Ofp deleting everything on harddisk!

[Uziyahu--IDF 0]

Minor correction:  The function is deleting your files, not formatting the hard drive (yes, big diff)

Correct. The longer you wait before halting OFP, the more files will be gone. It's only deleting files from the partition OFP is installed on, and it leaves custom-addons on the harddisk, much like the OFP uninstall.

No, it does NOT leave custom addons on the hard drive.  All of the addons I had collected were wiped out.  I lost everything but a few OFP "factory" files that must have been in use by OFP when I was playing it.

[Guest]

I'm not sure of this, but if I'm not mistaken you can in Win2k and WinXP give permissions to a program what parts of the file system it has access to and what permissions it has.

I.e you can set OFP's permission to read only everywhere apart from the OFP dir.

Another alternative (again, not 100% sure) is that I think you can set execution ownership to a program so that the program is executed by a user account with different permissions than your default account. You could create a OFP user account that has only access to the OFP directory.

IIRC these both features exist in Win2k and WinXP. Any Windows guru that can confirm this?

[Taku 0]

I'm not sure of this, but if I'm not mistaken you can in Win2k and WinXP give permissions to a program what parts of the file system it has access to and what permissions it has.

I.e you can set OFP's permission to read only everywhere apart from the OFP dir.

Another alternative (again, not 100% sure) is that I think you can set execution ownership to a program so that the program is executed by a user account with different permissions than your default account. You could create a OFP user account that has only access to the OFP directory.

IIRC these both features exist in Win2k and WinXP. Any Windows guru that can confirm this?

I don't see anything in my game manual about restricting OFP's permissions to certain files. How are you going to tell ev'rybody who has bought OFP that they have to play around with their file systems?

I just doubt is releasing a patch which fixes a problem that OFP is erasing all your files now and then a good idea from game's publisher point of view.

[Matthijs 40]

I'm not sure of this, but if I'm not mistaken you can in Win2k and WinXP give permissions to a program what parts of the file system it has access to and what permissions it has.

I.e you can set OFP's permission to read only everywhere apart from the OFP dir.

Another alternative (again, not 100% sure) is that I think you can set execution ownership to a program so that the program is executed by a user account with different permissions than your default account. You could create a OFP user account that has only access to the OFP directory.

IIRC these both features exist in Win2k and WinXP. Any Windows guru that can confirm this?

Hoi Denoir,

Long time no see.

I tried that, but I coudn't get OFP to run under a normal user-account. (although I didn't try logging in as a normal user myself, then running OFP, only "run as different user")

Off topic: yesterday at the firing range, I had a close look at the Aimpoint Comp-C again. It really IS parallax free, meaning that you don't have to see the dot centered in the sight, for the for you to hit the spot it is on.

Why can't anyone believe that?

[Matthijs 40]

Minor correction:  The function is deleting your files, not formatting the hard drive (yes, big diff)

Correct. The longer you wait before halting OFP, the more files will be gone. It's only deleting files from the partition OFP is installed on, and it leaves custom-addons on the harddisk, much like the OFP uninstall.

No, it does NOT leave custom addons on the hard drive.  All of the addons I had collected were wiped out.  I lost everything but a few OFP "factory" files that must have been in use by OFP when I was playing it.

Hm... ok. Maybe I just should have waited a little longer.

Hey, don't get upset you all. I lost a whole lot of data too, but nobody died, right?

Just don't install the game on a fileshare at work.

[bn880 5]

I'm not sure of this, but if I'm not mistaken you can in Win2k and WinXP give permissions to a program what parts of the file system it has access to and what permissions it has.

I.e you can set OFP's permission to read only everywhere apart from the OFP dir.

Another alternative (again, not 100% sure) is that I think you can set execution ownership to a program so that the program is executed by a user account with different permissions than your default account. You could create a OFP user account that has only access to the OFP directory.

I think you are right about that. It is not so easy to set up for some as you need to open up some access to the registry and temp folders to start up OFP. (all about copy protection)

Anyway, if the problem is resolved I figure the right thing to do is take a small hit and release a small patch. Preferrably with only that fix... not to detract from OFP2 development too much? Or maybe this is a good opportunity to let Resistance users beta test some more features.

[Matthijs 40]

I'm not sure of this, but if I'm not mistaken you can in Win2k and WinXP give permissions to a program what parts of the file system it has access to and what permissions it has.

I.e you can set OFP's permission to read only everywhere apart from the OFP dir.

Another alternative (again, not 100% sure) is that I think you can set execution ownership to a program so that the program is executed by a user account with different permissions than your default account. You could create a OFP user account that has only access to the OFP directory.

I think you are right about that.  It is not so easy to set up for some as you need to open up some access to the registry and temp folders to start up OFP. (all about copy protection)

Anyway, if the problem is resolved I figure the right thing to do is take a small hit and release a small patch.  Preferrably with only that fix... not to detract from OFP2 development too much?  Or maybe this is a good opportunity to let Resistance users beta test some more features.  

Maybe release the OFP2 work in progress to the poor souls that lost their precious data because of this.

ME !!! ME !!! ME !!!

[Jerry_The_Sniper 0]

read Here.

I had to post warning here, I am sorry.

[toadlife 3]

I'm not sure of this, but if I'm not mistaken you can in Win2k and WinXP give permissions to a program what parts of the file system it has access to and what permissions it has.

I.e you can set OFP's permission to read only everywhere apart from the OFP dir.

Another alternative (again, not 100% sure) is that I think you can set execution ownership to a program so that the program is executed by a user account with different permissions than your default account. You could create a OFP user account that has only access to the OFP directory.

IIRC these both features exist in Win2k and WinXP. Any Windows guru that can confirm this?

I'm pretty sure you can only set permissions on Win2k Pro and WinXP Pro. With WinXP Home edition, editing file permissions is disabled.

If you are running Win2K pro or WinXP pro and NEED to play in Directplay mode, here is a crash course on how to protect your OS from OFP.

Requirements:

* Windows 2000 or Windows XP Pro (Not XP Home Edition)

* The drive OFP is installed on must have the NTFS file system, and not FAT. To find out which you have, right click on the drive ofp is on and click properties. It should dispaly the file system.

* In Windows XP Pro, editing file permissions is disabled by default (And I can't remeber exactly how to turn it on off hand) Some please post how to enable permission editing in Windows XP Pro!

You must be logged on as an administrator to do this. Do not do this on a computer that you don't own (Like a computer at work) - get permission from the computer's owner first!

** Standard Disclamer Below **

If follow these directions nothing should go wrong, but I cannot gaurantee your PC won't blow up as a result of this - BE WARNED - WINDOWS CAN BE UNPREDICTABLE! These directions SHOULD work - I've tried to think of everything, but there might be bugs. Please let me know if something doesn't work!

1) Open "My Computer"

2) Right Click on the Drive you have OFP installed on. (Example: C:) and click "properties"

3) Click on the Security

4) In the Box the says "name" click on ALL of the names and click the remove button

5) Click the "Add" Button

6) In the box type "administrators;system;power users;everyone"

7) Click "OK"

8) Those groups you just typed in will now appear in the list you just emptied

9) Highlight "Administrators"

10) Below, click on the box that says "Full Control"

11) Highlight "SYSTEM"

12) Below, click on the box that says "Full Control"

13) Highlight "Power Users"

14) Below, click on the box that says "Modify"

15) Highlight "Everyone" (It should have "Read & Execute", "List Folder Contents", and "Read" checked)

16) No changes are required for the "Everyone" group (DO NOT CHECK ANYTHING ELSE)

17) If the drive you have OFP is the same drive Windows is installed on (C Drive), then go on...if not skip to step 25

18) Open up the drive OFP is installed on

19) Highlight the folder "Program Files" and right click

20) Select "Properties" from the menu

21) Click on "Security"

22) Highlight ever name in the list and click "Remove"

23) When the list is empty, check the box near the bottom that says "Allow inheritable permissions to propogate to this object"

24) Click "Apply" - after anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, names will appear in the list again. These are thge same permissions you applied to the root of the drive - they are being "inherited".

25)

26) Right Click on "My Computer"

27) Select "Manage" from the menu

28) Expand "Local Users and Groups"

29) Right Click on "Users" and select "New user"

30) Name the user "ofp" and make the password whatever you want.

31) Un-Check the box "User must change password at next logon", and Check the boxes "User Cannot change password" and "Password Never Expires"

32) Click on "Create" then click "Close"

33) Right click on your new user "ofp" and click "properites"

34) Click the tab that says "member of"

35) Highlight "Users" and click "remove"

36) Click "add" and type "guests"

37) Click "Ok" and then Click "ok" once more to close the user out

38) Close computer management

39) Browse to the directory where OFP is installed (C:\Program Files\Codemasters)

40) Right click on the folder where all of the game files reside ("Operation Flashpoint"), and select "properties"

41) Click on "Security" and highlight "Everyone" in the list

42) Check the box that says "Write"

43) Click "Add"

44) Type "creator owner" and click "Ok"

45) Open up your OFP directory and delete the file "Flashpoint.rpt" (C:\Program Files\Codemasters\Operation Flashpoint\Flashpoint.rpt) if it exists (if it doesn't exist don't worry about it)

The file permission part is done. Now all you have to do is launch OFP as the new user (ofp) you created. There are a few ways to do this.

Method #1 (Player)

* Highlight your shortcut to OFP.

* Hold the shift key down while right-clicking on the short cut

* Click on "Run As" from the menu

* A dialog will appear asking for a username and password

* Type in the username and password of the user (ofp) you created.

* Click "OK" and the game will launch

Method #2 (Player)

* Right-Click on your OFP shortcut and click "propeties"

* Check the box that says "Run as Different User" and click "ok"

* When you launch the shotcut it will prompt you for a username and password automatically

Method #3 (Dedicated Server)

This is assuming you are running your dedicated server as a "Service" - if you are not, check this site out: http://www.firedaemon.com

* Right Click on "My Computer" and click "Manage"

* Expand "Services and Applications" and click on "Services"

* Find your OFP service and double click on it

* CLick on the "Log on as" tab

* Check the bubble that says "Log on as" and type in the username and password of the account (ofp) you created

* Click on "OK"

* You will get a dialoge explaining that the user has been granted the "log on as service" right", and iuf the server is allready started, you may get a warning that says you need to restart the service. This is normal.

Your OFP should now be able to run properly without being able to delete ANYTHING from your harddrive it shouldn't.

[subfaction 0]

this nasty bug has happen to me twice on two separate pcs, on both i tried to run a internet game using direct play, running zonealarm, and norton antivrus in the background. Glad to know its being recognised.

[Pukko 0]

DAMN  

I just fired OFP up 3 hours ago to edit a MP mission for a upcoming MP session. I had not run OFP in MP mode since I last reapplied my Win2k-ghostfile (kind of like a reinstallation), and therefore my firewall asked if OFP should be able to connect to Internet, and also act as a server. At this stage earlier OFP versions almost freezed the OS completely. But now the the firewall alerts popped up without a problem, and I clicked yes on both (allow connect and server). As the OFP server started up, I understood that something was wrong since it took a long time. I tried to ALT-TAB to see if there was any more firewall alerts. At this time the harddrive worked hard, and soon I was back in the OFP main-MP-screen. I then clicked cancel, and quitted OFP normally... When OFP had shut down I found 2 firewall alerts regarding directplay-server. After allowing them too to connect and act as server I tried to relaunch OFP, only to find out that the entire partition, except for six folders (including the used addons & mods folders) and 3 files in the OFP folder root, had been deleted.

I do think that I have started MP servers in 1.75+ with firewall alerts before, without this problem. Maybe I had allowed directplay to use Internet earlier though, in those cases...

I lost about 5 GB of data, only games as this is one of my totally 13 partitions dedicated to games. I really recommend everyone to make many partitions, as this is not the only kind of dataloss problems that can be limited if the HDD is partitioned.

I have not touched the partition since the dataloss, since I know that it is possible to recover the data, at least if it remains untouched after the dataloss. Now I am gonna give it a break, but I would like to ask a question that I would be very happy if someone could reply to soon:

Do any of you know of any data recorvery software?

And If you happen to know any 'failsafe', perfect, recovery program (of deleted files on NTFS under win2k) - please tell me. Freeware or not does not matter.

Thanks

Quote[/b] ]I just doubt is releasing a patch which fixes a problem that OFP is erasing all your files now and then a good idea from game's publisher point of view.

Quote[/b] ]Anyway, if the problem is resolved I figure the right thing to do is take a small hit and release a small patch.  Preferrably with only that fix... not to detract from OFP2 development too much?

It would probably be best if a patch could be released fixing some other problems too, not only this very embarrasing bug. Could give quite a bad reputation..

But please post a warning in the Flashnews forum until further, so that most people will notice it. As it is now I can just feel sorry for not checking the Troubleshooting FAQ regulary - but why should I when there was no problem?

v

[Pukko 0]

Ok, I've been checking around, trying out some recovery software on other partitions. I knew there would not be any problem to find any recovery program; there are probably 10 000 around...

I have still not touched the patrition that got mostly deleted, and have removed its driveletter so that Windows don't do anything with it by itself. I have no emidiate hurry to recover the lost data (since it was only 1 partition of 13, and only countaing games).

But I would still be very happy if someone could give me advice on any good recovery program...

The most important issue that I'm thinking about is: Most programs seems to only recognize a limited number of fileformats (for example 255); do anyone know of a program that can find all fileformats, and just remove the '?' in front of the deleted files? Preferably also with a time/date feature so that I can roceover just those files that got deleted at the time of the OFP bug.

Big thanks in advance  

[toadlife 3]

I havn't seen a freeware program that unedeletes NTFS files in a long time. I don't think there are any.

[Pukko 0]

I havn't seen a freeware program that unedeletes NTFS files in a long time. I don't think there are any.

Do you know of any good 'payware' then?

[toadlife 3]

http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=undelete+OR+recover&tg=dl-2001&search=+Go%21+

[Placebo 28]

http://www.runtime.org

Quote[/b] ]Runtime Software offers data recovery software and data recovery service for all Windows file systems as well as all kinds of disk and forensic utilities.

Recover your data after formatting the drive, after fdisk, power failure, virus attack, software failure, or after accidentally deleting files.

Our powerful data recovery tools are easy to use, while giving you full control over your data recovery.

[Pukko 0]

Thanks for the tips

I eventually used a program that managed to get back 16331 files in 1184 folders, sizing 5.32 GB in about 15 minutes - the time it took to copy everything to another partition! There was some problems though. The 'worlds' folder of OFP was to be found in another 500MB collection called 'lostfiles'; which seems to primary contain files deleted before the bug occured.

The strangest thing was that the custom campaign folder "\Campaigns\PMC_Fury.abel\Missions\_19_road_block.Eden" contained 3722 files sizing 94,8 MB when restored. In a backup I took some weeks before it was only containing 5 files sizing 34,8KB, and I had not touched it inbetween (last time I played the campaign was a year ago). So I recon those files must have got there in the delete process somehow. Here is the logfile from that  recovery (a separate recovery, due to files with the same name), does someone know what files this is? :

http://w1.315.telia.com/~u31505828/Hos/report.txt

Also, if someone else becomes exposed to this particular OFP bug, just send me a PM, and I'll try to help you recover the files...

btw, after copying the files back, fixing the 'worlds' folder, and running Flashpointpreferences again, OFP fired up as wonderful as ever! No files seems to be missing  

[Placebo 28]

Great to hear

[SchutzStaffel 1]

Will this happen if your hosting behind a firewall, and you host using Sockets?

[theavonlady 2]

Will this happen if your hosting behind a firewall, and you host using Sockets?

No. This can only happen if you host a DirectPlay server.

[SchutzStaffel 1]

thx avon *huggles*

[Taku 0]

June 12 2003 Maruk wrote:

Quote[/b] ]There's a serious problem in Operation Flashpoint 1.75 and above (including versions 1.90/1.91) that may cause loss of all files on the partition where the game resides under some circumstances:

1) TCP/IP protocol is not fully supported or it's not working properly (e.g. it's disabled in Windows Network settings or there's a firewall disabling it)

2) the user creates a new server in DirectPlay mode (the problem can never happen using "Sockets" implementation of the network protocol)

We recommend to not create any network games under DirectPlay to avoid the risk of loss of all data on your hard drive partition.

This bug have been possible since OFP Resistance (v 1.75) and this was verified from BIS 12th of June 2003.

Are we going to get any kind of fix to this bug?

[Taku 0]

*bump*

[joltan 0]

Ok, it got me last night - I had been playing on Kyllikki (running DPlay) and afterwards went to edit some maps. I even played on a Sockets server inbetween, when a friend of mine hosted a small game. But somehow the server was still set to DPlay when I started the local host to test the mission and when the firewall blocked dplay from accessing the net as a server the partition went *BOOM*.

Luckily I have OFP on a seperate partition so my system was not reuced to rubbles by this. Still I lost a lot of valuable data (and time). While I was able to rescue some stuff, many things were gone forever. Even the best recovery tools can only get so much from a NTFS partition when there's several programms accessing the partition at the same time.

I'm aware that CM seems to have told BIS not to release any further patches, but this is serious! This is not about "oh, that bmp should be a bit bigger" or "I want more units", but this is a serious threat to the users system. A fix shouldn't be too hard or expensive to implement, so give us a patch that resolves this problem. No need to address other minor issues in that patch, just this dangerous bug.

[theavonlady 2]

I'm aware that CM seems to have told BIS not to release any further patches, but this is serious!

I agree that BIS should patch this.

However, I'm curious. You knew about the bug, didn't you? So why did you do it?