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SOLVED: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

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Anirames
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Joined: March 5th, 2018, 3:38 pm

SOLVED: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by Anirames »

Hi, I have used Rainmeter many years ago, and only now have started to use it again. However, I keep getting this error when I launch the program:

"Rainmeter.ini is not writable. Settings will not be saved. Make sure that the file is not set as read-only and that the folder is writable."

I have checked the folder that the file is claimed to be in, however there is nothing in this folder except a folder for the "Layouts". It's as if the file is never created in the first place. Any help with this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

(P.S. I have Bitdefender Total Security installed at first, blocked the files in AppData, however these files were then restored.)
Last edited by Anirames on March 5th, 2018, 7:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jsmorley
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Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by jsmorley »

Assuming you are installing Rainmeter as "normal" and not "portable", then the folders it will use are:

C:\Program Files\Rainmeter (Program)
C:\Users\YourName\Documents\Rainmeter (Skins)
C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter (Settings)

You need to ensure that applications have write access to all those folders, and that your antivirus or other security settings are not blocking them.

That's about the only advice I can give. You can try running Rainmeter "As administrator" to see if that helps.
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eclectic-tech
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Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by eclectic-tech »

...(P.S. I have Bitdefender Total Security installed at first, blocked the files in AppData, however these files were then restored.)
I would bet that Bitdefender is the "problem".

It may give you comfort to have it installed, but it is going to lock down your PC so tightly, that making any type of customization is going to be a constant fight with Bitdefender, over who controls the system. :uhuh:
Anirames
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Joined: March 5th, 2018, 3:38 pm

Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by Anirames »

Thanks for the response.

I have uninstalled Rainmeter and reinstalled it, with my bitdefender completely disabled. However, this did not help. Not even with Administrator enabled. I have checked all of the file areas and made sure that they were not read-only. Weird thing is I had it working at one point, just after restoring the blocked files, but after that, they deleted themselves and now they don't even install. Is there a way of debugging the installation of Rainmeter to check if anything was blocked?

Thanks.
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balala
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Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by balala »

Anirames wrote:they deleted themselves and now they don't even install. Is there a way of debugging the installation of Rainmeter to check if anything was blocked?
So if I understood well, nothing is created in any of the folders posted by jsmorley above? Am I correct? And at least the folders exist?
Anirames
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Joined: March 5th, 2018, 3:38 pm

Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by Anirames »

Have a look yourself.
b3c4681d9f2d83903c32f025fac40f38.png
3159b4e8413fe64bc0158183aa08a663.png
5cecd75508b4edcb9548d30cbef9d96d.png
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balala
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Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by balala »

Anirames wrote:Have a look yourself.
The first two folders seem ok, but the last one isn't at all.
Try to create manually a file called Rainmeter.ini in the c:\Users\YOUR-NAME\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter\ folder. Just to see if it can be created.
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eclectic-tech
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Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by eclectic-tech »

You said you disabled Bitdefender, but did you disable ALL Modules, remove your device from your on-line profile, etc.

Here are the disable instructions from Bitdefender support: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/3347/

It takes quite a few steps :jawdrop ... and from my experience, I wouldn't guarantee that this will allow you to make changes to your system or install Rainmeter without issues.

As long as Bitdefender is installed, I think you will have problems.

You could completely uninstall Bitdefender, install Rainmeter, see if it works, then reinstall Bitdefender from your on-line account...

Or contact Bitdefender support and ask them what you need to do to install a program that writes to %Appdata%

I wish you good luck! :17flag
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jsmorley
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Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by jsmorley »

Just as an FYI, only the files in C:\Program Files\Rainmeter are created by the installer. The files in Documents and AppData are created and populated by the application itself the first time it is run after the installation.
Anirames
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Joined: March 5th, 2018, 3:38 pm

Re: Rainmeter.ini is not writable.

Post by Anirames »

Okay, so I uninstalled Bitdefender completely, installed Rainmeter, reinstalled Bitdefender and now it all works. Yeah Bitdefender was the main culprit. Thanks for the response.
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