Trouble installing beta 2

[Christopher Bartlett]

I received notification that NVDA 2026.01B2 was available and followed the usual steps to install. After approving under user access control I received a notification that NVDA file in use could not be installed, retry cancel. Upon canclling I was directed to the log viewer. The following is an excerpt that also contains my system specs and windows version:

Device name Hal
Processor 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900K (3.20 GHz)
Installed RAM 64.0 GB (63.7 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Version 25H2 (OS Build 26200.7705)
WARNING - RPC process 4860 (nvda_slave.exe) (08:39:36.452) - Dummy-5 (2504):
installer._deleteFileGroupOrFail:
Failed to delete file C:\Program Files\NVDA\nvda.exe: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'C:\\Program Files\\NVDA\\nvda.exe', attempt 1/6
WARNING - RPC process 4860 (nvda_slave.exe) (08:39:38.967) - Dummy-10 (2504):
installer._deleteFileGroupOrFail:
Failed to delete file C:\Program Files\NVDA\nvda.exe: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'C:\\Program Files\\NVDA\\nvda.exe', attempt 6/6
ERROR - RPC process 4860 (nvda_slave.exe) (08:39:38.970) - Dummy-11 (2504):
installer._deleteFileGroupOrFail:
Failed to move C:\Program Files\NVDA\nvda.exe to C:\Users\Chris\AppData\Local\Temp\tmpv8sr27qs\nvda.exe
ERROR - RPC process 4860 (nvda_slave.exe) (08:39:38.990) - Dummy-12 (2504):

--Strangely when I checked my NVDA version after this it was listed as 2026.1B2 instead of B1. I restarted NVDA and tried again with the same result. The version was correct after the restart.

I do not have any other accounts on this machine, nor were there more than one copy of NVDA running. This also happened when I first installed B!, but self-corrected a day later.

I'm puzzled what is going on, and rather discouraged at the complications of reporting this through GitHub.

Christopher Bartlett

[joseph....@gmail.com]

Hi,

When this happens again, select “try again” and that should lalow the update process to complete successfully. Sometimes logging out and back in after updating NVDA can help.

Cheers,

Joseph

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[Justin Coffin]

Christopher,

I wanted to explain what seems to be happening with the update failures you’re  seeing.

The installer errors aren’t caused by multiple NVDA copies running or permission problem. What’s happening is that Windows 25H2 is holding onto the nvda.exe file longer than it should, even after NVDA has already shut down and handed control to the installer. Because the file stays locked, the installer can’t delete or move the old executable, which leads to the repeated “Access is denied” messages in the log.

The interesting part is that the update itself actually succeeds. The new files are unpacked correctly, but the installer can’t finish the cleanup step because Windows won’t release its hold on nvda.exe until later. Once NVDA restarts—or in some cases after a system restart—Windows finally lets go of the file, and NVDA loads the new version normally. That’s why the installer reports a failure, but the version number updates anyway.

This also explains why the same thing happened with B1 and then resolved itself the next day. Nothing changed on NVDA’s side; Windows simply released the file lock after some time.

For context, I’m on Windows 25H2 (build 26200.7705), and this behavior seems to be specific to newer builds where executable locking is more aggressive.

I hope this helps clarify what’s going on. Let me know if you need any additional logs or testing.

 

From: nvda-...@nvaccess.org <nvda-...@nvaccess.org> On Behalf Of Christopher Bartlett
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2026 7:05 AM
To: nvda-...@nvaccess.org
Subject: [NVDA] Trouble installing beta 2

 

I received notification that NVDA 2026.01B2 was available and followed the usual steps to install. After approving under user access control I received a notification that NVDA file in use could not be installed, retry cancel. Upon canclling I was directed to the log viewer. The following is an excerpt that also contains my system specs and windows version:

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[Louise Pfau]

Hi.  It sounds like I could possibly run into the same thing when I install the stable version.  I was under the impression that we weren't supposed to post logs to the list.

Louise

[Christopher Bartlett]

Thank you for the explanation. That makes sense given that restarting once didn't clear the problem, but doing so again did.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/!%26!AAAAAAAAAAAuAAAAAAAAAExut%2BeTvIxChrMkOFYGyacBAMO2jhD3dRHOtM0AqgC7tuYAAAAAAA4AABAAAAAKU4ygxKifRp%2BY9Kv1cKnqAQAAAAA%3D%40samobile.net.

--

Christopher Bartlett

[Christopher Bartlett]

I wasn't sure about that myself, but it seemed the only way to explain the messages, so I drastically cut down on the amount of stuff posted to be only the relevant parts.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/1e77e541-ea38-4350-a26d-1819ed67f9fbn%40nvaccess.org.

--

Christopher Bartlett

[Louise Pfau]

Hi.  The rules for this group could be different, but on other groups I'm on, they don't want logs posted to the group in case they contain sensative data.

Louise

[Noelia]

Hello:

About posting logs, in the Good practices section of this group, we can read the following:

"5. Do not post logs: Please do not post NVDA logs directly to the group, as they can contain sensitive, personal information. If a log is needed for troubleshooting, you can offer to send it privately to the person assisting you".

So, if you want to submit an excert and you are sure that this won't include personal or sensitive information, it may be useful in exceptional cases.

But generally it would be better to send a full log or an excert with detailed information to the person assisting you, or perhaps to: in...@nvaccess.org

Kind regards,

Noelia

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/c911ec4b-bf29-413b-ba81-3748b183d88cn%40nvaccess.org.