Files and folder disappear without a trace since the latest Affinity update

[white flash]

Hello,

two or three hours ago I installed the latest Affinity-Update on my Laptop.

I want to retouche ca. 20 photos and save the result (additionaly) in a smaller version in a new folder. Do do it, I created the new folder, the I dragged the photo files into affinity and worked on them. The changes, I saved in the original photo (jpg). I was able to retouche ca. 10 photos this way. Then the newly created folder with the smaller versions disappeared without a trace. The changes in the original photos have been saved successfully.

To find the bug, I checked if there are hidden files in the folder, I made a virus check and I checked the hard drive for damage, too. Everything was negative. I tried to find the files with the help of the windows search and didn´t find them.

The path to the folder with the smaller files was saved in Affinity the whole time up to the point where the folder disappeared. I noticed the disappearance of the folder when the path was gone. When I opened the windows explorer to check why the path wasn´t there in affinity any more, the folder with the smaller files was gone.

I tried this twice, the second time I created the folder somewhere else with a different name.

Before the update, I didn´t have this problem. This way I can´t work.

Greetings

G.

[Dan C]

Hi @white flash,

Sorry to hear you're having trouble!

I can confirm that the Affinity apps have no control over files/folders that aren't currently open within the application and therefore have no way of deleting or editing files/folders from your PC that aren't actively in use within Affinity.

 I do note that you mention you've been able to replicate this with your specific workflow, however unfortunately I don't fully understand the steps you are taking.

Can you please provide a screen recording showing the exact steps you are following, including;

• the folders you are creating,
• the files you are editing,
• how you are opening/saving/closing these files within Affinity
• exactly what you are doing when the files/folders disappear

If you're unsure how to take a screen recording, please check out our FAQ linked below - 

Many thanks in advance!

[walt.farrell]

Possibly related report: 

 

[white flash]

On 10/6/2023 at 5:09 PM, Dan C said:

Hi @white flash,

Sorry to hear you're having trouble!

I can confirm that the Affinity apps have no control over files/folders that aren't currently open within the application and therefore have no way of deleting or editing files/folders from your PC that aren't actively in use within Affinity.

 I do note that you mention you've been able to replicate this with your specific workflow, however unfortunately I don't fully understand the steps you are taking.

Can you please provide a screen recording showing the exact steps you are following, including;

• the folders you are creating,
• the files you are editing,
• how you are opening/saving/closing these files within Affinity
• exactly what you are doing when the files/folders disappear

If you're unsure how to take a screen recording, please check out our FAQ linked below - 

Many thanks in advance!

Hello,

unfortunately I´m not allowed to do a screen recording with the data I used because of the personality rights of the customers on the photos; since I would reveal the name of the customer, I really can´t do that. However, I can try to describe the problem again as precise as possible.

First, I open the windows explorer and create a sub-folder in the folder where my photos are. There, I want to store the smaller photos I created in Affinity. Then, I open Affinity and mark the files I want to work on in Affinity in the open windows explorer and drag them over to the open Affinity-App (I didn´t open the files via Affinity!).

Now I work on the photos, save the changes in the original file via Strg+Alt+S. Then I use my 1-step-macro to change the width and height of the document ("Dokumentgröße ändern") into 1200 x 800 pixel, pull my watermark into the photo from the desktop, position it and I save the small version in the folder I created beforehand via "Datei / exportieren". The first time I have to choose the folder, the second time Affinity remembers the path.

I can repeat this ca. 6-10 times, then the path is gone and when I take a look in the windows explorer, the folder I created is gone and can´t be found even in the trashbin.

Saving files in the folder with the original photos works.

What may be important, too: This happened directly after installing the latest version of Affinity. The laptop wasn´t rebooted after the installation.

Greetings, 

G.

 

[Dan C]

Thanks for the further information provided, I certainly understand.

3 hours ago, white flash said:

I can repeat this ca. 6-10 times, then the path is gone and when I take a look in the windows explorer, the folder I created is gone and can´t be found even in the trashbin.

Affinity does not have the ability to delete or remove Folders created in Explorer without manual intervention, it's technically possible for the application to fail to save a singular file that has been opened for editing, but as far as I'm aware, it's simply not possible for the Affinity app to delete an entire folder - as the application does not have the required permissions on your system to do this when editing/saving images.

I would recommend running external checks on your computer if you are finding full Folders are being deleted, as I do not believe this is caused by the Affinity app from the description provided.

I hope this clears things up!

[Komatös]

@white flash

Eine Bildschirmaufnahmen wäre wirklich hilfreich. Du könntest dir von Pexels oder Pixabay ein paar Bilder herunterladen, anstatt die Bilder deines Klienten zu verwenden. Damit könntest Du uns deinen Arbeitsfluss zeigen.

A screen recording would be really helpful. You could download some images from Pexels or Pixabay instead of using your client's images. That way you could show us your workflow.

[walt.farrell]

If you have some kind of anti-malware or anti-ransomware application installed, you might check its logs to see if it has been "cleaning" things for you.

[white flash]

16 hours ago, Dan C said:

Thanks for the further information provided, I certainly understand.

Affinity does not have the ability to delete or remove Folders created in Explorer without manual intervention, it's technically possible for the application to fail to save a singular file that has been opened for editing, but as far as I'm aware, it's simply not possible for the Affinity app to delete an entire folder - as the application does not have the required permissions on your system to do this when editing/saving images.

I would recommend running external checks on your computer if you are finding full Folders are being deleted, as I do not believe this is caused by the Affinity app from the description provided.

I hope this clears things up!

In the meantime, I tried to work on the files again, and I created a new folder. Now it works, I changed and saved ca. 20 photos and the folder did not disappear again. To be sure there is no severe problem with the laptop, I immediately checked the hardware (ssd) last week. There was no problem.  

I suppose the reason for this problem is that I worked with Affinity directly after I installed version 2.2 without rebooting the laptop first. As far as I remember, I worked with Affinity starting itself after the installation. I have installed other apps where it´s necessary to manually turn off the protection from windows against viruses ("Geschützter Ordnerzugriff") to be able to install new versions. This, I did not need to do to install Affinity 2.2. But maybe Windows interfered here and it has something to do with the RAM (?, "Arbeitsspeicher") that it was possible to save several files before; when the "Arbeitsspeicher" was at its limit, the path disappeared and the folder and files were gone.

Greetings,

G.