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Find a method to atomically rename/overwrite files on Windows #430

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Find a method to atomically rename/overwrite files on Windows#430
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enhancementNew feature or request

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@Huderon
Huderon
opened on Aug 29, 2026

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Relevant to #426

Currently due to what I believe to be nuances in the way Windows handles renames, Golang's os.Rename causes the install action to fail if BetterDiscord is already installed and Discord is running.

Describe the solution you'd like
Above may pay grade to make a suggestion, just thinking about it is confusing.

Describe alternatives you've considered
I've verified that using os.WriteFile doesn't encounter the same issues. I believe that's why it wasn't a problem with the Electron version of the installer, but I'm not sure that's an ideal solution. Zere has an idea of what he'd prefer to do.

Additional context
This is the closest I got to finding an explanation of why this issue is specific to Windows

Activity

  1. Huderon
    added
    enhancementNew feature or request
    on Aug 29, 2026

  2. Chrysaloid commented on Sep 5, 2026

    @Chrysaloid
    Chrysaloid
    on Sep 5, 2026

    Is this the reason why I get these rename errors or should I create a new issue?

    Install log 
    Starting install...

🛠 Preparing BetterDiscord...
✅ Directory exists: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\data
✅ Directory exists: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\plugins
✅ Directory exists: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\themes
✅ BetterDiscord prepared for install

📥 Downloading BetterDiscord...
❌ Failed to download BetterDiscord from official website
❌ rename C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\data\.download-1368754750 C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\data\betterdiscord.asar: Access is denied.

🔁 Falling back to GitHub...
✅ Found BetterDiscord: https://api.github.com/repos/BetterDiscord/BetterDiscord/releases/assets/534441654
❌ Failed to download BetterDiscord from GitHub
❌ rename C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\data\.download-3739257485 C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\data\betterdiscord.asar: Access is denied.
❌ rename C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\data\.download-3739257485 C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\BetterDiscord\data\betterdiscord.asar: Access is denied.

The install seems to have failed. If this problem is recurring, join our discord community for support. https://betterdiscord.app/invite

    Note: USER is a redacted username and I have admin privileges and I lunched the installer as admin. Also this is 2.0.0 installer and I launched it with Discord not running and this is a second run after a successful first run.

  3. Huderon commented on Sep 5, 2026

    @Huderon
    Huderon
    on Sep 5, 2026
    Author

    Yeah, this is the cause of that. Same as the referenced issue that the OP closed for some reason. I believe Zere has got his fix working locally, so it should hopefully be part of the next update

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