One instance: locks and «the program is already running»

#774

The program makes sure its copies do not work at the same time and do not pull the same files apart. For that, at startup a service lock file is created in the Windows temporary folder.

How it works

A lock is a small text file in the %TEMP% folder, inside which the process number is written. The name depends on the name of the program and ends with _gui.lock, _download.lock or _convert.lock — according to the mode of work:

  • the program window — will not start if another window or any of the background services is running;
  • the download service and the conversion service — will not start if the program window is open or the same service is already running;
  • the one-off modes (a single cycle, a one-off conversion) do not create a lock;
  • the cleanup will not start while the program window or any service is running.

On a normal exit the lock deletes itself.

«The program is already running», although there is no window

First check the task manager — the window could have minimised to the notification area or stayed hanging as a process. If the process is there, close it in the normal way.

If after an abnormal termination (the power was cut, the task was killed) the lock file stayed on the disk, the program usually copes by itself: it checks whether the process written in it is alive and overwrites the lock if necessary. The problem remains only in the rare case when Windows has managed to give the same number to another process — then the file has to be deleted by hand.

How to delete a lock by hand

  1. Make sure the program really is not running.
  2. Open Explorer and enter %TEMP% in the address bar.
  3. Find the files ending in _gui.lock, _download.lock, _convert.lock and delete them.
  4. Start the program.

What you should not do

  • Run two copies of the program «for speed» — orders are downloaded and converted in parallel inside a single copy, the conversion parameters are there for that.
  • Keep the program window and a background service on one computer at the same time — they get in each other's way and will block the startup.