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stevef86's avatar
stevef86
New Member
11 hours ago

Empty MDS file

Hi, wondering if anyone ran into this. We have a test suite that has been in use for years but we found that we haven't been able to open TestComplete. Looking at the event viewer, we have this: The...
Hassan_Ballan's avatar
Hassan_Ballan
Icon for Champion Level 3 rankChampion Level 3
7 hours ago

The key issue here is the .MDS file being 0 KB.

The .MDS file stores the project suite metadata. If it becomes empty, TestComplete cannot load the project and will typically hang during startup (which matches the Cross-thread hang you're seeing).

A 0 KB file usually means the file write was interrupted while TestComplete was saving. Common causes include:

  • Application closed or terminated during save
  • System restart while open
  • Disk interruption
  • Antivirus locking/scanning the file during write

Antivirus is a common culprit — real-time scanning can lock the file mid-write and leave it truncated.

Recovery

If you have a backup, restore the .MDS file (or the project folder). Unfortunately, a 0 KB .MDS file cannot be rebuilt manually.

Prevention

  • Exclude the project folder from antivirus real-time scanning
  • Avoid forced shutdowns while TestComplete is open
  • Maintain regular backups or use version control

If this happens again without interruption or AV involvement, consider opening a Support ticket for further investigation.

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