Hey guys - ratings on files don't seem to work. I click on a star in the Rating column and it swiftly disappears when I click elsewhere. Simply refreshing a folder's contents removes all star ratings as well from recently rated pdf files (except for a random 1 jpg that manage to retain their rating). I've tried everything - ownership, sanitising metadata, unlocking, decrypting, etc etc - to no avail. Is there a fix? Thanks..
Edit - some random PDFs retain their ratings. No idea why they are exceptions, but majority disappear. I tried to compare between files and couldn't find an identifiable difference - particularly after sanitising the pdfs using PDF-XChange.
Does the same happen if you try to rate the same files in File Explorer?
Being able to save ratings can depend on:
Having write-access to the file/folder. (Files that are in use, or permissioned so you cannot modify them, can't have ratings saved against them.)
In some cases, the filesystem must be NTFS. (If the file format isn't one that Opus or any shell extensions know how to save ratings into the file itself, the rating is stored via NTFS metadata. Other filesystems such as FAT and some network servers don't support this.)
In some cases, shell extensions can be involved, if they claim to be able to save ratings metadata for a file format but fail to actually do so. (So, in the case of PDF software, the installed PDF software can have an effect on what happens. Explorer should behave the same.)
I'm not sure that will help, since it's just an alternative UI that still ends up setting the ratings via the SetAttr META command, which will ultimately do the same thing any of the built-in UIs do.
Hey Leo - thanks for your input. I'm sorry to say that to implement ratings in File Explorer itself is a mythical process to me - the Ratings category sits like a decoration, the stars themselves are unclickable and the Rating info does not show up in File Properties when I right-click (can't find it under the Details tab (Description) or PDF Information). The ratings that are retained in D.Opus (like the random JPG or odd PDF file) definitely disappears in Explorer too. Perhaps this is part of the problem? It's a real shame because this rating system could really help me save a ton of time on my work. If it is shell extensions - should I be digging into the Registry to fix this?
It looks like File Explorer only supports ratings for certain file types like JPG, and not others like PNG and PDF. (At least here, with no PDF software installed.) I'm not sure if that is a recent change.
Are you doing this on a network drive, or in a library or anything more complicated than a local HDD/SSD folder? Try copying a PDF to your desktop and applying a rating to that to see if it sticks.
If even that doesn't work, it's possible some PDF software has installed a bad Property Handler shell extension which says it can save ratings but doesn't really save them.
Grab ShellExView (get the x64 version, near the bottom of the page).
Sort by the Type column.
Scroll down to the Property Handler extensions to see which are installed.
Do any look related to PDF software?
If so, right-click them and chose the Disable option. Reboot. See if the problem is still there.
To re-enable them, do the same but choose the Enable option instead.
Screenshot for illustration, although I don't recommend disabling everything, just anything with Type = Property Handler that looks PDF-related or possibly not part of Windows/Office (of which I don't have any examples shown/installed).
I could write a book about the trials of trying to get PDF thumbs and metadata to play ball with Windows 10 and OneDrive. It is a pathway labelled "Frustration"
I can confirm what Leo says about file explorer, and I can confirm that if you do manage to set PDF metadata fields with Opus, the fields stick. I can import PDF in Photoshop and the metadata is there - apart, interestingly enough, from the star rating.
One of the things that helped me most was a decision to remove all PDF reading and editing programs from my system and start again. I used an uninstaller program that cleans up registry entries and spurious data left over my many uninstallations, to remove the programs.
Then I installed Acrobat Reader DC, so it was the only PDF program I was using. Only when I was reasonably happy with the thumbnailing and the metadata, did I install a PDF editor.
It might be worth a try, it certainly helped here. I can add metadata to PDFs in Opus with no problems.
BTW I have noticed that Microsoft shipped a new version of OneDrive last week. Be afraid, be very afraid.
