
So I thought it is something you have done and know what is happening.

I've just spoken with a colleague from the dev team - and he also thinks that there is something specific to your machine and most likely the AV is causing this.
Would it be an option for you to try and install the original Avast - and see if the Editor (and Viewer) will work correctly with that?
If they do - then we will know for sure that the current Premier is causing the issue.

Regards,
Stefan
mhguda
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

That does not seem a very good option, given that the reason to update Avast to the latest version is to keep abreast of the malware that's out there...
I guess I'll just have to live with not being able to make changes to a file, or look for a new reader... Thanks for trying, anyway.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

From the way you explained it it seems like this product you are currently using is not directly from Avast but some spin off product that e.g. uses the same definitions and engines.
That's why I suggested installing a different software - just to test if your current one is causing the issue. I didn't mean it as a long time solution.

What else we can offer is a remote session in which to run some tests on your machine and try to debug this - but I'd really like to rule out the AV first before arranging that.
If changing the AV is not an option for you - do you have access to another machine where you can install our products and test?

Regards,
Stefan
mhguda
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

I disagree that the Avast is not genuine - I upgraded from Avast antivirus and with the upgrade the product was renamed. I did not uninstall anything. Also, this is a paid-for product, not the free version. It includes, besides the internet security components, a module for extra Password security, plus some utilities for keeping the PC working optimally.
I can try installing the editor on another machine and see what happens there - I would prefer to do that before actually permitting a session where you run things remotely on my PC. Let me look into that, and I will report back.
mhguda
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

Tried it on the other computer, which has free Avast internet security installed (also latest version) and there, no problem. So the problem does seem related to the paid version of Avast - or it must be something completely different on my machine... I'm going to try to go offline and then completely stop Avast, and see what happens.
mhguda
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

While I did go offline and stopped Avast services, I was unable to completely stop it...
But all components were inactive. This did not solve the problem. I still cannot save a file I've loaded, whether changed or not.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

If it works on another machine - it would seem that the problem is specific to yours.
Please back up your settings (Edit -> Export settings...), and then try to reset them. See if that works, and maybe even attach a copy of your current settings so that I can test and see if I can reproduce the problem here at my end.

Regards,
Stefan
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

Hi Stefan,
I cannot export settings - it winks out just like when I save a file. I reset them anyway, and the only difference it makes is that it takes a little longer to crash when I try to save a copy.
Also, since it crashes when I export the settings, I of course can't show you what I have. However, the reset settings did seem to work, the Editor did not crash (have completely uninstalled the Reader). So my settings should be the default (not that I remember changing much, if anything, about the preferences...)
So we are back to square one.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

If it crashes with the default settings (and works on another machine as you have confirmed) - then it is something specific to your device that causes this.
I suspect it is the antivirus, but it could as well be something else. How old is the Windows on this machine? Was it a clean install or an upgrade from e.g. 7? Do you have any registry cleaners installed and are you using those?

Regards,
Stefan
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by mhguda »

It was an upgrade from 7. I do use registry cleaners; mostly the one that's included with Glary utilities (the pro edition). Also, Avast has a component that finds (some) registry errors and fixes them. Both of those though are also on the other machine I tested the editor on - it must be something completely different.
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Re: save as or save copy as crashes reader

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello mhguda,

It might have been one of the reg cleaners that has caused this.
Can you please try to uninstall the Editor (or all our products), and then remove the whole
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Tracker Software\PDFXEditor" tree
(Also check if there is anything left in C:\Program Files\Tracker Software and clean that too)

Then make a fresh download of an Editor installation package and do install it anew. Let us know if it still behaves erratically after that.

Regards,
Stefan
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