Win7 run problems

[rthwm]

When I try and run exiftool, I get a cmd box that appears and then closes out almost instantly.

Read through the forum posts & the help documentation, but didn't see anything to fix this (I may have just overlooked something).

I have moved exiftools.exe to C drive & created a desktop shortcut. If I drag & drop or double click the shortcut I just get the cmd box that opens then closes instantly. If I run this program with administration rights, It opens and gives me the program documentation (commands to run, help, etc) however, once you scroll through to the end of the documentation the program closes out.

With exiftool.exe in C drive, when I try and run exiftool.exe or just exiftool from the cmd lind, I receive an error saying not recognized as a command. If I specify the directory (C:\exiftool.exe), again it just closes out the cmd box.

(I got this running with minimal problems before on Windows 7 and now I can't get it to work).

[Phil Harvey]

Yes, this is what is supposed to happen when you run "exiftool.exe" directly.  To keep the cmd box from disappearing, you should rename it back to "exiftool(-k).exe".  The "exiftool.exe" name is used when you are running from inside an already-open cmd window.  If you just want to view extracted information, use "exiftool(-k).exe" and drag and drop your file(s) onto the program icon.

See the Running in Windows section of the ExifTool home page and the Windows install instructions for some pointers.

I hope this helps.

- Phil

[rthwm]

I just re-named it back to "exiftool(-k).exe" and still have the same issue. If I drag and drop an image file on top, I get a cmd box that opens and closes instantly. I tried running it by drag and drop directly from the desktop with the same results. Moved it to C drive, created a desktop shortcut, and still the same (cmd box opens then closes instantly).

[rthwm]

Ok I got it working...after renaming the program back to (exiftool(-k).exe), I had to re-enabled "run as administrator" and now it seems to be working.

[Phil Harvey]

Interesting.  I'm glad you figured this out.  I don't know what "run as administrator" does, but exiftool.exe needs to be able to create some temporary files the first time it is run, and perhaps you could have the problem you described if it wasn't able to create these files.

- Phil

[rthwm]

That was the issue (just did a google search on it to verify). As I am running the program from C drive, Windows 7 locks the software so it cant create any files/folders without admin permission. (for anyone else that may run in to this)...after you put exiftool(-k).exe in C drive root, right click the program, go to Compatibility, put a check in "Run this program as administrator". Tell it ok, then create your desktop shortcut. Then you should be able to drag & drop directly to the shortcut you created.