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Topic: «Mylio not compatible with AWM » on forum: Technical Support   Views: 15758
 
fishmi
Registered user
 
 Posts: 16
Joined: 10/19/2016
Posted: 09/30/2020 17:36:17
 
 
 I just have a problem with an application that is not compatible with Actual Windows Manager:
The app is called "Mylio" and it is one of the best photo organizers that are currently available for free. Url: https://mylio.com/
When "Actual Windows Manager" is running (or paused) Mylio doesn't start, but when I close AWM the app started normal.
Unfortunately it doesn't help if I add the app to the exceptions in AWM (under Window settings - exceptions).

The only thing that helps at the moment is a batch file that first closes AWM, then calls Mylio and then starts AWM again. Then Mylio really works without any problems (as long as I don't close it).
It seems that there are only problems during the startup process of Mylio.

Is there another way in AWM to disable AWM for this app?

Thanks for help
 
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Syrinx
Registered user
 
 Posts: 28
Joined: 12/16/2016
Posted: 09/30/2020 21:45:36
 
 
 I tested in a VM and saw something similar to what you described. Also as you said, adding an exclusion for just the path "C:\Program Files\Mylio\Mylio.exe" didn't help. It'd just sit there with a blank white window either way.

I have two options that spring to mind for now but they don't use any AWM settings to fix it. One is similar to what you are already doing with the .bat file only instead of closing AWM it renames the dlls so that they don't get loaded during its startup then starts Mylio followed by restoring them to default. A tad more convoluted but allows AWM to remain running...I added the detection and warning because even after selecting exit from the notification area I saw it wasn't actually closing on my end...perhaps because I hadn't logged in?
Code
@ECHO OFF

FOR /F %%A IN ('TASKLIST /NH /FI "IMAGENAME EQ Mylio.exe"') DO IF %%A == Mylio.exe GOTO :Warning
GOTO :Start

:Warning
ECHO The Mylio process is still running (perhaps in the background) - Aborted!
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:Start
ATTRIB -H -S "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\aimemb.dll"
MOVE "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\aimemb.dll" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\0aimemb.dll"
ATTRIB -H -S "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\aimemb64.dll"
MOVE "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\aimemb64.dll" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\0aimemb64.dll"

START "" "C:\Program Files\Mylio\Mylio.exe"
TIMEOUT /T 3

MOVE "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\0aimemb.dll" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\aimemb.dll"
ATTRIB +H +S "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\aimemb.dll"
MOVE "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\0aimemb64.dll" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\aimemb64.dll"
ATTRIB +H +S "C:\Program Files (x86)\Actual Window Manager\aimemb64.dll"

EXIT /B


The other option only works if you are on Windows 10 and it's the one I would recommend. You can use the Exploit Settings to enable "Disable extension points" for Mylio
Open "Settings" > "Update & Security" > "Windows Security" > "App & browser control" > Scroll down and sel ect "Exploit protection settings"
Once that's open select "Program settings" > "+ Add program to customize" > "Add by program name" > Mylio.exe > Scroll down to "Disable extension points" > Check "Override system settings" > Click button below so that it slides over to "On" > Hit "Apply"
This will prevent unexpected DLLs (in this case AWM) fr om getting loaded into any process with the name of Mylio.exe and in turn fix the loading issue at the cost of not being able to use AWM to control or otherwise tweak it...eg it's 'truely excluded'

Given time maybe they can look into and work around whatever is happening to resolve the issue without the need to prevent the DLL fr om getting loaded by Mylio?
 
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fishmi
Registered user
 
 Posts: 16
Joined: 10/19/2016
Posted: 10/01/2020 01:53:18
 
 
 A thousand thanks for the help.
The second option with turning off the "Exploit protection settings" works very well.

In the meantime I also found a halfway decent solution by opening Mylio with admin rights.
But your solution is of course better.

Thanks again.
 
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Syrinx
Registered user
 
 Posts: 28
Joined: 12/16/2016
Posted: 10/01/2020 07:19:19
 
 
Quote
fishmi wrote:
A thousand thanks for the help.
The second option with turning off the "Exploit protection settings" works very well.

In the meantime I also found a halfway decent solution by opening Mylio with admin rights.
But your solution is of course better.

Thanks again.
Thanks for the update! I'm glad you happened to be on Win10 and found that enabling an exploit protection option as a workaround was acceptable in your case.

You mentioned launching Mylio 'As Admin' and it making a difference, which actually makes sense because if AWM is running as 'Medium Integrity' then it can't inject into a 'High Integrity' process (in this case Mylio launched as admin). That could be a legit way to handle things and I'm ashamed I didn't even consider it. Hopefully an *actual* -pun intended- representative will respond with an even better solution down the line!

Update: I realized the script I wrote above would need to be run as admin to work anyway so it'd be essentially pointless if you're already running from a medium integrity combined with your other solution of running it 'as admin'. That makes the script laughable to anyone who doesn't normally run under high integrity (like me).

I also ran Mylio in a VM and watched it a bit with ProcMon. I'm no expert but it seemed to be having issues with path concatenations around the time the AWM dll gets loaded. *If* this is the root cause and I'm not saying it is, you may need to ask the Mylio devs to update how they handle that from their end?
Hopefully you'll get some feedback from an actual Pro!
 
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Bogdan Polishchuk
Administrator
 
 Posts: 4080
Joined: 04/04/2012
Posted: 10/04/2020 09:30:39
 
 
 Hello, fishmi and Syrinx

Quote
When "Actual Windows Manager" is running (or paused) Mylio doesn't start, but when I close AWM the app started normal.
The problem has been confirmed – Mylio hangs and eventually crashes if you start it when AWM is already running. We'll try to fix it and will post here when it's fixed.

Thank you for all the information regarding the problem. It really seems to be associated with injecting Actual Window Manager dll's into the Mylio window, but for now I can't provide any new information. We need to look into the problem and figure out what's going on.

All the described workarounds are acceptable. Although, starting Mylio as administrator only works if the "Support system utilities..." option is not enabled during the installation of Actual Window Manager.

Syrinx,

Quote
I also ran Mylio in a VM and watched it a bit with ProcMon. I'm no expert but it seemed to be having issues with path concatenations around the time the AWM dll gets loaded.
Could you clarify what exactly events in ProcMon you're talking about and provide a screenshot depicting the "issues with path concatenations" if it's possible?


Best regards.
 
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Bogdan Polishchuk
Administrator
 
 Posts: 4080
Joined: 04/04/2012
Posted: 10/09/2020 02:50:58
 
 
 fishmi, Syrinx

We investigated the problem and figured out that the problem is due to both our code and Mylio code implementation peculiarity. And while it does not seem possible to change this peculiarity for us, probably Mylio developers are able to make changes to their code in order to prevent the problem from happening. We've contacted Mylio regarding this problem, let's see what they think.
 
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