I suppose this is a general question about the PortableApps launcher but specifically I am using qBitTorrent Portable.
I have a shortcut to the launcher on my desktop.
When I launch it for the first time, the app launches - no problem.
However if I minimize the app to the tray and later try to open it again using the shortcut, I receive the dreaded "another instance is already running" error message.
This is not helpful. I am not trying to run a new instance; I am trying to re-open the existing instance.
More importantly, this error also makes it impossible to associate .torrent files or magnet links with qBitTorrent Portable, because any attempt at opening those files will result in the same error message.
Is there a way to suppress that error message and simply force the launcher to open the existing instance?
I can't be the only one with this problem.
(P.S. Interestingly, once the error message dialog appears, if I leave the dialog open in the background, I am then able to use the shortcut as desired without any further errors - it simply opens the application, which is exactly what I want. The downside is I now have an ugly, annoying error message dialog hanging around my screen!)
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As long as you run everything through qBittorrentPortable.exe, including manually setting up file associations to that, it can be launched a second time to pass stuff to the running instance. If you have qbittorrent associated within the app itself or pinned to the taskbar or start menu without going through the PA.c Platform to pin it, you'll bypass the launcher and it won't work right.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Thanks for replying so quickly. I'll make sure everything is registered with the portable executable specifically.
@John I've still been encountering this error occasionally for the past few weeks, despite all my applications (e.g. web browser) associating torrent and magnet links with qBittorrentPortable.exe specifically.
Everything is definitely being launched via the portable executable, but I still get the "another instance is running" error.
I think I've narrowed it down and it only happens after my machine has been put on standby/sleep and then reawoken when qBittorrentPortable is running. If I don't put the machine to sleep, I can open torrents/magnets without the error. But as soon as I wake my machine, the error starts appearing.
Any ideas please?
If you're putting it to sleep with an external connected, that could be the issue. Many PCs will put USB devices to sleep and they won't be there as soon as Windows resumes. So the app wakes up without the storage it is running from and it'll close out or crash.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
No; the app is running from my internal hard drive.
I should clarify that the app continues to run fine when it resumes from sleep. It doesn't crash and torrents continue to download as normal.
It's just that I am [sometimes] unable to use the launcher without getting the "another instance" error.
Is there maybe something in the Portable Apps platform which could be getting messed up by the sleep cycle? Some file or process locking mechanism which gets lost?
Nothing is done on the platform side that should mess with it. The qBittorrentPortable.exe launcher could be dying in the process that could cause it. Try letting your laptop sleep, then resume, and then check Task Manager to see if qBittorrentPortable.exe is still running.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!