Windows 10: Chrome Appcrash when using symbolic link or junction for User Data

Greetings,

See below a copy of a post on Google Chrome Support Forum. No reply received and closed now.

Two simple questions :

a. Does anyone else observe this problem when pointing Chrome User Data to another drive.
b. Any suggestion on how to tackle this problem.

Francis

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March 8 2020 :

Software : Windows 10 1909 with all regular updatesChrome Version 80.0.3987.132 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Multiple crashes reported in Reliability History, nothing special happening when using chrome
I moved Chrome Data using mklink junction to a second hard drive Nov 2019 and it worked fine until Feb 16.Since that date multiple crashes per day.
Uninstalled and reinstalled chrome with and without junction or symbolic link, and clearly the usage of chrome with chrome data on symbolic link causes the fault.
I assumed junctions and symlinks were completely transparent for applications since this is handled
under the hood by NTFS.
Any suggestions or clarifications ?


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Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: chrome.exe
Application Version: 80.0.3987.132
Application Timestamp: 5e59c95a
Fault Module Name: chrome.dll
Fault Module Version: 80.0.3987.132
Fault Module Timestamp: 5e59c95a
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 000000000072e088
OS Version: 10.0.18363.2.0.0.768.101
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 51f5
Additional Information 2: 51f58168666daa07ee67b0575ae7c253
Additional Information 3: 0efb
Additional Information 4: 0efb043f459c7060a855cf251f212f37

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: a1b4d56a5323978f7c37aa137da97c7d (2033280757470428285)

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Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe


Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: chrome.exe
Application Version: 80.0.3987.132
Application Timestamp: 5e59c95a
Fault Module Name: chrome_elf.dll
Fault Module Version: 80.0.3987.132
Fault Module Timestamp: 5e59c95a
Exception Code: 80000003
Exception Offset: 00000000000278ef
OS Version: 10.0.18363.2.0.0.768.101
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 5215
Additional Information 2: 5215ad3e3d0139679f581d725ae9704e
Additional Information 3: fb38
Additional Information 4: fb38b142f2653c9c406e4c2282ca660e


Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: fa9b36081f52c4595387f3a111bea29c (1407361281689559708)

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March 11 2020 :

Still investigating this issue which is for 100 % related to the usage of a junction or symbolic link to move Chrome User Data from the c:\ drive ( SSD ) to the g:\ drive ( regular hard drive ).Chrome is very stable without a link, crashes on every use when link is in effect.
From November last year to mid February this year Chrome was operating fine that way, because I tend to run the Windows reliability report a least once a week. I only noticed this from the reliability report because the chrome crashes have no visible effect on day to day chrome usage , so this may be happening when starting or closing chrome...
I used procmon from sysinternals to capture a "good" and "crashing" Chrome run. For the "crashing" capture there are a lot of reparse results in file operations which all point to the correct junction on the g:\ drive and subsequent file operations all succeed. No clue for the observed crashes in this procmon capture.
I even created the whole User Data subtree ( \users\myname\Appdata\local\Google\Chrome\ ) on the g:\ drive as a destination for the junction, but still permanent chrome crashes.
Any help in pointing me in the right direction greatly appreciated.






:)

 

Symbolic link (Junction/s), how-to mklink? Please help with Junction?

Hi all, having been a member at Seven then Ten forums for a fair while I'm hoping to find a straight answer here..? Apologies in advance if this is too verbose.
Windows 10 system booting from (UEFI) NVME with 2xSSDs + 2 MHDDs for storage...

An application (Xperia Companion) which will not let me select or personalise the location for saving backups of my cellular phone data...

Think I found a fair definition of the differences at the Computer hope site which would suggest it's a Junction I need:

I want Xperia companion to save backups to F:\Sony Backups NOT the default C:\Users\GD\Documents\Sony. Would the Junction (link) allow me to to fulfill my wants and could someone please demonstrate the mklink commands needed?

with thanks and regards,
Dave

 

SYmbolic Links and Junctions

In Windows 10 Pro , I am attempting to move the User Data directory C:\Users\m\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data to D:\Chrome Cache and Profile\User Data. In connection with that I added the following command in the Command Prompt window (run as administrator)
to make a junction.

mklink /J "C:\Users\m\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data" "D:\Chrome Cache and Profile\User Data"

I was following the procedure outlined here

Change Cache Location In Google Chrome

However the link is not working perhaps because I did not get the User Data directory moved correctly to D:\Chrome Cache and Profile\. I have the following questions

1. How do I delete the Junction link I made so I can start over? I prefer to use the Command Prompt window rather than find it in Explorer and delete it there because t when I go looking for it in Explorer I can't find it.

2. Does Windows 10 Pro allow Junctions to be made or should I use a Symbolic Link to D:\Chrome Cache and Profile\User Data? Which would be best if both can be used?

3. Is mklink via the command prompt the best way to do this? Or is there a better way?

I used a number of symbolic links on another computer a few years ago moving some directories from a small solid state drive to a larger hard drive and had no problem.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

SYmbolic Links and Junctions

Thanks for you help RobertUWin. Got my problem solved with your help. When I first attempted to set up the the junction by using this command

mklink /J "C:\Users\m\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data" "D:\Chrome Cache and Profile\User Data",

I had not first deleted the User Data directory from the Chrome folder. So I started over, removed the User Data directory from the
C:\Users\m\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data location, put it at
D:\Chrome Cache and Profile\User Data, then made the junction and everything worked as it should have.