Save game files missing - Antivirus setting issue.

[Web Goblin]

Hi all,
I havent played x4 for a while but decided tonight to get back into it. There have been a couple of updates since the last time I played 2.20 and 2.50 I think. Anyway it appears I dont have any save game files in the save folder. The options to load or continue a game a greyed out and save folder is empty.
Steam client does still say I have played for 131 hours.
Any ideas anyone?

[Alan Phipps]

Updates do NOT delete saves or other files in your Documents folder. All the game can do is overwrite them. They have to be deleted or moved by the user. It may be that modified game saves could be seen as corrupt by subsequent updates though.

If you have used a different Steam account this time then your documents folder will have a different ID number (nnnnnnnn) in the game profile directory such as here:

Drive:\Users\Your Name\Documents\Egosoft\X4\nnnnnnnn\save\....

You may need to find the ID number that you were using and look for the old saves there - unless you have deleted it and not copied it somewhere else first of course.

[Web Goblin]

Alan, thanks for the reply. I didn't think that any updates would delete anything I was just mentioning it as its been a while since I last played and was wondering if anyone else had the same issue. Searched the machine and my network drives and no sign of the saves. Even ran a file recovery and it cant find any xml files at all. I know I haven't deleted or moved them so no idea whats happened. My saves from other steam games are intact.
Oh well , looks like I`m starting again.

[radcapricorn]

Try searching for .xml.gz. Saves are compressed by default.

[Web Goblin]

Got this sorted out. I had changed my antivirus earlier this year to Bitdefender and it turns out it has a few settings which need to be altered away from the default settings. It will automatically prevent programs from making changes to some folders by default and one of them includes the documents folder. Figured this out after starting a new game and found out I couldn't make any saves. I think it also quarantined the save game file then deleted it after the 30 day setting.

[radcapricorn]

At that rate this antivirus should probably just prevent you from logging in. Or heck, perhaps zap you for even thinking of touching the power button when the PC is turned off. How dare you even dream of changing something in the documents folder?!

[Alan Phipps]

Hmm, that explains why you might have been unable to make new saves, but how does that allow the AV to quarantine and later delete ones already there without even telling you what it was trying to do? I would seriously think of not using that new AV any further, whatever it's settings, as its defaults should be 'smarter'!

[Web Goblin]

The AV has a new protection for ransomware and this is the bit that needs setting up. Now that's it's done its seems quite happy to let X4.exe access the folders and files. It may have issued a warning when I installed it and carried out the first scan to say it had found and quarantined a suspect file and I've just missed it but at least its sorted out now.