"Database is locked or write-protected."

[dwags]

I just recently upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and now I can't open iMatch. Every time I try I get the "Database is locked or write-protected."  message. Can someone tell me how to get this to work again?

[Mario]

Messed up file system permissions most likely.

Check the file system permissions of the folder containing the database file.
Right-click on the folder, then choose Properties. In the dialog, click on 'Security'.
See the Windows help for details.

Make sure that the user under which you log in has read/write permissions to the folder and all files within.

[Goethe]

Hello

I have exactly the same Problem. Even with two different error Messages (the first one is error 17201, the other one tells me the database is already open). The DB file is definitely not open and the cryptic error message does not help me a lot. This seems linked to permissions, but the I (current user) have full permissions on the files and Folders.

(Sorry for my Engl. - above mentioned error Messages are translated from German Messages, therefore they might sound a Little bit different in EN).

Any idea what to do?

Thanks
Christian

[Mario]

Please attach the IMatch log file, because it will contain more information about the error.
I would also try to reboot the computer once.
Do you work with custom scripts in IMatch?
Maybe an IMatch instance is still running (check in Windows Task Manager for 'photools.com IMatch' processes).

[Goethe]

Dear all,

after searching the internet for possible solutions I learned the following: This is not a problem related to iMatch in itself. It seems it is linked to a Windows 10 "strange behaviour" (exists probably since Windows 7) where folders show in the properties window that the folder (and the files in that folder) are write protected. In fact the files are not write protected at all. (I will not go deeper here but it seems there are already hundreds of threats open related to this philosophical discussion if this is a but or not.)

On my PC I could not change any of these settings. All versions of (still intact) iMatch databased could not be opened and I received only the error message that the database was locked or write protected.

After some coffees and a lot of "creative" thinking I RENAMED my PC in windows. It had after the fresh installation a name such as WINDOWS_A73GVA (I cannot exactly remember). After giving it a "normal name" everything worked fine.

I am again a happy iMatch user. As this might happen to other users I wanted to share this experience here with you. Renaming a PC is extremely easy and will not do harm to it. Therefore just give it a try. I would be happy to hear back if this helped for you.


All the best
Christian

[Mario]

Did you try to take ownership over the folders in questions (Windows Explorer > Properties > Security tab)?  Usually this fixes this kind of issues. After taking the ownership you can (if needed) fix the security settings. I don't see how renaming a PC may affect such issues, but I have seen stranger things happen...

[blanco]

Hello,

I got the same 17201 problem, running win 10 home on a MBP, external ssd. Has been working fine for a couple of years. Latest version of IMatch (or nearly latest).

I don't see any security settings for the ssd drive (there is a security tab for other drives when I click properties). Can you please check the log to understand what is going on? Of course I did reboot the machine.

best regards
gijs

[Mario]

When IMatch tries to open the file H:\IMatch Database.imd5',
the database system reports: 'file is not a database' could not enable WAL journaling mode.

I have never seen this error message from the database system before.
But I think this simply means that the database system cannot write to the H: disk and cannot create the required secondary journaling files required.

Make sure the medium containing the database is not write-protected, that your user account has full read and write access and that your anti-virus software is not blocking IMatch.

Move the database to your C: disk and open it from there in IMatch (via the Database menu > Open command) to verify that the database file is OK.

[blanco]

Thanks Mario.

I've moved the db to c: drive, same issue. I've updated to the very latest version and temporarly disabled Norton AV. Same problem. I guess I have to go back to the latest backup, which is only a couple of days old luckily.

[Mario]

Norton AV seems to be the only product that is causing constant issues and troubles.
From breaking the IMatch Installer (preventing IMatch to install) to blocking ExifTool. And it is always Norton, not Windows Defender or other antivirus products. A false alarm occasionally is normal, but for Norton, it's always false alarms.

I cannot reach them. The only way to reach them is via a web form, where you need to know which software of them you use and you can only upload files (or provide a link) to samples with 90MB in size. Since the IMatch installer has 350 MB I cannot even provide them wish a sample.

I test IMatch with 4 different anti-virus products on 3 computers and also via Google's Virus Total. Which gives IMatch a 100% green status.

Maybe temporarily disabling Norton does not do what you think?
Or, the external SSD has damaged the file somehow?

[blanco]

I've gone back to my backup, did not find any other solution. So happy I got one 

[Mario]

Very good.
So the database was actually damaged.  Which is very rare.
So rare, that I didn't even see this error message before.

Remember to make daily (!) backups of all your important data and that you keep these backups for several weeks.
Your hard disks and SSDs can die any moment, without warning!