Strange Find results

Strange Find results.
I have a text file “123456.txt” in the path “c:\Users\Win7\AppData\Local. When I first start Dopus the Find Panel will correctly find the file like so…..


However after some time the same Find will locate 99 files with various paths like c:\Users\Win7\AppData\AppData\AppData\AppData…….
As shown…….


Windows search finds the one file correctly. I have Dopus set to always run and if I close all listers and double click the background the Find problem remains. However if I close dopus.exe in task manager and double click the background the Find works correctly. After some time the problem will return. I have not been able to find the trigger for this. I have run every program on the computer and checked find without results. I do not use FTP or any network shares. I had the problem on 11.10 and now on 11.13 but don’t recall having it on 10.X. Thanks.

My guess is that the folder permissions on the /localappdata/Application Data junction have been modified. That junction, which exists for Windows compatibility reasons, points back to its own parent folder, and creates an infinite loop if anything recurses into it.

The folder should be permissioned to prevent anything recursing into it, but if the permissions have been modified then it can cause problems.

If you turn on Folder > Show System Files in the default toolbar, then go to /localappdata and right-click Application Data (which should be in red; if it isn't that indicates a problem already), then choose Properties -> Security -> Advanced, it should have a special item at the top of the list which denies access to list folders.


If the permissions are wrong then they need to be fixed, but be very careful to only apply the change to the Application Data folder/junction itself, and not to child folders, or it will break lots of other things.

Looking at your screenshot, the same problem is likely true of the C:\Documents and Settings junction (another that only exists for compatibility reasons and should deny permission to list its folders), and maybe others. Perhaps the folders were copied from another harddrive in a way which did not preserve permissions?

Thank You for your excellent info. I checked the folders and the permissions are already set as you show. This was a fresh install of windows back in 2009 and the folders were never not copied. I suppose some virus could of got in over the years but it scans clean.
I removed opus and reinstalled but the problem remains. Restarting dopus.exe cures it for a while so it sure seems like a Dopus problem. If only I could find the trigger, I have backups back to 2009 and could do some trouble shooting but the old installs are not very usable today. Puzzling.

You should either see the behaviour for a given dopus.exe instance or not, if the search parameters are the same.

Perhaps you are sometimes launching Opus elevated as administrator, where it will have more permissions, and sometimes not? If so, please see here. (A quick way to tell if Opus is elevated is if the Admin toolbar button is pushed-in and disabled so you can't un-push it.)

Yes, I agree, it is a puzzle. Dopus is set to launch automatically on system start and don't open any listers. I always double click the background to open a lister. I have UAC turned off. Searches parameters are the same. Thanks.

What happens if you double-click C:\Documents and Settings within Windows Explorer?

(To see it, you may need to set Explorer to show hidden files, and to not hide protected operating system files.)

You should get an Access Denied error when you double-click that folder in Explorer. If not, something is wrong. (Or possibly this is how things work with UAC disabled, but the Deny permission on those folders should apply even to an admin account.)

(Note: It's normal for double-clicking the same folder in Opus to work, since Opus is more intelligent and will jump to the junction's target if it's unable to list below the junction itself. That's something extra Opus does on double-click only, and doesn't affect searching.)

I do get the access is denied message. Thanks for trying to help.

Strange... It's not having UAC turned off as I have just tested that and the loop doesn't happen.

Could you post screenshots of the folder permissions (like my one above) for the Application Data and also Documents and Settings junctions? Maybe there is a detail hiding in there.

Sure....




Talking about permissions, something I just remembered. Long ago I had Acronis True Image installed. The backup kept failing because I had no windows password just a bios password. Acronis wanted a administrator password and blank was not accepted. They had me change something and then it was working. That was years ago and I no longer remember what it was. I scrubbed that program off the computer long ago and now use Reflect.
Also, the above pictures were taken when the find was not looping. I just started up so the problem hasn't appeared yet. I will watch to see if the permissions change when the looping starts. Thanks again.

Thanks! Those look ok. I'm not sure what is going on, to be honest.

Definitely worth checking the permissions again next time it starts looping. I'd also check that Explorer still shows an Access Denied error when double-clicking the folders when the looping is happening. It'd be strange for the permissions to change back and forth, but that's the only clue we have so far.