SOLVED Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file.

[Wolfgang W. Stachel]

Without having made any changes to my Dell XPS-8920 Desktop, one of my programs (SyncBack Pro 8) stopped working giving me the message as shown on the attached png file. All other software is working fine. As this occurred out of nowhere, I suspect it is caused by Windows 10 with Microsoft being the elephant in the room. I am the only user of the machine as the Administrator.

I have done the following:
1. Uninstalled the program
2. Removed all references of the program in the Registry
3. Reinstalled the program
4. Checked if the file was blocked by Windows
5. Disabled Norton Internet Security
6. Check that the proper permissions are granted

Dell XPS-8920 Desktop
Windows 10 Pro with latest updates from MS (64 bit)

Any help and/or feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[Garyw]

Just a few thoughts: I assume that your list of steps is out of order and that you did steps 4 and 5 before re-installing? Some programs are notorious for leaving garbage behind after uninstalling. Might be worth while to see if SyncBackPro has a post removal cleanup program. Also, verify that the correct .exe program is in C:\Program Files or (x86), which ever is appropriate. If you disabled Norton, it's possible that Windows Defender became active and blocked installation via Controlled folder access. I

 

[Wolfgang W. Stachel]

Just a few thoughts: I assume that your list of steps is out of order and that you did steps 4 and 5 before re-installing? Some programs are notorious for leaving garbage behind after uninstalling. Might be worth while to see if SyncBackPro has a post removal cleanup program. Also, verify that the correct .exe program is in C:\Program Files or (x86), which ever is appropriate. If you disabled Norton, it's possible that Windows Defender became active and blocked installation via Controlled folder access. I

Thank you for your response. Sorry for not being clear. Actually, I did steps 4, 5 & 6 before uninstalling and then again after reinstalling the software. 2BrightSparks, the author of the SyncBackPro program, informed me that this problem is caused by Windows. I found that interesting as all of my other programs perform as expected. They supplied me with several steps to remedy the problem, none of which worked. I then searched the Internet for this problem and I found several posts with the same problem with different software, among them Microsoft Word. However, there were no solutions that I could discern.


Finally, I did remove all remnants of the program from the C:\Program Files directory before reinstalling the program. There were no other program files in either the C:\ Program Files (x86) or C:\Program Data directories. The correct .exe file are (and were) in C:\Program Files.

 

[Garyw]

I'm stumped for the moment, although I'll do some looking tomorrow.

You might try System File Check. Right click on Start, Left click on Command Prompt (Admin) and enter sfc /scannow, then [Enter]. If it comes back no errors, run it a couple of times more to be sure. In any event post the results.

I know there have been a few issues with some older programs running on W10, version 1803. Office 2003 had some issues. In your online searches, did you find others having problems with (SyncBack Pro 8) ?

 

[Garyw]

What version of W10 are you running. I saw several references to SBP8 having problems with W10 v1709. Their suggestion was to use SBP8 Beta. Are you running the latest available version SBP?

 

[Wolfgang W. Stachel]

What version of W10 are you running. I saw several references to SBP8 having problems with W10 v1709. Their suggestion was to use SBP8 Beta. Are you running the latest available version SBP?

Running Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.285.

Here is a strange thing that occurs following reinstallation of SyncBackPro. The final dialog when the installation is finished asks if I want to launch the program. Launching it that way results in the program working as expected. Minimizing and maximizing the program to the Task Bar works fine. However, if I exit the program and relaunch from the Start screen, Window gives me the dreaded message.

For what's it worth, I installed SyncBackPro on one of my other computers. Low and behold, it works perfectly. So, the problem seems to be caused by my Win10 OS.

 

[Wolfgang W. Stachel]

Running Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.285.

Ran sfc \scannow showing some files were corrupt, but unable to repair some of them. I then ran the DISM Command and it informed me that the restore process was successful. Once again, I removed all SyncBack Pro references from the Registry and all program remnants from C:\. A completely fresh installation did not solve the problem.

 

[Garyw]

Sorry. I meant

Are you running the latest available version SBP?

SyncBackPro

If SBP works on another machine then we have to isolate the differences in the two systems. Are both running the same version of windows 10? Run winver on both.

 

[Wolfgang W. Stachel]

Sorry. I meant

SyncBackPro

If SBP works on another machine then we have to isolate the differences in the two systems. Are both running the same version of windows 10? Run winver on both.

Yes, both machines running the same Win10 version.

I did not mention it before, but I also tried Systems Restore, but none of the restore points work for some reason.

 

[Garyw]

Here is a strange thing that occurs following reinstallation of SyncBackPro. The final dialog when the installation is finished asks if I want to launch the program. Launching it that way results in the program working as expected. Minimizing and maximizing the program to the Task Bar works fine. However, if I exit the program and relaunch from the Start screen, Window gives me the dreaded message.

What happens if you go to C:\programs or (x86) and double click the correct .exe file. If it starts from there, then create a new shortcut for start menu / taskbar.

 

[Wolfgang W. Stachel]

What happens if you go to C:\programs or (x86) and double click the correct .exe file. If it starts from there, then create a new shortcut for start menu / taskbar.

All program files are in C:\Program Files\2BrightSparks. SyncBackPro.exe is located in that folder. Right clicking and "Run as administrator" or double clicking on the file produce the same result. I contacted 2BrightSparks's customer service (which is excellent) and was informed correctly that since their product works on my second machine, the problem is with my failing one and that there is nothing they can do.

Just for kicks, I uninstalled SyncBackPro 8 and installed the previous version SyncBackPro 7 and found it to be working perfectly.

 

[Garyw]

The only thing left is to compare the two machines setting by setting to see if you can find any differences in Windows setup. Any updates on one, but not the other?

I uninstalled SyncBackPro 8 and installed the previous version SyncBackPro 7 and found it to be working perfectly.

What is different between 7 and 8?

 

[Wolfgang W. Stachel]

The only thing left is to compare the two machines setting by setting to see if you can find any differences in Windows setup. Any updates on one, but not the other?



What is different between 7 and 8?

Both machines show the same updates, so I cannot discern any differences.

Differences between 7 & 8: 32bit to 64bit, vastly improved Cloud services, greater speed. It's starting to look like a clean install of Windows 10 is on the horizon. Frightful thought.

 

[Garyw]

Clone your existing system first! Or at least backup to a different disk. Doing an "Upgrade repair" (reinstalling windows from within the current OS) probably won't work, because it keeps files and settings. Windows Defender Security Center offers a "Fresh start", but know that it will upgrade to the latest version, and you will need to reinstall your third party programs

 

[Wolfgang W. Stachel]

Clone your existing system first! Or at least backup to a different disk. Doing an "Upgrade repair" (reinstalling windows from within the current OS) probably won't work, because it keeps files and settings. Windows Defender Security Center offers a "Fresh start", but know that it will upgrade to the latest version, and you will need to reinstall your third party programs

I remembered that SyncBackPro 8 comes in a 64 bit and a 32 bit version. I downloaded the 32 bit version and. low and behold, it works fine. I am going to delay a fresh Win10 installation for now.

 

[Garyw]

Glad you found a solution. Please mark this thread solved.