I am getting this problem where 1 single user out of 10 is printing a pdf using pdf redirect & after the pdf is created. They somehow have ownership of that file & only they can access it. Not even my administrative account can access it.

The only way myself & others can access it, is for me to take ownership of the file & reset permissions for all other users.

I have tried uninstalling & re-installing it. Didnt work.
Tried another pdf writer. It worked, but I dont want to use that writer.

Any ideas?

Another thought: you could use Filemon to monitor the writing of the output of the PDF file. Perhaps something would show up that would explain why the user's PDF files do not seem to have the right priviledges. Filemon is a freeware utility that looks at all read/write activities on a PC or server. It is available at www.sysinternals.com

Michel

I'm in over my head here, but is this issue related to the fact I cannot copy a pdf created by PdfRedirect across my network? I get an "access denied" error. Its a plain old peer network, WinXpHome at both ends, all accounts are administrators. I can copy (drag and drop, or copy/paste) any file from a shared directory on Pc1 to Pc2, except PdfRedirect creations. I can copy any PdfRedirect file from a directory on PC1 to another directory on PC1.

Now I notice that in file explorer on PC2, I cannot even see PdfRedirect files on PC1. They don't show in the directory listing. So I don't seem to have permission or whatever to get PDFRedirect files on another computer on the network.

Bob,

   I finished the test, and I was unable to duplicate the error. I created a PDF on a shared drive, and that PDF was accessible from all the remote computers (a Windows 2000, 98SE and a Windows XP machines). Unfortunately, I do not have any licenses for Win XP Home, although I do not believe that the problem is related.

   Next, I would recommend you check the security settings for your shared directory:

• From the computer that owns the shared directory (PC1?), right-click on the shared directory, and select "Properties"
• Click the "Security" Tab
• Check the permissions of the users that are listed, and make sure that they are appropriate. Administrators and System should have full access.
• Now check the permissions for those accessing the files over the network by clicking the "Sharing" tab, then click the "Permissions" button.
• Check the permissions for the users listed. Is your account that you use on PC2 listed? Does that user have Full Control? Note that even if your PC2 is logged in as an "administrator" on PC2, it DOES NOT give it Administrator priviledges on the remote directory unless you have mapped that shared directory with a name/password which is recognized as an Administrator on PC1. If that is the problem, you can either re-map the drive and give it the proper credentials, or you can increase the rights of "Users" to allow greater control.
• Close the Property window(s).
• Now, let's check the PDF file itself: right-Click the PDF file that is giving you trouble and select "Properties"
• Click the "Security" tab for that PDF, and ensure that Administrators and SYSTEM have full control.

   Give all of the above a try and let me know if that helped any. If not, there is perhaps one or two more things that we could try.

   Regards,

Michel

Hi Bob,

   No prob.

   Did you perform the 4th and 5th bullet? That is, the permissions associated with File Sharing? Also, please check the security properties of the PDF file itself for a hint of what might be wrong. Although you are very clear that the problem seems to be with PDF reDirect (and I agree with you), I am curious nonetheless to ensure that those settings are correct as it may provide a hint to me as to what is going on.

    With respect to your other comment: the application that was used to create the PDF would indeed have no bearing. When you select "Print", the Windows Print Spooler performs the print job, and eventually calls my Port Monitor code which is running as a "SYSTEM" process (ie not associated with the user, but rather with Windows itself). Eventually, my Port Monitor code calls the User Interface portion of PDF reDirect but it does so using the credentials of the currently logged in user. I am guessing that is where the problem occurs.

   I will send you shortly by e-mail an alternate version of the Port Monitor which will log all of the error codes. Please install that, and send back to me the error log. Hopefully that will point me in the right direction as to what might be wrong.

   Cheers!

Michel

Hi D,

   Thank you very much for the update: hopefully, it will help any others who get in the same jam. Glad to hear that it worked (whether or not it was the right way).

   "Gotta love windows." (no comment)

   Cheers!

Michel

Hi Bob,

   Thanks for the post. I'll keep my eye out on why this problem is occuring. I am glad to hear that you found a workaround.

Michel

I have been doing some additional testing, and was able to duplicate the "Access Denied" error by sharing "My Documents" as you described, and trying to access the file from a remote PC. However, if I make a copy of the file, I can read the copy just fine. I am looking for tools that will show me what are the differences between the two files seemingly identical files.

   I'll continue working on this when I have some free time though currently, programming the new version is taking most of my time.