SK 98 USER DATA NOT BEING SAVED AFTER CLOSE- FOUND MY USER DATA FILE MARKED FOR "READ ONLY&quot 1

[Rich224422]

Once again MicroHard rears its ugly head. Damn I hate that outfit. I found that my data was not being saved even though I faithfully select "Yes" save all when prompted. This apparently has been going on for a few weeks. I found at least a temporary reason, though I found the same thing once or twice before.

Some Basics here: SK 98 with all patches (Thanks again James33.) Windows 7 Pro, all updates (probaby something in the updates is causing this), Toshiba new laptop with all kinds of disc and power bells and whistles. Norton and other spyware programs...computer is clean.

[highlight #FCE94F]Now the Find! My "Userdata" file was again attributed with "Read Only"[/highlight]. Therefore, even though SK was trying to "Save Changes" as I instructed on closing, the changes were not saved in that "Read Only" enviornment. I have no idea how that Read Only attribute is applied to the User Data file. However, I now recall finding that change once before (in this W 7 pro enviornment.) Never in my 16 years of SK 98, etc., with WXP Pro. I can only assume that it is yet anothere wonderful service provided by MicoHard W 7 Pro. Thank you very large Mr. Gates, et.al.

In another thread I read that James 33 favors a program that backs up data as you go. I would appreciate a download link to get that program.

I have little faith that the attributes in my "User Data" file will remain unchecked for "Read Only." For the good of the order, you might want to right click on Userdata, select Properties, and see if the box for Read Only is filled in. On mine, it was solid green (selected for Read Only.) You have to have administrator priviledge to change those attributes.

Sheeshhhhhh! LOL

Blaze

 

[james33]

Dear Rich224422

First of all make sure that your cardfiles are not saved in the C:\Program Files Folder, Windows 7 and 8 won't let those files be anything other than ReadOnly. Save your Cardfiles Calendar Notes and everything you can, to a Folder in My Documents or anywhere else.

The program I was referring to was SecondCopy and the link to a free trial version is here

http://www.secondcopy.com/download.html

You can probably backup to a Google drive folder and then it is backed up off site.
If you have Sidekick open at the time it may throw up an error message saying it can't access a file at the time and do you want it to try anyway.... DON'T let it try as there is a good reason that the file is locked.
It is possible to backup the .SKTMP files I think, try it on a duplicate file before you try it on the only version of a VIP file !!!

regards
Jim

 

[Rich224422]

Thanks Jim (again); I tried setting my "working directory" in "Preferences" to be a new one I created in C:/Dick/User Data. Didn't take? Also, tried one same name in C:/my documents...same result. I also tried the SK backup function with both those files and get the "Insufficient Space" message. However, it is intresting that I found that backup complete...in that new folder C:/USERDATA. So, it appears that the complete backup did get placed in that folder...even though there was that "Insufficient Space..." message displayed. I also noted (and changed) the attributes in that new folder. They were checked for "Read Only". That must be something that Microsoft (at least MS W7 Pro) does by default? In any case, it is not checked now for read only.

I take it you have seen that "Read Only" thing before, as you noted Microsoft won't let the file be anything other than "read only". I wonder how many forum memers out there have that "read only" issue. As long as I am getting new changes saved when I exit, I guess I don't need to understand how or why it is working.

I will try that backup program you linked for me. I sure hope this helps someone else.

Thank You Again

Rich22 (From acros the pond).
'

 

[james33]

Well done rich22, although I would be check that backup to make sure it is complete.
Definitely check out secondcopy because, as we say here, the Sidekick backup routine is definitely s--t!
Good luck and let us know how it goes.


Regards Jim
Check the FAQ area of this Forum for answers (If there are any FAQs!) , it could save you a lot of time and effort! Good Luck!

 

[ebob2k]

If you encounter data save problems after installing Sidekick 98 in the Win7 location C:\Program Files (x86)\Starfish\Sidekick 98, uninstall it and reinstall it at C:\Starfish\Sidekick 98 (in the root of C

Test it after the install by creating an entry on one of the tabs, saving, closing the program, then reopening it.

The saved data should be visible.

 

[ebob2k]

This post is a more than a bit late to help most of the users’ problem posts from almost 5 years ago, but they might help Sidekick 98 users who still want to install and run that software on a Win7, WinXP or Win2K system.

The Setup stall, the Open stall and Save Data problem are items I covered in a post at:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1734070

I have not yet encountered an Install or Open problem on a system running Win2K or WinXP that was not remedied by turning off the offending software that was running in the background and blocking the Install or Open, and the only Win7 problem I encountered was the data changes were not being saved. (But I have not tried to Install or Open Sidekick 98 on a Win7 system that was running Malwarebytes 2.0 in the background. My thought is it will stall just as a WinXP system does.)

I have NOT tried installing Sidekick 98 on a Vista system.

Here is a repost of my fixes & workarounds:
Some programs interfere with the opening of older software. The Lync that DougSilver found as the program that was preventing Sidekick 98 from opening is probably only one of many that will do this, even to a 32-bit program such as Sidekick 98 that is properly installed.

Other programs, such as Malwarebytes 2.0, can also cause the same stall when attempting to open (or install) Sidekick 98. As you did with Lync, the solution, if you want to stick with Malwarebytes 2.0, is to right-click your Malwarebytes tray icon and select Exit.

For Sidekick 98 opening stall problems that persist AFTER you’ve shut down the offending programs, open Task Manager to ensure that you only have one instance of sidekick.exe.
If you have 2 (which I've seen many times), select the one with the least Mem usage and click End Process.

Sidekick should then open. If it does not, repeat the steps above for the remaining sidekick.exe, then attempt opening Sidekick 98 again.

I don’t believe that DougSilver’s ‘past expiration date’ reasoning is valid for a Sidekick 98 OPENING problem. It is a 32-bit program that was able to successfully install on that Win7 system, so I believe the other software is the offender. (If the OS lets Sidekick 98 install, other programs, unless they have a problem, should not prevent installed programs from opening.)

NOTE:
Sidekick 98’s installer is a 16-bit process. As a result, you might encounter the same stall problem when trying to INSTALL Sidekick 98 on some systems with any problematic software running, even in the background, during the install attempt.

NOTE 2:
There are 2 possible install locations for Sidekick 98 on a Win7 system:
The obvious is C:\Program Files (x86)\Starfish\Sidekick 98. However, if you encounter problems saving your data**, uninstall it completely and reinstall it in the root of C:
C:\Starfish\Sidekick 98

**You can test for that save data problem by creating an entry on any one of your tabs, then saving, closing the program, then reopening it.
You should see your saved data. If not, follow the instructions above for the alternate install location for Win7 systems.