Everything not finding firefox.exe

[aussieboykie]

If I navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox the firefox.exe executable is present but when I search for it with Everything it is not found.

I have tried searching for other items in the same folder (e.g. crashreporter.exe or chrome.manifest) and they are found without a problem. If I make a copy of firefox.exe and save it in another folder, the copy is found. It seems to be just C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe that is problematic. In case it is possibly relevant, it looks like Firefox auto updated 3 days ago to version 56.0 on the system where this happens.

Any ideas, or debugging steps you would like me to try?

[aussieboykie]

More investigation appears to confirm that it is only firefox.exe that is not being found. If I search with Everything for "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\" 128 objects are listed whereas if I use Directory Opus flat view to look at the same folder a total of 129 objects are listed, the only difference being firefox.exe.

[NotNull]

More investigation appears to confirm that it is only firefox.exe that is not being found. If I search with Everything for "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\" 128 objects are listed whereas if I use Directory Opus flat view to look at the same folder a total of 129 objects are listed, the only difference being firefox.exe.

This might have something to do with version 56 of Firefox: from this version on, 32 bit installations (like you have) will be upgraded to 64 bit versions:

Second, Firefox is now 64-bit by default on all operating systems, and existing 32-bit installations will automatically upgrade to 64-bit builds if supported by the underlying hardware.

( https://hacks.mozilla.org/2017/10/firef ... e-quantum/ )

I assume Firefox.exe in the "Progam Files (x86)" folder is now a link to the one in "Progam Files" (the 64-bit programs are installed there).
And Everything doesn't index linked files/folders.

Can't test it though, as I'm running the 64 bit version of Firefox (since a long time).

[aussieboykie]

Interesting idea! It was worth checking but there is no Mozilla Firefox folder in Program Files and the firefox.exe in Program Files (x86) is very definitely an EXE and not a link. This is really weird.

[therube]

Nothing in Tools | Options -> Indexes ==> Exclude?
No filters in effect?

Try a (Tools | Options -> Indexes) Force Rebuild of the index?

[aussieboykie]

Nothing in Tools | Options -> Indexes ==> Exclude?
No filters in effect?

Try a (Tools | Options -> Indexes) Force Rebuild of the index?

There were no filters in effect but your suggestion of forcing an index rebuild did the trick. Thank you.

[aussieboykie]

An update to this old post of mine. The same thing has just happened again.

In case it's relevant, firefox.exe (version 62.0.3.6848) was not found but firefox.exe.sig with the same timestamp as firefox.exe was. Both are located in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox. Forcing an index rebuild fixed the problem.

[void]

Thanks for the bug report.

I would need to see debug logs to find the issue.

If you are able to reproduce this issue, please enable debug logging in Everything:

• In Everything, type in the following search and press ENTER:
  /debug_log
• Upgrade Firefox
• Exit Everything (right click the Everything system tray icon and click Exit)
• Please send your %TEMP%\Everything Debug Log.txt to support@voidtools.com

Have you created a hardlink to your Firefox.exe?

From a command prompt, run:
fsutil.exe hardlink list "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\Firefox.exe"
What is shown in the command prompt?

Everything will only keep one of the hard links up to date.

It is possible the Everything service was stopped, which would cause Everything to miss any changes until you restart your computer.
If the issue persists, please check to see if the Everything service is installed and running:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the General tab.
• Is Everything Service tick-checked, square-checked or unchecked?

[aussieboykie]

Thanks for looking at this.

Firefox is up to date so I can't currently upgrade it. I have set the option to alert me when an update is available and will debug when that happens. Would an alternative be to uninstall and reinstall?

The executable is in Program Files and there is no Mozilla Firefox folder in Program Files (X86). Running fsutil.exe hardlink list "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\Firefox.exe" confirms that there is only a single firefox.exe.

The Everything Service is checked in general options.

[therube]

(To note, FF 63 should be out in a day or so.
[Though I can't really see how it's updating should have any effect on things?])

[NotNull]

@aussieboykie: What version of Everything are you running?

[aussieboykie]

@aussieboykie: What version of Everything are you running?

1.4.1.895 (x64)

[NotNull]

Then you are probably good. There was an issue in an older version of Everything where renamed files could be missed by Everything.

[void]

aussieboykie wrote:

Well, it just happened again after an upgrade to Firefox 63.0 (64-bit). Unfortunately I did not see the upgrade coming so I didn't have debug switched on. Once again, an index rebuild fixed the problem. I'm using Everything 1.4.1.919 (x64).

[aussieboykie]

Another Firefox update came through today. This time I was paying attention and managed to capture a debug log. I followed your instructions and hopefully you will be able to find something useful. The log was sent to support@voidtools.com a few minutes ago.

[void]

Thanks for the debug logs.

2018-11-01 17:01:25.687: USN RENAME_NEW_NAME OBJECT_ID_CHANGE firefox.exe.moz-backup

There is a delayed USN change journal event, which is causing Everything to think the file was renamed, again, when it wasn't..
Very odd (I haven't seen it before) that the event is not closed immediately after the rename. The USN journal continues to log changes with the RENAME_NEW_NAME event.

I've changed Everything 1.4.1.921 to only rename a file once, and ignore further RENAME_NEW_NAME events until the change is closed.