F5 does not work with Android device (after upgrading to Windows 10)

[PippoPappo]

Hi,

it seems that I can't copy files using F5 between a Windows 10 machine at work and an Android (Oreo) device.
That's weird because:

- I can do that without any issues at home
- Copy and paste works as expected
- I can read / delete files from the Android smartphone using TC

So the only thing that no longer works is copying a file via F5: it shows a dialog "Copy 1 file/folder to \\some_folder_here" and if I confirm by clicking YES, nothing happens.

If I copy&paste the same file(s) in the same folder(s), then it works without issues.

I'm using Total Commander 9.21 and the Android device is connected via USB as "File transfer".

Thanks
Pippo Pappo

[PippoPappo]

Update: copy files FROM the Android device with F5 DOES NOT work either.

[PippoPappo]

Update2

The following actions work when the smartphone is connected as "file transfer":

- Deleting a file from the Android device
- Copy&paste from/to the device
- Double-click on a file to open it (e.g. a picture in \\DCIM)

So the only this that does not work is trying to copy files with F5, both ways.

[ghisler(Author)]

F5 copies the files via clipboard, like the Explorer. It calls the same functions as when you use Ctrl+C, Tab, Ctrl+V.

I have tried with the Spring and Fall 2018 versions of Windows 10, it works with both here (and in both directions).

[PippoPappo]

Thanks for your feedback.

I confirm that it always worked at home (with Windows 10, since the first builds) and I hoped that F5 was using a different copy mechanism other than copy&paste. The only issues that I'm experiencing are with Windows 10 at work and actually it's weird that "copy&paste from within Total Commander vs Android device" works smoothly, same for double clicking a file.

It's just F5, both directions, that does nothing aside from showing the dialog box. When I confirm with "YES" there's a very short delay, but no actual file copy.

I tried to troubleshoot the issue by enabling the operations log: %TEMP%\totalcmd.log, but unfortunately no copy operations from/to Android are recorded (including the successful ones performed via copy/paste).

Does the F5 command depends on any "external module" / API that can be blocked by policies / permissions?

[PippoPappo]

I analyzed what happens behind the scenes with Process Monitor (SysInternals), when a file is "copied" through:

- Copy&paste
- Double clicking it (files are copied internally to a sub-folder of c:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\)

This is the sequence of operations (the correct one):
Image: https://ibb.co/iHXV6z

While when confirming the copy with the YES button, after pressing F5, nothing happens in Process Monitor. So it seems that the copy operation does not start at all.

[ghisler(Author)]

Sorry, no idea. Just use Ctrl+C, Tab, Ctrl+V instead if that works for you.

[PippoPappo]

Not sure why, but immediately after removing 2 keys from the Windows Registry everything started working as expected. Note: a restart is required!

It may be useful for other users, I deleted:

- HKEY_CURRENT_USER --> Control Panel --> Desktop --> HungAppTimeout
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER --> Control Panel --> Desktop --> WaitToKillAppTimeout

And finally I can copy files from/to an Android device using F5.

They don't seem related to copy operations, but deleting those keys (IN MY CASE) solved several issues, including the one with TC.

[HerbieH]

Hello PippoPappo.

Guess you must have had another problem with Windows10, which you googled, and was then told to remove those keys.

Could you please tell me the reason for doing that in the first place, and maybe also tell me, what other problems, it may have solved for you?

PS: I do a fair amount of Windows tweaking myself, and help others doing so. Therefore it would be a good information for me.

[PippoPappo]

Exactly, most of the colleagues (including myself) running on Windows 10 build 1803 were experiencing some random issues, mostly flickering and stability issues (=random crashes of some applications) or weird behaviours, like this one with the copy operation between Windows 10 and Android.

Users running on previous builds of Windows 10 weren't affected by those problems, so we compared the differences in terms of customisations made by the IT Team to the configuration of build 1803. The only actual difference was related to those Registry keys, so we decided to delete them from our systems and doing that solved all of our issues. No more flickering, instability and unexpected behaviours.

And obviously F5 is now working again!

[HerbieH]

Ok. Thank you for sharing this information.

Those two keys? Windows can be wierd..
Obviously other factors must also be at play, such as what graphic card you have etc.. since not everybody is affected.

[PippoPappo]

Yes, likely other factors were involved (we are all equipped with Intel video chipsets), but honestly I don't know if those specific keys are available on all systems and what their default values actually are. For sure our IT added/tweaked them to the preload they made for build 1803.

In any case, removing those 2 keys improved both performance and stability in our environment... Maybe this information can help other users who might experience similar issues.