I started having that problem with Gizmo's Freeware a couple years back.

-Vurbal (May 10, 2015, 12:37 PM)

so did I. But I assumed it was because of my many addons for Firefox, so instead I subscribed to their email, and automated the use of Internet Explorer. But now I am on a new old computer, so I forgot.

-Curt (May 10, 2015, 05:37 PM)

Funny you should say that. I came to the same conclusion. I actually tried disabling them 1 at a time back then, but didn't figure it was worth actually uninstalling anything over. Apparently I was right, since it wouldn't have fixed the problem anyway.

I wonder if anyone has ever pointed this out to them.

-Vurbal (May 10, 2015, 12:37 PM)

I don't think anyone has; the Contact-page has no contact, only adverts.

So you're saying we should report that first?  :P

...Many programs assume they can write files in the folder where the exe is.  I usually create an .ini file for my AHK programs in the same folder as the AHK utility.  From Vista on the system has gotten progressively more persnickety about writing to Program Files folders.  To avoid running everything As Administrator on W8 I took ownership of all the files in the Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders.  It's a pita.  If the error occurs in XP then it is likely some other issue.
It is not recommended o take ownership of either all of C: or the Windows folder.  Just in case anyone was considering that as a quick solution.  :)
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-MilesAhead (May 08, 2015, 03:19 PM)

^ That's why I install almost all software to a custom folder instead, although that obviously doesn't solve every permissions issue.
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-Vurbal (May 08, 2015, 05:51 PM)

^^ +1 for that. I've tended to do that (install to custom folders rather than in Program Files) more and more over the years, to combat the increasing lengths the user has to go to, to defeat the growing number of seemingly unnecessarily restrictive system "security policies" and bugs therein.

-IainB (May 09, 2015, 01:46 AM)

You, sir, have a gift for understatement. That may be the single most effective strategy for eliminating bizarre access errors, especially if you have any software that's getting long in the tooth.

I do, generally, let Microsoft software install in the standard folders. I've never actually run into problems sticking any of their programs elsewhere, but their installers almost always put some files and folders under Program Files no matter where the main install location is. I figure splitting things up like that is more likely to cause problems than solve them.

^ That's why I install almost all software to a custom folder instead, although that obviously doesn't solve every permissions issue.

However, it's unlikely this is related to that. If it were, the error should appear every time, but it doesn't. In my case, I've "printed" numerous PDF files and then, days (or months - not like I use it often) later, either the printer just mysteriously vanishes from the printer list or throws the write protection error. In either case, the only solution I've found is to uninstall and reinstall the virtual printer software from scratch.

This discussion suggests to me that Windows Fax and Scan has similar issues. The responses there suggest the error is usually resolved by blowing away the existing "Fax Account" and creating a new one. Presumably each entry there is a separate virtual printer. Other people reported fixing it by stopping and restarting the service.

My semi-educated guess is there's an issue with the printing subsystem. However, I don't recall every hearing about it happen with actual printers. That suggests it may be specific to some interface unique to virtual printers. My first thought, considering write protection is involved, would be that it's spooling related. However, taking everything (including that MS link) into account, I'm inclined to think it's more likely to be an error sending data from the spooler to the virtual device.

That might also explain why my PDF printers would seem to just disappear from the system entirely, even though the software appears to be working fine. If Windows can't talk to the device any more, it should disappear from the printer list. From Windows' perspective, it has effectively been unplugged. Actually, the more I think about it, the more likely that scenario seems.