Wallpapers Missing Files?

[Azriel]

Running Wallpaper Engine on Windows 8.1, 64-bit.
I recently moved all of my Steam installations to a slave drive to conserve space and performance on my master drive. So simply put, Steam and all installed games and software were installed on C: (master). I then proceeded to install Steam to G: (slave). Once installed on G:, I copied my settings from the original Steam install to the new install on G:. Everything working fine still at this point, so I proceed to one game/software install at a time, use the in Steam option to move the installs to the Steam installation on G:. So far so good... games all work fine after the move. For the most part, so does Wallpaper Engine. Except when I reboot the computer or at times when the program isn't open. I get a pop up notification from the tray in the lower right with the clock and such that says "This wallpaper cannot be opened because it is missing its files."
Now I don't get how this is, as it does this after it was running said wallpaper perfectly fine. I reopen Wallpaper Engine and reselect the wallpaper and it loads up perfectly fine. Apparently the wallpaper isn't missing anything needed to work. I have also gone through the trouble of making sure both Wallpaper Engine and Steam are fully shut down, relogging into Steam and running a file integrity check on Wallpaper Engine (comes out saying everything is good) and even going into Steam settings and going to Downloads and clearing out the cache. This issue still persists.
Please, has anyone else had this problem? Can anyone help? It's very annoying having to reload several times a day. And forget playlists, every time it tries to change to another one, this issue happens.

[Azriel]

Update: Issue is occuring now while Wallpaper Engine is running.
Again, I don't see how it can be missing files if its running the wallpaper in the first place. And even more so, when I uninstalled and reinstalled the wallpaper I am using just to make sure it was installed properly. This is an unacceptable issue with the software.

[Tim]

You are the first person to report this kind of issue so it's likely that something is rather messed up with your set up but it's rather hard to determine for me. Can you try turning off Wallpaper Engine completely and then verifying the Wallpaper Engine files via Steam like that:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

It's important to note that Steam verifies Workshop items (so wallpapers in this case) with a slight delay, so it's best you verify the files and then just let Steam idle for 15 minutes or so (don't start any games or software). Files are generally managed through Steam and not Wallpaper Engine and to me it sounds like your Workshop files are somehow corrupt.

[Azriel]

Did exactly that (again) just now, and the issue still persists. Upon loading up, I get the error message even. I have even tried to download a new wallpaper so as to use one that was not involved in the installation move, and it too gets the same error as all the rest.

[Tim]

Do you have any firewall or antivirus tool installed? My best bet at this time would be that something like that blocks read / write access to Wallpaper Engine so it fails to load the files on your disk. Can you try turning off any such software and see if the problem persists?

[Azriel]

Not the issue. I don't run any such software unless I intend on using my browser. I mostly use my PC for gaming and file storage. So I don't do stuff that needs protection like that on most the time.

[RedXIV]

I've done the exact same, moved steam folder to a slave drive and noticed that I was getting a funny pop-up preventing wallpaper engine from starting. It's tied to the msconfig -> startup settings which are not updating when I moved the files.

I haven't found the solution yet but I know I basically want to delete the reference in msconfig (I'm on windows 10 only recently so still learning what's what) and then try and set it up to start up on boot again. I tried uninstalling the app but even after uninstalling the app, the msconfig -> startup reference still exists. I'll update this once I figure out how to fix it.

[RedXIV]

Got it by knocking the reference out of msconfig via the registry. Good tutorial is here:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2944-add-delete-enable-disable-startup-items-windows-10-a.html#option3
Watch out though, I had to manually delete the steamapps/wallpaperEngine folder after uninstalling it because it messed up the internal menu for the app.
Steps I followed just to be thorough:
1. Uninstall the app
2. Deleted the folder in the steamapps directory
3. Followed tutorial above to find the registry entry for the app via msconfig and deleted it
4. Reinstalled the app
5. Works!

[Azriel]

@RedXIV
Sounds like this might be the fix for the issue I have been waiting for. Only one question/problem... I don't want to have to find and redownload all my current wallpapers (hours of searching I really don't want to have to do all over again).... is there a way to avoid this in the process at all? Or am I screwed and going to have to go through redownloading them all over again?

[RedXIV]

That's what worried me too but if you do it, all your wallpapers will download again once you launch the application as they are "subscribed" to rather than individually downloaded. You'll get everything you have already back again :)

[Azriel]

Oh sweet, that takes the stress of doing that off my shoulders then. Good to know. Looks like I will be giving your advice a go after dinner then :D

Update: Just finished the reinstall... oddly after the uninstall, there was no registry key clean up needed anywhere. Lucky I guess? Running it now though after and all my issues seem to be fixed. Apparently when Steam moves the Wallpaper Engine install somewhere, something breaks. Maybe the developer should look into this and maybe apply some sort of preventative fix to the software for future users to avoid this issue. Not everyone sadly is comfortable deleting things in the system registry (can't blame them, one wrong move and you are screwed), let alone computer savvy enough to fix it themselves.

[Azriel]

I just know I am glad someone else knew how to fix my issue and without too much hassle. Really appreciate the help RedXIV, you're a lifesaver. I was missing my wallpapers, lol
:D

[RedXIV]

No worries! First time I've been the one to give an answer rather than looking for one myself :)

[Unxqee]

Originally posted by Azriel:

I just know I am glad someone else knew how to fix my issue and without too much hassle. Really appreciate the help RedXIV, you're a lifesaver. I was missing my wallpapers, lol
:D

Hey did you never figure out how to fix it im having the same problem i tried reinstalling and nothing happened

[Tim]

This is a really old thread you pulled from the grave, what is your problem exactly?