CCleaner Pro, auto update installer issue, trying to update gives an pop up.

[Melchior]

Every time I get a new update to CCleaner Pro,

the update process launched from within the app itself..

it loads the 64bit exe as soon as the 32bit exe is updated but now gives an error message to

retry or abort the install of the CCleaner64.exe..

this happens every-time there is an update for the last hand full of updates to CCleaner...;

so what I have to do is manually close CCleaner64.exe and then click retry.. the installer finishes and exits.

then CCleaner64.exe loads again..

 

using Windows 11 Pro x64 v21H2 (build 22000.856)

feel free to ask for any additional info needed..

please fix Piriform/CCleaner devs.

[nukecad]

Are you using a 3rd party AV?

From what you describe though it sounds like a Windows 11 glitch?

[Melchior]

no I do not use any 3rd party AV.

Just MS Windows defender Antivirus that comes with Windows 10 and 11.

 

how is it exactly a Windows 11 glitch?

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Melchior

[redwolfe_98]

1 hour ago, nukecad said:

Are you using a 3rd party AV?

From what you describe though it sounds like a Windows 11 glitch?

it's the same problem that we have been talking about for several months now where the automatic updater runs a DOUBLE INSTALL, generating errors:

 

[Melchior]

ooh?! wow.. so its already been discussed.

[nukecad]

15 hours ago, Melchior said:

ooh?! wow.. so its already been discussed.

Yes, I've not seen it myself for a while so though that it had been fixed.
There again I don't normally use the built in update function, instead I download a new installer from the builds page and use that.

Back in March 2021, in that thread that Redwolfe_98 linked, I took a look at just what was going on:
https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/62464-double-installation-dialog-with-manual-update/#comment-335649

The file writing clash and so the error only happend ocasionally on Win 10, I'm just wondering if it is more likely with Win 11?

I've not managed to test it properly because you can't deliberately reproduce the write error, but I think that even when you get the error you will find that CCleaner has been updated anyway.
That's because it's caused by 2 installer instances running at once, and only one of them crashes, so the other should still complete the update.

If you see the error again next time you update then instead of trying to update again open CCleaner and check if it has already been updated.
It would be interesting to know if that is the case like I suspect.

 

[Melchior]

well that explains why the version of CCleaner that auto launches during the update process is already on the latest version...

now we just need a fix for it.

[redwolfe_98]

4 hours ago, nukecad said:

I've not managed to test it properly because you can't deliberately reproduce the write error

to reproduce the error, you have to run the updater to install an update.

[nukecad]

Not quite.

The 2 instances of the installer  will often run side by side without trying to write the same file at the same time. And it's only both trying to write the same file at once which triggers the error.

In fact the testing back in March 2021 showed that it happens everytime that you update from within CCleaner and most users never see the write clash error.

One thing I want to try when I get home is whether this error is more or less prone to happening with an SDD than a HDD? It may be that the faster speeds of an SSD may make a difference.

I don't have Win11 yet so can't test with that, but suspect that most new machines with Win11 will have a fast NVME SSD as standard.

[Melchior]

15 minutes ago, nukecad said:

I don't have Win11 yet so can't test with that, but suspect that most new machines with Win11 will have a fast NVME SSD as standard.

As it happens I am running Windows 11 Pro x64 on a Samsung 970 EVO 1TB NVMe SSD.

Using the Samsung NVMe driver.

[nukecad]

22 hours ago, Melchior said:

well that explains why the version of CCleaner that auto launches during the update process is already on the latest version.

That's what I expected.

This particular updating crash doesn't really matter because CC has been updated despite one of the parallel running installers crashing.

So there is no need to run the update again, it has already been done.

Which might explain why it seems to be low down on the to-be-fixed list and hasn't been done yet?
In practical effect it's just a confusing message that occasionally shows and the update gets done anyway.

I've just done some more testing and can confirm a couple of things:

1. This write error is more prevalent if you have a SSD as your C: drive. - Everytime that I update this way on a SSD I get the write error.
   (It happens with SATA SSD's as well as M2's).
2. The update is completed despite the error.

The testing:

1. Install 6.02 and use 'Check for Updates' in the UI.
2. When the update starts drag the two installer windows apart so that both can be seen.
3. Get the write error.
4. Click the 'Abort' button on the error, one of the installer windows closes.
   It's a bit confusing until you work it out - but that one has closed because it has completed the update.
   (If you haven't seperated the installer windows you would be forgiven for thinking it was all one installer that had stuck).
5. The other (aborted) installer window now appears to be stuck, but the update to 6.03 has completed and CCleaner 6.03 promptly opens.
6. Close or minimise CCleaner and cancel the stuck window.

I'll flag this testing up to the staff again, as it's happening every time on SSDs then a fix needs bringing up the priority list.

In the meantime anyone having this issue could do what I normally do.

1. Don't use Automatic updating.
2. When an update is announced, or notified in CCleaner, don't use update from within CCleaner itself.
3. Instead go to the builds page: https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/builds
4. Download either the Standard or Slim installer from there and use that to do a new install over the top of the existing CCleaner.
5. Don't uninstall the old one first, if you do uninstall then you will lose your customised settings and will also need to re-enter your licence key.

[Guest Stephen CCleaner]

Hi everyone, the 'Error opening for writing' error can occur for different reasons. We fixed a big contributor to this quite some time ago and, separately, investigated the double-installer issue more recently. In that case we created a fix but it had a knock-on worse than what we see here. The issue occurring on SSDs more often is because these faster drives exacerbate a timing issue.

We are going to take another crack at this, though, as you have rightly flagged it as occurring much more often. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and especially Nukecad for preparing this info and for escalating it. It's a great help!