PT 8 stopped working

Question

I just installed today’s update to PT 8. Now PT 8 does not work for me at all. How can I get it to work again?

I receive the following Windows error message:

"C:\Program Files(x86)\Paratext 8\Paratext.exe

Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item"

Before getting that Windows error message, when I try to start Paratext, my anti-virus program, Avast, gives me the following error message:

"This file might be dangerous

Paratext.exe"

When I click on “More details” I can click on “I trust this file.” I click on that but continue to get the same Windows error message.

anon246328

Answer 1

This sounds familiar - I think there is an anti-virus program that sets a
registry setting and then you get this error when the anti-virus program is
uninstalled.

I’ll keep searching to see if I can find the registry entry.

John+Wickberg

Comments

There was a case where a registry entry prevented an exe file from running – but the error message said a file or component was missing, not a permissions error.

Check this registry item:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

on a 64 bit Windows system.

superuser.com

Windows cannot find '?.exe' - some apps only

windows-7, windows-explorer

asked by Mike Rockétt on 05:34AM - 29 Apr 13 UTC

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I was able to get Paratext to work again by turning off my AV approval.
That’s a dangerous solution, of course, if it is permanent. So then I
googled on “whitelist Avast” and got the directions for excluding Paratext
from AV scans. I feel safer with this solution.

It seems odd to me that Avast would block Paratext, after today’s Paratext
update, but it has not blocked it in the past. If I remember correctly, a
main reason I changed from using AVG to Avast a couple years ago were all
the false positives I got in the past for Paratext.

I hope this issue can get solved once and for all do AV programs are happy
with Paratext.

anon246328

Answer 2

Someone (maybe me ) submitted paratext.exe to the Avast lab. I just got a notice that the lab finished analyzing it and said it is clean. I removed it from my Avast whitelist and it is working fine now. I hope this takes care of the problem for anyone else that uses Avast as their AV.

Comments

The same thing happened to me the other day. You have to go into the settings for Avast and enter the Path for PT and PT Update to exclusions:

image.png791×255 10.1 KB

Many anti virus programs do that these days. Avast notified me that PT is a rare file they didn’t know and that they were going to check it. That would take time. I didn’t have that time, so I entered the exclusion instead. That made it work again right away.

Answer 3

One of our users here in S. Asia found that Paratext.exe had been completely deleted by Kaspersky AV. He reinstalled Paratext, choosing the “Repair” option, and it seems to be working again.