after restarting without workshelf on autostart i was able to delete fonts, but i didn't delete them all, then i turned autostart back on and restarted again, and was still able to delete the rest of the fonts

so, at least on my system, the files are locked only during the session in which winstep is installed (i believe i haven't restarted since reinstalling 16.12 following the installation of K-Lite)

Ok, that at least makes perfect sense in relation to what MS is saying in that 2014 security update.

The font files in the AutoInstall folder are originally accessed by the Winstep application to copy and install them into the Windows Fonts folder, and, because of that, the system locks them until you reboot. Since the files are now locked by the system, they can no longer be deleted by the Winstep application right after copying them to the Windows Fonts folder (the delete operation silently fails with an 'Access Denied' error).

On the next reboot the files can be deleted, but since they are no longer a valid file extension for the AutoInstall mechanism, they are simply ignored by the Winstep application, and therefore linger around.

Now it makes sense. Thanks once again!

glad to have been of help

You were.

One oddity remains, however, at least regarding the original poster's situation.

Some of the folders and files are created by the setup application directly (InnoSetup), and these are automatically removed when uninstalling.

This, however, is not enough. The application itself will create folders the setup application knows nothing about, and over time the user will also install new themes into the Themes folder.

Because setup knows nothing about these files and folders, they would normally be left behind when uninstalling.

To prevent this, the uninstall program first runs the Winstep application with a special command line switch. It's the Winstep application and not setup that asks the user if he wants to delete all his settings and all his theme files. It is also the Winstep application that removes all traces of folders and files created by it and which setup knows nothing about.

One of the folders that gets deleted this way is the AutoInstall folder. So, the only way I see for it and the TTF files to linger around after uninstall is if the user tries to uninstall the Winstep application in the same session that he installed it, i.e.; without rebooting the system in between.

There's (among many other all over the web) a 4 page thread HERE regarding Adobe Acrobat Reader suffering from this same problem because of the Microsoft's security fix KB2993651 that is described in bulletin MS14-045.

I especially liked how one user there summed up the problem:

"It looks as if this is working exactly as Microsoft intended. Adobe Reader makes temporary fonts for good quality and fast printing, using methods Microsoft have recommended for over 15 years. Adobe Reader then cleans up the fonts, but Microsoft in their wisdom stop the fonts from being deleted until the session has finished (by which time Adobe Reader cannot, by definition, be running to delete them). It's hard to imagine what planet Microsoft were on when they decided this was a good solution to whatever the problem was."

So there you go, Restorator... your complaint about this issue is better directed at Microsoft. Not that I think they will listen... the whole company seems to have lost their marbles lately.

Hello Winstep

I installed Windows 7 SP (x64) again. It's a clean installation with all updates to date.

The problem persists:

- Fonts are displayed correctly in the Registry
- Fonts are displayed correctly in the Fonts folder
- Fonts remain locked in the AutoInstall folder (System Process ID: 4)

I tried LockHunter application that can remove the fonts after the restart, but it is not the solution for me.

See screenshots 1,2.

I tried to look for some utilities to process in Windows.
I found the utility from the developer's of Microsoft.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb795533

I tried some of them, and Process Monitor v3.31 provides some much information as possible to determine the problem.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processmonitor

- I installed the program Winstep Xtreme again. The program I started and then I uninstalled it.
- In location C:\Users\Public\Documents\Winstep\AutoInstall remained fonts. OK.

Try this:

After running the program Process Monitor press Ctrl+F and search string: eg. HOOG0553.ttf

- The first result is finding QueryDirectory and some PID, eg. PID: 2024 (PID is always changing)
- Press F3 again and again and watch Time and Operations items (eg. CreateFile, QueryStandardInformationFile, CreateFileMapping etc.)
- In Operation (CreateFileMapping) you'll see in (Result) that FILE LOCKED WITH ONLY READER - see screenshot 3
- right click on file and select Properties (on each tab you'll see more details)

You will find probably more information about the problem.

I want to try one more solution using the installer. When this fails, then I do not know

Sorry, but this post I have seen before.

Thanks for the detailed info, but did you read all that me and Seeker wrote above?

This is a Microsoft Windows issue, not Winstep's.

STATUS_FILE_LOCKED_WITH_ONLY_READERS indicates that the file was locked and all users of the file can only read. And who is locking the font files? Windows via Explorer.exe, not the Winstep application.

This is the result of a Microsoft's half-baked (as many of them seem to be these days) security 'fix'.

I strongly suggest you read a 4 page thread HERE regarding Adobe Acrobat Reader suffering from this same problem, and the solutions presented there (which basically comes to uninstalling the security update(s) that cause this problem).

Never-the-less, rebooting your system should allow you to delete the font files in the AutoInstall folder.

Maybe you could ad some sort of log when installation process is denied access to delete files after reboot (similar as Revo uninstaller/unlocker/AV apps delete the files they cant unlock during session), some run once autostart that deletes the files installation loged as unable to delete?. but i have no idea how hard would that be to implement

Yes, I read these posts. That's why I wrote that I apologize. (comment above: Sorry, but this post I have seen before.)

Guess we cross-posted lol

The setup/uninstall application (InnoSetup), as all installers, would *probably* be able to do something like that. However, those TTF files were not placed there by the installer itself, so it knows nothing about them and will not even try to delete them.

Anyway, thing is, if you reboot before uninstalling the Winstep application (i.e.; if you don't install and uninstall in the same session), this should be a mute problem, as those TTF files should no longer be locked by the system then.

Hello Winstep ...

In my opinion there is no problem input installed fonts directly into the installer.

I compiled my own installer into which I put only one GothicFlames font. Everything works correctly.

I think that this is a better solution than packing fonts into archive ns3-thms.zip.

Inno Setup Documentation: http://bit.ly/2j8gG6V

Part of the code in the program Inno Setup Compiler:

FontInstall - This must be exactly the same name as you see when you double-click the font file.
onlyifdoesntexist - Only install the file if it doesn't already exist on the user's system.
uninsneveruninstall - Never remove the file. This flag can be useful when installing very common shared files that shouldn't be deleted under any circumstances, such as MFC DLLs.

Here is the full script for compilation: - Stop Adblock or continue!

http://bit.ly/2k3yRi2

Here is a compiled installer: - Stop Adblock or continue!

http://bit.ly/2jxSnlQ

For simplicity, I recommend the following configuration script folders for the installer Inno Setup of the program Winstep Xtreme:


Everything will definitely work properly in different operating systems and will not be a problem with fonts that are locked in Windows 7.

I want to ask you to correct Topic title from "Winstrep" to "Winstep", if it's possible.

Thank's