Access Denied starting Affinity Photo

[Cagliostro.R33]

I found issues starting Affinity Photo on Windows PC.
I tried with 1.9.2.1035 and latest 1.10 Customer Beta.

I already uninstalled and reinstalled the software several times and now I noticed the C:\Users\myuser\AppData\Roaming\Affinity\Photo disappeared so I can't attach crash reports.

Consider I bought Designer too and it works normally.
PC is new and fresh installed and Photo is the only application with this kind of errors.

My Windows build is 10.0.18363.

Thank you in advance for support.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Cagliostro.R33

[walt.farrell]

17 minutes ago, Cagliostro.R33 said:

PC is new and fresh installed and Photo is the only application with this kind of errors.

My Windows build is 10.0.18363.

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums.

Your PC may be new and freshly installed, but you're running a 2019 version of Windows 10. I don't know if that's relevant to the problem you're experiencing, but I would consider updating Windows as you're 3 major Windows 10 updates behind current (20H1, 20H2, and 21H1).

[Cagliostro.R33]

Thank you Walt, yes you are right but the laptop is a corporate computer so I can't choose which version to install.
Do you really think the 2019 build can compromise the functionallity of Affinity? Because I think I'm not the only one using that version.

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, Cagliostro.R33 said:

Do you really think the 2019 build can compromise the functionallity of Affinity?

As I said, I don't know if it's responsible for the problem you're having.

But it can compromise some functionality of Affinity, as it will prevent use of the new Hardware Acceleration functions in all of the Affinity applications. Still, the application should at least run, as Affinity documents that it needs a 2016 version of Windows 10 or later.

[Cagliostro.R33]

OK I can only wait for a reply from customer support

[Komatös]

Is a third-party antivirus software running on the laptop? If so, please deactivate it as far as possible.

[Cagliostro.R33]

There is Symantec Endpoint Protection I already tried to disable. I've applied exeptions too:

 

[Dan C]

Hi @Cagliostro.R33,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums

21 hours ago, Cagliostro.R33 said:

yes you are right but the laptop is a corporate computer so I can't choose which version to install.

Can you please confirm for me, do you mean this laptop has been setup/is controlled by an IT manager or has been provided to you from your place of work?

I ask this as the issue you're reporting would indicate a possible issue with Permission settings and your Windows user account, and if this has been setup on an internal network or using deployment software (such as SmartDeploy) then you'll likely need to take the laptop to this manager/your workplace for this to be investigated further, as there may be many permission based controls they have set that we simply won't know about and therefore this may require direct action to your Windows User account, which we cannot easily do if your user is set on an internal network and not the Admin account.

Many thanks in advance!

[Cagliostro.R33]

Thank you Dan.

I confirm my IT Office provided me the Laptop but I'm local administrator with related privileges.
Consider our Company works as system integrator, I'm not the IT Manager but I'm able to modify system configuration of my devices.
I can't understand why you ask for the internal network, anyway the issue appears at home too.

Thanks!

[Dan C]

Thanks for verifying that for me!

12 minutes ago, Cagliostro.R33 said:

I can't understand why you ask for the internal network, anyway the issue appears at home too.

Apologies, this is simply bad wording on my behalf - I was just looking to confirm how the device had been setup and you've provided all the info I need

I assume if you right-click on the .exe file and select Run as Administrator, you see the same error?

Can you please navigate to C:\Program Files\Affinity and then right-click on the Photo folder and select Properties. In the dialog that opens, navigate to Security, then in the Groups or User Names box, select Administrators. This should now show the permissions that the Admin account has for this folder, could you upload a screenshot of this for me? It should look similar to the below -

Thanks once again!

[Cagliostro.R33]

[Dan C]

Thanks for your screenshots, nothing appears to be incorrect from your settings shown.

On 7/8/2021 at 2:27 PM, Dan C said:

I assume if you right-click on the .exe file and select Run as Administrator, you see the same error?

Can you confirm what happens if you try this also?

I'd also like to try creating a new Permissions Group for the Affinity folder for 'Everyone' and assigning this group full read/write access - can you please try the steps shown in the below recording for me?

On 7/7/2021 at 3:35 PM, walt.farrell said:

Your PC may be new and freshly installed, but you're running a 2019 version of Windows 10. I don't know if that's relevant to the problem you're experiencing, but I would consider updating Windows as you're 3 major Windows 10 updates behind current (20H1, 20H2, and 21H1).

If the above fails, have you tried updating Windows to a newer version please?

[Cagliostro.R33]

Hello, sorry for the delay in the answer.
I already tried to set permissions to everyone, to start application as administrator and reinstall cleaning registry keys.
As said before I can't change the build cause mine is a corporate laptop and I have to wait updates from IT Managers.

[Dan C]

Thanks for confirming that for me and my apologies for the delayed response here also.

Can you please try the following:

• Create a new user account (you may need your IT manager to do this) and try installing the app there, I'm interested to see if you have the same error message show.
   
• Try installing version 1.8.5 from the following link - https://store.serif.com/en-gb/update/windows/photo/1/#:~:text=download version 1.8.5
   
• Download and run the .NET checker from the following link, then provide a screenshot of the results here - http://www.asoft.be/prod_netver.html
   
• Run an SFC scan, restart your machine & then try installing once more - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e

Please do let me know how you get on here

[Cagliostro.R33]

Hello,
I created a new local admnistrator user and the behaviour, I tried to install the version 1.8.5 but nothing.
Now I upgraded my Windows version to 21h1 but Affinity Photo still not working.

The last thing it could be that our corporate PCs have Bitlocker configured but I can't undertand why Design works.

Thanks

[Cagliostro.R33]

I just wanted to inform that with the latest software version (1.10.0.1127) the problem seems solved.

Thanks all for the support