I have just downloaded a new version of Pure Data but cannot access the folder with my patches in from the old version of Pd. File Explorer thinks the location is not available, even though it shows me the patches under "recent files" accessed. With the old version, clicking on the recent file, it would open Pd, but when I try that now, it opens the new release, but not the patch. How can I get access to my old patches?

@oleathlobhair Try adding the full path to that folder to Pd by opening from the Pd menu --- ... File... Preferences... Path.
David.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I get the error message "Error: can't create directory ..."

@oleathlobhair Are you using a Linux system.......... Linux or OSX?
David.

Windows 10

@oleathlobhair Does the folder exist and still contain your patches?
If so....... can you open them by double-clicking them in the folder?
If not maybe there is a permissions problem and a Googling for a solution would help.
David.

@oleathlobhair If you create a new patch, can you save it to a folder containing one of your inaccessible old patches? If so, does it open in the way you expect? If yes to both, I'd compare permissions on both old and new pd files to see if there are differences.

@whale-av The folder still exists; I can access it using the old version of Pd.

@jameslo I have created a new patch with the new version, but when I try to save it in the old location, the location cannot be seen or found, and using the recent folders in file explorer, I get the error message that the location is unavailable, even though I have both versions of Pd up and running at the same time.

@oleathlobhair Sounds like it could be something with the permissions of Pd for the directory maybe.

@oleathlobhair I bought a whole load of computers running windows7 and they are never updated...... but that is probably not a solution that suits everyone.
If you go to the Pd/bin folder and right-click pd.exe and select "run as administrator" does that help?

Also
Whenever I download a new version of Pd my antivirus quarantines pd.exe and I have to tell it to make an exception.
Obviously it is not on their list of "safe" binaries.
If you are using the Windows built-in protection then maybe it has silently removed permissions for the new Pd version.
Have a look at this......
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/allow-an-app-to-access-controlled-folders-b5b6627a-b008-2ca2-7931-7e51e912b034
David.

@oleathlobhair See your thread [pink~] [freeverb~]
I think permissions for the wish86 app are the problem.
David.