The error reads in full "Runtime Error 75 - path/file access error" and the symptoms of the error are generally exactly what it says it is--our software for some reason cannot access its own files. Usually this error occurs when our software attempts to write some temporary file that it requires for operation, this fails and then this error is raised. This error can occur on any version of Microsoft Windows™.

Now, we've described this as an 'error' and will continue to describe this as a 'problem.' And, indeed it is a 'problem' in the sense that it's preventing you from running the software the way both of us would like you to be able to. However, please also recognize that in some sense, the system is actually working exactly as it's supposed to. The 'problem' does not indicate anything necessarily wrong with our system, but simply that your computer has been configured for whatever reason to have this security restriction, and our software is correctly adhering to this restriction, hence the 'error 75.' Our mutual goal now is to configure your system such that this condition doesn't take place. At all times, it is helpful to remember that this error is exactly what it says it is - our system can not access your PC the way it should, and solving that will make this issue go away.

There are several typical reasons why this problem may occur. Please read through the following checklist, and you should generally be able to fix this issue. It's really important that you go through this list carefully, as if you do a half-hearted job of it, you will end up wasting your time and our time on a wild goose chase! So far, everybody who has followed this list has been helped 100%... but the trick is that it requires trust, patience, and thoroughness!.

Note: if you have Anti-Virus or Internet 'Security' software installed on your PC, be sure not to miss the step that discusses those products!

Solution 1: Try rebooting your PC.

The simple act of rebooting your PC often fixes this issue. Since it's so easy to do, please make sure that you try this simple thing first.

You'd be surprised at the number of people who have written long help requests to us on this topic only to find that the issue went away after a simple reboot!

Solution 2: Ensure that the software is running with full administrative privileges

One common reason why the software might not have access to write files where it needs to is that it is not being run with sufficient administrative privileges. It's crucially important (under several versions of Microsoft Windows™) that you ensure that the software is running as administrator with full administrative privileges.

Please turn your volume up and watch the video below. Following the steps in the video below solves this issue for 99%+ of users, and it will almost certainly solve your issue, too!

Please watch this video! It will almost certainly help you! TURN UP YOUR VOLUME to hear the audio.

How to set these privileges varies slightly between versions of Microsoft Windows™. However, in general, try this:

• First, right click on the icon where the program is installed and select 'properties' and/or 'advanced.'
• Then, find an option such as you see below (again, it will vary slightly from system to system) that says 'Run as Administrator' and click it.
• Reboot your PC. Check to make sure that this setting 'took' by looking at it again. If it did, try running the program again. In most cases, this should fix the problem.

Solution 3: Be sure, we mean really 100% sure, that your copy of Microsoft Windows™ is up-to-date.

'Off the shelf' copies of some versions of Microsoft Windows™, especially on new PCs, might need to be updated for our software to work properly. This means installing any and all upgrades that Microsoft has made available for your operating system.

To do this, go into 'Control Panel' or 'Settings' on your PC, find the Windows update icon, and follow the appropriate steps.

This is really important: for some versions of Windows™, updates effectively happen it 'batches.' What this means is that if you start the update process, Microsoft update might tell you '12 updates found' or so. So, you duly install those updates, thinking that you're done. However, what you need to do is download and install those updates, reboot, and then check for updates again. Depending on the age of your operating system as installed, you might need to repeat this process of checking for updates and rebooting several times. Only after you get multiple 'your system is up to date' messages after multiple reboots can you be reasonably sure that your system is indeed up to date.

Good PC health, as well as operating safely and securely on the Internet, requires that your PC have all the latest patches and fixes. So, while this may be a bit annoying and time consuming, getting up to date with the latest updates is required, even if you were not attempting to use our software.

Soluton 4: Try re-installing.

Several classes of problem can be solved simply be reinstalling the software following these steps:

1. Reboot your PC. Do this first!
2. Without attempting to run the software in question, uninstall it from your PC. This can typically be done via 'add/remove programs' in control panel.
3. Reboot your PC again. Really!
4. This time, when you log on to your PC, make sure that you do so with an account that has full administrative privileges. 'Administrator' is a good one for this!
5. Visit our website, download the software in question, install it on your PC.
6. Repeat the step above where you ensure that the software is running 'as administrator.'
7. That's it!

This should solve many of the problems not handled above. Please ensure that you try this before contacting us for technical support.

Solution 5: More help for running 'As Administrator.'

Generally speaking, doing the steps we outlined above should take care of most 'native' security permission issues. However, here are some similar steps which may help in more detail:

It stands to note that we have tested our software and have found that, generally speaking, it works fine on Vista™ and Windows 7™. In fact, as of this writing, our programmers develop the software on both Vista™ and Windows 7™ machines, so by definition it must work on those systems.

Our software is 100% compatible with both the 32 and 64 bit (that is, both) versions of Vista™ as well as Windows 7™.

However, there is one important caveat to this: it seems that many PCs shipping with Vista™ (or subject to Vista upgrades) and/or Windows 7™ have rather strict security settings by default that prevent normal running of our software.

Specifically, you may find yourself running Vista™ or Windows 7™ as a non-administrator user and our software consequently finds itself without the required access to its own files and folders, which in turn could cause errors. Therefore, if you are using Vista™ or Windows 7™ and are receiving errors, the first thing you should do is to check your operating rights and privileges and ensure that you both install our software and are running it with full administrative rights and privileges.

This is the procedure for most people:

• Uninstall the software from your PC.
• Reboot your PC.
• here's the key step: - log in to your PC AS ADMINISTRATOR with full administrative rights and privileges. if you are in a corporate environment, you may need the assistance of your system administrator for this.
• Download and install the software and ensure that it runs "as administrator" each time.

Microsoft suggests the following strategies:

• Run the affected software with elevated administrator permissions
• Make your user account a member of the "Administrators" group on the local machine
• Right-click the affected software icon and select the "Run as administrator" option from the context menu

You can also create a shortcut to the affected software and select the option to always run with elevated administrator permissions. Using this shortcut would be the equivalent of the right-click method described above.

It's not just our software that is affected by this issue. Please note that many, many titles from thousands of software manufacturers require Vista™ permissions to be similarly correctly set. Changing permissions is a normal part of running a Vista™ or more modern Windows PC, as it gives you finer-grained control over your PC's security.

In fact, even some of Microsoft's own titles require such adjustments (see MS KBAA972193 for example).

Solution 6: Be highly suspect of your Internet 'security' software.

Remember that this error is fundamentally a 'permission' error. Our software is trying to do something, and SOMETHING is preventing it from doing it.

Often, this 'something' is your Internet 'security' software. This includes products by Norton, Symantec, freeAV (AVG / AVG-FREE), Kaspersky, and others. The list is endless.

Such software is often installed with new PCs. Unfortunately, many such software, including 'name brand' security software is often deeply flawed itself and is unable to properly differentiate legitimate software such as ours from unwanted system activity. Companies that write such 'security' software often act over-zealously, knowing that the people who have to deal with the carnage of their code is people like you and companies like us, so they don't do a great job.

So, what's the solution?

• First of all, if you have any such software running, be very suspicious of it.
• Second, if you have even such software INSTALLED ON YOUR PC, regardless of whether it is running or not, be VERY suspicious of it. We have had MULTIPLE reports of people who thought they had 'disabled' such software, only to realize later that it was indeed still running.
• Again, this sort of software is NOTORIOUSLY difficult to disable, even if 'your trial period has expired' or you 'decline to purchase it beyond a 30 day trial' (I'm referring here to typical 30-day trial versions installed on new PCs.) in actuality, there may be MULTIPLE settings and it may require MULTIPLE reboots to get rid of their software. Really! Please, trust us here! We've already had the following sequence of events multiple times:
  • User reports this problem.
  • We give him/her the above advice.
  • We get a long rant full of high-and-mighty 'well I have a Computer Science PhD and I have been a software engineer for 20 years and I know what I'm doing and how dare you suggest that I ...'
  • We sheepishly repeat our previous hunch.
  • We get an even more sheepish reply saying 'you know what... you WERE right after all...'
  I'm not saying we're perfect.. far from it! I'm just saying that we have long experience with this stuff, and, correspondingly, have come to hold 'anti virus' and 'internet security' software in generally very low regard. It often does little to actually protect your PC while slowing it down and causing problems for legitimate software like ours.

"Security" programs by NORTON and AVG/AVG FREE are, in our experience, particularly poorly written and are especially notorious for causing problems despite apparently being 'disabled' or being told about our software. Many versions of Norton appear, in our experience, to be deeply flawed and buggy, and their creators seem to be content to rake in your cash while pushing technical support headaches to the likes of us and frustrations to the likes of you. In our view, as of this writing, Norton is the 'McDonalds' of Internet security, in that a big brand name and effective marketing does not necessarily translate to the highest quality product! Not that it's proof of anything, but a bunch of people on the Internet agree with us. In the past, users of 'FreeAVG' have also had such issues, though as far as we can tell, the people who manage FreeAVG have updated their product to produce far fewer false positives and be a little (but not totally) better about actually shutting off and not interfering when you tell it to.

Still, if you do decide to use it, that's your choice and many people do and are happy with it. However, if you choose to use such software, be sure that you know how to configure it to know that our software is fine. Doing this may well solve your issue.

If the above doesn't help you, then first make note of how many of the above steps ask you to check and double check things. This is there for a reason, namely that many of these steps require multiple reboots and checking things in many places. For example, you might have disabled one anti-virus software, but what about the other one?

So really, make sure you do a thorough job. So far, everybody who has done a thorough job has been helped by the above list, 100%. If you don't seem to be, well, on one hand, we'll probably be really stumped by your issue. But, if you take the time to write us a detailed message, we'll do our best to sort it out.

If you do write us a message, be sure to tell us exactly, and we mean EXACTLY at what point in the software and in which software you received this message. This helps our investigations tremendously.

Thank you again for using our software and for your understanding of this matter.