Zotero 7 won't open on Windows [caused by Cisco Secure]

dbroueche
edited August 20, 2024
Updated from Zotero 6 to 7. Installation completed successfully, but Zotero won't start. When I double-click the icon or select from the start menu, nothing happens. I tried uninstalling completely, deleting the C:/Program Files(x86)/Zotero folder and then reinstalling the 64-bit version. Same problem. Uninstalled and installed the 32-bit version. Same problem. Multiple computer restarts, both in between and after installations, also have not changed anything. Any ideas?
Running Windows 11 on a Surface Pro 7. Zotero 6 worked great before.
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  • dstillman
    Is this an institutional computer? Are you running non-standard security software?

    What happens if you start from the command line with debug output logging?

    https://www.zotero.org/support/debug_output#logging_to_a_terminal_window
  • dbroueche
    I tried the following commands: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Zotero\zotero.exe" -ZoteroDebugText

    and

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Zotero\zotero.exe" -ZoteroDebugText -console

    but nothing shows up in the console.

    And yes, it is an institutional computer so does have non-standard security software. I have admin rights though and have installed and used many other software on it before, including Zotero 6.
  • dstillman
    First, there's no reason to be running the 32-bit version, so you should remove that completely and install the 64-bit version.

    Beyond that, what exactly happens when you start it from the console? Does the process close immediately and put you back at the command line?

    No one else has reported this, so you may need to try temporarily disabling security software (or excluding Zotero from it) to see if that helps. If you can't do that, you'd want to start by checking its logs to see if it logged anything about Zotero.
  • dbroueche
    Yes, it closes immediately and returns back to the command line. Even with the debug option, nothing returns.
  • dstillman
    edited August 16, 2024
    What's the security software you're running? We've had another report of this that was caused by Cisco Secure Client. Disabling it fixed the problem. If that's what you're using, you should report this to your IT department.
  • dstillman
    Well, you should report it to your IT department either way. The security software is very likely at fault here, and we can't really say any more on this without some sort of logging from the system about what's happening.
  • dbroueche
    Yes, it is Cisco Secure. I let them know and they are looking at it. I do have the event logs from when I try to open Zotero. If that would help the developers avoid this issue I could probably send it.
  • dstillman
    Yes, we'd be curious to see the logs — if possible, please send them to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread. But this will most likely be on them to fix.
  • dbroueche
    edited August 19, 2024
    I will send. As an update though, my IT temporarily disabled Cisco Secure, restarted, reinstalled version 7.0.1 and still could not get it to open. We then ran in compatibility mode for Windows 8 and it worked fine. But to make things even more confusing, after running once in compatibility mode, I turned that mode off, and it now opens fine without it.
  • pembertj
    dbroueche

    I am getting the exact same behavior on the computers where I work. Will not open, tried uninstalling cisco amp, does not help. Zotero 6 works fine.


    Run with Windows 8 compatibility mode once, can turn it off and it will still run fine...

    Any other fixes?
  • elwom
    Thought I'd add to the thread that I'm having the same issue - Zotero 7 will install but won't open on my institutional computer running the Cisco Secure client. No issues with Zotero 6. I've reached out to our IT department in the meantime.
  • dstillman
    @elwom: Have you tried the same thing? Switching Zotero to run in Windows 8 compatibility mode, running Zotero, and then turning compatibility mode off?
  • elwom
    @dstillman - yes! sorry, just tried switching to Windows 8 compatibility mode and it worked like a charm (running Windows 11 if that's at all helpful). Thanks!
  • dstillman
    edited August 20, 2024
    Sorry, to clarify, this might actually be Cisco Secure Endpoint (formerly AMP for Endpoints), not Cisco Secure Client. The latter is closer to a VPN, which wouldn't seem to be relevant here, though it's a little unclear — Cisco Secure Client may have some endpoint-protection features as well. In any case, some part of the Cisco Secure suite seems to be breaking things.

    We'll trying to figure out what the Cisco software is doing that's causing this to happen and why running Zotero once in compatibility mode fixes it.

    If anyone can find a log file or error message from Cisco Secure (Endpoint?) that actually refers to blocking the Zotero app from running, please send to support@zotero.org.

    @elwom: Thanks. By all accounts you should be able to turn compatibility mode off now as well.
  • elwom
    My bad - it would definitely be Cisco Secure Endpoint from my end since I wasn't running or logged into the client when I tried to open Zotero 7 the first time. FYI I've been able to turn off compatibility mode and run Zotero - thanks for your help!
  • pembertj
    I misspoke before, if i stop secure secure endpoint service on the local computer - it will launch...

    But if I check the secure endpoint web console it does not specifically say anything is blocked. I will try to dig into it more and find how cisco is blocking it
  • mao.li
    Hi, I have the same issue just after I upgraded my Zotero from 6.x to the latest one. I am also a university compute with Cisco Secure Endpoint.
  • dstillman
    edited August 22, 2024
    While any logs from the Cisco software would definitely be helpful, I suspect we're going to need an IT department to put us in touch with their contact at Cisco.

    For anyone affected, if possible, please ask your IT department to contact us at support@zotero.org so we can try to figure out what's going on here.
  • andyyounger
    hi, this is my cisco endpoint history if I tried to open my Zotero 7.0:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u13374959/vc1d229qd6jrkqnp21al.jpg
  • andyyounger

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u13374959/ea66csfdp7lom5g3rqg9.jpg
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u13374959/w6ns3zrxgwgjh2k6oz8e.jpg
  • dstillman
    edited August 27, 2024
    OK, if you're still seeing this, please try the latest Zotero beta and let us know if that fixes it for you.

    (We can't test this ourselves, so unfortunately we need to guess here until we're able to speak with somebody at Cisco, but we've made a change that might help.)
  • pbinkley
    I'm having the same problem (Windows 11, Zotero 7 stops instantly with no output, institutional workstation with Cisco Secure Endpoint, which reports that it has stopped an exploitation attempt in similar report to andyyounger's above). I've tried the Zotero beta version 7.0.3-beta.2+10d27b8f6 (64-bit), and nothing changed. I then turned on Windows 8 compatibility, and now Zotero will start and run normally, it seems (I've tried viewing, syncing, searching, and adding an item). Before trying the beta I installed 7.0.2, and it refused to start as above; I didn't get as far as trying Windows 8 compatibility or looking at the Cisco log at that point.
  • pbinkley
    (also: I've turned off Windows 8 compatibility, and it continues to work)
  • k.martin.m
    Hello! Another affected user here. I tested the latest 64-bit ZIP beta (7.0.3-beta.2). The problem persists on the beta. It can still be fixed with the compatibility mode trick.

    My main install is the release version. I've already applied the compatibility mode fix there, and it doesn't transfer to the ZIP version, so I can continue to test betas in ZIP form. Unfortunately, my institution's IT department is not in a position to help investigate this issue. :(
  • dstillman
    OK, it seems like the change I mentioned above (now available in 7.0.3) doesn't fix it. I'm afraid we'll need to talk to Cisco to figure out what's going on here, so if you're seeing this, please do encourage your IT department to reach out to us at support@zotero.org.
  • cmsmithphd
    I'm experiencing the same problem with v7 on a university PC running Cisco Secure Client. I've reached out to our IT dept and encouraged them to reach out to Zotero. In the meantime I've rolled back to v6. Staying tuned to this thread for updates.
  • romesh
    I have contacted Cisco secure client support and they made some patch at their end. My zotero v7.0.3(64-bit) is now running fine, without needing any compatibility mode configuration.
  • dstillman
    @romesh: That's great — thanks so much. We also contacted the IT departments of a bunch of affected universities yesterday and asked them to reach out to their Cisco support contacts.

    If anyone is still seeing this, please restart your system and try again, and let us know if you're still having trouble.
  • spagel
    edited September 13, 2024
    [Merged from Zotero did not start anymore due to Cisco Secure Client !? — D.S.]

    Hi,

    doesn't seem fixed. I have just installed Zotero 7.0.5 x64 on my PC running the newest version of Cisco Secure Client 8.4.2.30317 (released yesterday) and the issue still exists. In the console, Cisco gives the Zotero.exe a threat score of 64, which is medium range.

    (sorry for posting on the second thread for this problem, but the other one is two weeks old. If this is a problem, my comment may of course be merged into the other thread)

    Regards
  • dstillman
    @spagel: There's nothing we can do on this. You'll need to ask your IT department to contact Cisco.
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