Ebooks can't be opened, inside and outside Calibre Library

[LilaFrabel]

Hi all , 4th time I got this problem (in a very short period) . Calibre suddenly doesn't open any ebook, inside and outside the library, (but it's not just a calibre viewer problem)
The first time was (probably) because I installed the 32 bit version instead of the 64 bit, the error message said a lot of things and mentioned this thing among the others (32 bit Calibre installed in a 64 bit Windows). Second time I don't know what happened, I reinstalled the same 64 bit version and all seemed to be right again. Third time was yesterday, I repaired the Calibre library from the dialog window (the calibre installer), today the problem showed up again, and I didn't do anything particular (neither the other times to be honest)

So, ebooks can't be opened, converted, from what I've seen news can't be downloaded. Like the other times, it appears a long—very long— error message ) ,(a particular line in this message says-
CriticalError: Failed to launch worker process )
Plus: in this error message there is every plugin name I have on Calibre, even the Python version name show up many times.



I got Windows 10 (on Acer laptop), And I don't know what could be the cause of this problem, some week ago my pc was with very short free space, I made some cleaning and now it's ok. It seems like the problems showed up after the Calibre 32 bit version was installed, I don't know if this is what caused such a mess on my Calibre. What could I do now to fix it once for all?

[georgemk]

Could it be your laptops Antivirus Program? Some of them block the calibre helper programs from running.
Which one do you use?

[kovidgoyal]

Failed to launch worker process means something on your computer is interfering with calibre, most likely an antivirus program.

[LilaFrabel]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Failed to launch worker process means something on your computer is interfering with calibre, most likely an antivirus program.

Originally Posted by georgemk

Could it be your laptops Antivirus Program? Some of them block the calibre helper programs from running.
Which one do you use?

That's probably true, I just realized that my antivirus is way more intrusive in these days than ever. It's Avg. Should I delete it ? Could you recommend me a good and not intrusive antivirus?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by beaLollina

That's probably true, I just realized that my antivirus is way more intrusive in these days than ever. It's Avg. Should I delete it ? Could you recommend me a good and not intrusive antivirus?

If you are running Windows, Windows Defender is a pretty decent antivirus. Just avoid having your calibre libraries in your Documents directory (search on Controlled Folder Access as to why that recommendation). Otherwise, you might want to check into the Sophos free version (Home Free, their Intercept-X product is nice but it has been suffering from feature bloat in the last while).

I would avoid Avast like a zombie plague carrier. It seems to generate the most reports of blocking calibre processes and/or reporting calibre as a Unknown Trojan. If nothing else, if something gets blocked, I would like a nice popup letting me know what has happened and why without having to locate a log file, if it exists, and digging through multiple pages of text that seems designed not to be read by the human eye.

[BetterRed]

@Bealollina - I haven't needed any 3rd party active AV software since I upgraded from XP to Windows 7 in 2009 and gave Defender a try.

I don't exclude anything from it. It doesn't have any discernible effect on performance of any applications. On downloads I have had one false positive, and three real malware detections which were quarantined. Apart from those, the only time I get anything from it is when it slips me a note every few days to tell me its scanned my system this-many times and found no malware.

I also do weekly scans with Malwarebytes and Housecall, they never find anything either. Now that I've tempted Fate, when I do the scans this arvo they probably will find something.

BR

[JSWolf]

I ran the free version of AVG until it started to slow down my computer. I then dumped it and ran Windows Defender until Windows 10 which comes with Windows Security.

[theducks]

and befor that, I dumped Norton for the same reason.... Bloat, that any careful net user could avoid most harmful sites/stuff.

The status bar in both the Browser and my Mail client, SHOWS the URL of where the ling REALLY is sending you. Watching that, and just avoiding known dodgy type sites will take care of a prudent user.
When was the last time YOU (that is all you MR viewers), had a real quarantine happen? Been years.
IIRC the last was actually deployed by Norton checking inside a infected ZIP.

[stumped]

i have had quarantines but usually they are over zealous false positives. e.g. for game mods.

most recently the main dll for soundswitch ( a useful freeware uitiltiy) got zapped by various av. they looked to be false positives but i decided I could live without the utility after all.

i have dropped malwarebytes pro as it causes intermittent bad audio latency after a dew hours, so digital music is affected.. M know about it, cant fix it, their " solution" is we should all roll back to earlier version and stop updating. my "solution" is that shoudl stop selling a bugged product or roll it back in the production release for all users. see the bad audio mutlipage thread in their forums .

[georgemk]

Originally Posted by beaLollina

That's probably true, I just realized that my antivirus is way more intrusive in these days than ever. It's Avg. Should I delete it ? Could you recommend me a good and not intrusive antivirus?

Another supporter of the builtin Microsoft Windows Defender anti virus software. Had no issues running it and its predecessor from Windows 7 onwards.

Prior to that I was using AVG but dropped it due to excessive cpu usage.

[JSWolf]

Ever since running Windows Defender and Windows Security, , I've had no false positives. I have with Norton and AVG.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

When was the last time YOU (that is all you MR viewers), had a real quarantine happen? Been years.
IIRC the last was actually deployed by Norton checking inside a infected ZIP.

Couple of months ago, a state government site I have been going to for years got hacked and the weekly model I look at was infectious, the one before that was a few years ago when a trojan turned up in CCleaner very soon after it was acquired by Avast.

Fate must be on vacation, my MWB and Housecall scans were clean

BR

[LilaFrabel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

If you are running Windows, Windows Defender is a pretty decent antivirus. Just avoid having your calibre libraries in your Documents directory (search on Controlled Folder Access as to why that recommendation). Otherwise, you might want to check into the Sophos free version (Home Free, their Intercept-X product is nice but it has been suffering from feature bloat in the last while).

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@Bealollina - I haven't needed any 3rd party active AV software since I upgraded from XP to Windows 7 in 2009 and gave Defender a try.

I don't exclude anything from it. It doesn't have any discernible effect on performance of any applications. On downloads I have had one false positive, and three real malware detections which were quarantined. Apart from those, the only time I get anything from it is when it slips me a note every few days to tell me its scanned my system this-many times and found no malware.
BR

Originally Posted by georgemk

Another supporter of the builtin Microsoft Windows Defender anti virus software. Had no issues running it and its predecessor from Windows 7 onwards.

Prior to that I was using AVG but dropped it due to excessive cpu usage.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I ran the free version of AVG until it started to slow down my computer. I then dumped it and ran Windows Defender until Windows 10 which comes with Windows Security.

Originally Posted by theducks

and befor that, I dumped Norton for the same reason.... Bloat, that any careful net user could avoid most harmful sites/stuff.

So, I uninstalled Avg (and I realized it heated and slowed my Pc a lot) restarted Windows 10–more than 1 time– the problem is still there though, ebooks can't be opened . I even uninstalled some unnecessary browser, even if I don't know how this could be related to the ebook issue.

I gave a look to this Windows Defender and it's been there the whole time, silent and –apparently– full working.
Calibre main Library is –was– on Dropbox on a subfolder in Document directory – just moved it– but it has been there since the very first beginning (very long time ago) so I would not consider it the main cause . Folder moved (still on Dropbox), Library moved, situation not changed.


I went to Settings in Windows Defender and it seems like that Controlled Folder Access is not activated, but I have also CCleaner and when my Pc was quite out of space I used it several times, maybe it's not related to the issue but it has some Antivirus (and similar) functions too I guess. Should I exclude some app or folder from its "checkings" and protection activities?


I activated the automated adding from a folder directly on Calibre library, from Calibre ebook adding settings, some weeks ago, now I think that perhaps this could be what the antivirus (and similar apps, such Defender and CCcleaner in my case) may have seen like a "suspect" activity.. At least the timing seems quite corresponding. I disabled it, just in case, but nothing happened.

I'm tempted to repair the library from the installer, again. But it's not a long term solution apparently.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by beaLollina

Calibre main Library is –was– on Dropbox on a subfolder in Document directory – just moved it– but it has been there since the very first beginning (very long time ago) so I would not consider it the main cause . Folder moved (still on Dropbox), Library moved, situation not changed.

I would strongly suggest moving your library from Dropbox back to your local storage. A quick search will find multiple threads about issues with calibre and cloud storage.

Check the calibre FAQ entry: I am getting errors with my calibre library on a networked drive/NAS?. And yes, a very common item in the complaints about corrupted libraries/files is "I've been doing this for years and never had any problems.".

[LilaFrabel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I would strongly suggest moving your library from Dropbox back to your local storage. A quick search will find multiple threads about issues with calibre and cloud storage.

Check the calibre FAQ entry: I am getting errors with my calibre library on a networked drive/NAS?. And yes, a very common item in the complaints about corrupted libraries/files is "I've been doing this for years and never had any problems.".

Oh that's quite interesting, I didn't know. I made many searches— but not in recent days actually, years and years ago, when I first installed Calibre— and the collaboration between Dropbox and Calibre was strongly suggested, in the last years it has been very practical to reach files even when Pc was turned off.

But for now my priority is to restore the library the way it was, I 've put the library on local... Same problem, again