Having an issue with Google Drive where the sync doesn’t seem to take place right away. Any thoughts on what would cause this? I really need the sync to happen like it would normally when a file hits the folder it syncs.
Now problems like this can be difficult to troubleshoot when the application is running invisibly in the background (in Session 0). We advised Jeremy to restart Google Drive in the current session — to show Drive’s tray icon and windows on his desktop.
But Drive still refused to sync. It threw up a curious error:
After some detective work, Jeremy found the problem. A recent automatic software update had broken the Drive desktop client!
Beta Version of Google Drive Released By Mistake
Here is what the king of search reported on its status dashboard at 2:41 PM Eastern:
We’re aware of a problem with Google Drive affecting a significant subset of users. The affected users are able to access Google Drive, but are seeing error messages and/or other unexpected behavior. We will provide an update by 3/16/17, 3:41 PM detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change.
Some users of the Google Drive Sync client will be receiving the error message “Sorry, Backup and Sync needs to quit.”
We have identified the root cause of the issue and are implementing a potential fix now.
So it seems and a buggy version of the Drive desktop client (soon to be renamed “Backup and Sync”?) was inadvertently pushed out to thousands of computers. Ouch!
Thankfully the disruption only lasted until 7:22 PM EDT. Again, from the status page:
The problem with Google Drive should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support.
The Windows client will automatically update with this fixed version within the next 10 hours. Alternatively, affected users can download the updated version of the client from https://www.google.com/drive/download/. Affected Windows 10 users may be required to sign in to their Google account within the client.
A Cautionary Tale If You Need Google Drive To Stay Up 24/7!
Unfortunately this isn’t the first time that automatic updates have caused trouble for our customers using Google Drive. This article describes similar adventures that occurred in June of 2013.
But this most recent episode reminds us of the perils accompanying automatic updates. Despite the best of intentions, the same powerful system that distributes important security fixes and improvements will happily deliver corrosive bugs and destabilize your previously working software. For this reason, automatic software updates should be viewed with skepticism in professional environments where downtime is costly. Indeed, we recommend disabling updates for your mission-critical programs and scheduling manual upgrades during a safe maintenance window.
Sadly Google Drive doesn’t offer an easy way to avoid auto updates. Disabling a few scheduled tasks should stop the madness but we’ll do some digging and let you know if we come across a less intrusive method.
When you use AlwaysUp to launch your mission-critical application as a Windows Service, your program will likely run invisibly in the background (on the isolated Session 0). No windows or familiar tray icon will appear on your desktop — which can make it tricky to confirm that your application is truly running!
Fortunately the Windows Task Manager, which lists every application running on your computer, can come to the rescue. Follow these steps to find your application in Task Manager.
Find your Application’s PID in AlwaysUp
Each application that is running on your computer is backed by a “process”. And each process has a numeric identifier — a process ID, or PID for short.
To find the PID of the application that AlwaysUp has started, simply click the green “Running” circle to summon a helpful tooltip with the PID (and several other relevant tidbits):
Make note of the PID. It is 4728 in the screenshot above, which shows an installation running Dropbox as a service on Windows 10.
Find that PID in Task Manager
Next, let’s locate the process in Task Manager.
Please:
Start Task Manager by right-clicking on the Windows task bar and selecting Task Manager from the context menu:
If you see More details in the lower left of the window that comes up, click that text to reveal additional tabs:
Switch to the Details tab:
Note: We’re running on Windows 10, which lists all processes by default. If you are running on an older version — like Windows 7 or Server 2008 — you may have to click the Show processes from all users button (or checkbox) in the lower left to ensure that you see everything running on your PC:
Click on the PID column to sort. Then simply scroll to find your identifier from step one.
Here we’ve located our PID 4728, the instance of Dropbox started by AlwaysUp:
Posted onFebruary 10, 2017 (Revised March 27, 2022)
MetaTrader 4 (affectionately called MT4) is a very popular Forex trading platform. Several of our customers run the MT4 client as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp, ensuring that their trading platform operates continuously during trading hours.
Automatic Updates can cause Trouble!
MetaTrader will automatically update itself on your PC whenever the folks at MetaQuotes Software produce a new and improved version. This is a great feature when you start and run MT4 normally on your desktop, but the situation is a bit more complicated when MT4 is launched unattended in the background by software like AlwaysUp.
What happens if there is a problem updating and MT4 becomes corrupted?
Or suppose the update happens at an inconvenient time and causes you to miss an important trade?
Or maybe you’ve heard some horror stories about the new version and you want to stick with what you already have!
For these and other reasons, uncontrolled updates should be viewed with suspicion in your 24×7 environment. As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Disable Auto-Updates when Starting MT4 from AlwaysUp
Fortunately there is an easy way to prevent MetaTrader from automatically updating itself. Simply invoke it with the “/skipupdate” command line parameter.
To achieve that in AlwaysUp:
Open your MT4 application settings in AlwaysUp (by double-clicking on the entry or selecting Application > Edit from the menu).
On the General tab, in the Arguments field, enter /skipupdate:
Save your settings.
That’s it. Next time AlwaysUp starts MT4, it will no longer attempt an update.
Now don’t forget to update MT4 manually every now and then — but at an appropriate time when the markets are closed.
Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 (Revised February 4, 2023)
Starting Microsoft OneDrive as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp is a great way to ensure that your important files are always up to date! The combination works well, but if you run into trouble, here are a few troubleshooting tips to help you get going:
1. Is the Latest Version of the OneDrive Sync Client Installed?
OneDrive usually updates itself automatically but we have seen situations where that didn’t happen. The software had to be manually updated.
To find the version of OneDrive installed on your system:
Stop OneDrive in AlwaysUp if it is running there.
Start OneDrive normally on your desktop by running this command:
OneDrive’s familiar “cloud” icon should appear in the task tray.
Right-click on the icon and select Settings from the menu:
Switch over to the About tab to reveal the version number:
With your version number in hand, please check the sync client release notes to see if you are running the most current build. If not, please download and install Microsoft’s latest version from here. (Be sure to reboot after installing to be safe!)
2. Is Windows is Up To Date?
OneDrive is deeply integrated with the operating system. Occasionally bugs in Windows can cause problems for OneDrive, resulting in some of the most spectacularly unhelpful error messages we have ever encountered:
If you are unlucky enough to encounter one of these “gems”, please ensure that all recommended updates have been applied to Windows. Updating eliminated the errors for at least two of our customers.
3. Does OneDrive Work Properly Without AlwaysUp?
At this point, let’s take AlwaysUp out of the equation. Are the files on your PC being synchronized with your cloud drive?
We suggest performing the following test:
Stop OneDrive in AlwaysUp, if necessary.
Start OneDrive normally on your desktop by running this command:
After a few seconds, you should see the new file listed:
If you don’t see your new file, then something is wrong. You will not be able to run OneDrive as a Windows Service until you resolve the problem(s). Please consult this Microsoft support article which will help you to tackle the most common file synchronization issues.
Now that all the previous steps have been completed, please double check that your OneDrive Windows Service has been configured as described in our step-by-step tutorial. In particular:
Step 6: Make sure that you have entered the correct username on the Logon tab. This should be the account where you have installed OneDrive; where you have logged in and run it successfully before. Using a brand new service account will not work because OneDrive has not been set up there.
Step 8: Check both of the Stop copies… boxes on the Startup tab. This is necessary to empower AlwaysUp to start OneDrive as a Windows Service if another copy is running on the PC (perhaps launched by another user).
4. OneDrive still Not Working with AlwaysUp?
And if after all that, your OneDrive Windows Service is not cooperating, please get in touch.
The wonderful world of Windows Services is filled with many obstacles! However, after a decade of experience, we have a few tricks up our sleeve to get you up and running ASAP. 🙂
Posted onJanuary 9, 2017 (Revised February 21, 2022)
Here are four ways to determine when your windows service last started.
Solution #1: Search the Windows Event Logs with PowerShell
The Windows Event Logs hold a wealth of information about your computer’s activities. Indeed, a new record is added to the System event log whenever a windows service starts or stops.
The easiest way to find your service’s most recent start time is to use a specially crafted PowerShell command to search the System event log. For example, the following line will return the last time the “Print Spooler” service was started:
Be sure to replace "Print Spooler" with the display name of the service you are investigating!
Solution #2: Search the Windows Event Logs using the Event Viewer
Instead of running a PowerShell command, you can also search the Event Log manually.
To find the event log record showing when your service was last started:
Open the Event Viewer from the Control Panel (search for it by name).
In the left-hand column, navigate to Windows Logs > System:
Click Find… on the right to bring up the Find window. Enter the name of the service and click the Find Next button to highlight the first matching record in the middle panel. We have entered Spooler, for the Windows Spooler service:
If necessary, keep clicking the Find Next button until a record saying that your service has “entered the running state” comes up. The Source should be Service Control Manager, and the time your service started will be displayed in the Logged value. The screenshot show that the Print Spooler service last started at 8:04:55 AM on January 7th 2017:
Solution #3: Figure out when the Service’s Process was Started
Each running windows service is backed by an underlying process. 99.9% of the time, that process was launched immediately when the service started. So finding the process start time will give us the service start time.
To find out when the service’s process was started:
Determine the process identifier (PID) of the service’s process using the SC command. For a service named MyService, run:
sc queryex MyService
(Be sure to enclose the service name in quotes if it contains spaces.)
Here is the result for the Spooler service:
Make a note of the number on the PID line (1276 in the screenshot above).
where <PID> is the process identifier from step 1. The start time will come back in the result. Here is what we got for the spooler’s process (#1276):
Solution #4: Use the System Boot/Up Time (for Automatic Windows Services)
Most Windows Services start when your computer boots and run continuously, 24×7 in the background. For those services, the system boot time is a reasonable approximate.
You can run the built-in systeminfo command to discover when the system last started. Amongst the valuable information systeminfo returns, look for the “System Boot Time” line:
However, if you’re ever in a situation where you can’t remember the command to use, know that the Task Manager’s Performance tab shows how long the computer has been up (“Up time”). The system boot time is a simple calculation away.
So there are four easy ways to find out when your windows service started. Use whichever one best fits your situation. Good luck with your troubleshooting/investigation!
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Having an issue with Google Drive where the sync doesn’t seem to take place right away. Any thoughts on what would cause this? I really need the sync to happen like it would normally when a file hits the folder it syncs.
We’re aware of a problem with Google Drive affecting a significant subset of users. The affected users are able to access Google Drive, but are seeing error messages and/or other unexpected behavior. We will provide an update by 3/16/17, 3:41 PM detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change.
