HMI project seek failed after moving PCs: check the software version

What the seek message is telling you

A seek failure means the software asked the operating system for a position inside the file and did not get there. On a project just copied between two PCs, two causes cover nearly every case: the receiving computer runs a different release of the project software, which can read the file's internal layout differently, or the copy itself is damaged. The message names the point where reading stopped; it does not, by itself, tell you which of the two you have. That is why the version comparison comes first and the storage check comes last.

Use the path in the message. A line reading Seek failed on C:\Documents and Settings\Desktop.eap names the exact file the software tried to read, so confirm the copy actually sits at that path and that you are opening the copy you meant to open.

Symptoms and what each points to

• Seek failed on the copy, while the original still opens on the source computer. Software version mismatch. Start there.
• Seek failed on the original, on the computer that always opened it. File or storage. Copy the project to a USB stick and try it on another computer before any repair.
• Two or more unrelated files give read errors on the same computer. Storage. Back up the whole drive before anything else.
• The project opens but screens, tags or fonts look wrong. A version difference changed content on the way in. Reopen with the saving version and use the documented conversion.
• The open stops with a rights or permissions message on a copied project. A different cause with its own handling; a project rights error on a copied project covers it.
• A download to the panel reports that the configured panel image version differs from the project before the transfer starts. The software is naming the version mismatch directly. Read it and align versions before moving anything.

The checks, in order

1. Open the original on the source computer. If it opens, the saved file is good and the copy carried it intact.
2. Compare the two files in bytes. Right-click each file, open Properties, and read Size, not Size on disk. A straight file copy is byte-for-byte, so both numbers must match exactly. A mismatch means the transfer went wrong, and the fix is another copy.
3. Read the software version on both computers. The Help or About screen prints the release. Write both down; recall fails here more often than the files do.
4. Open a fresh copy with the version that last saved the project. If the releases differ, this one check usually settles the case.
5. Stop after two failed open attempts on any one copy. Each save, conversion or repair run on the only copy is how good projects get lost. Keep the original untouched and work on duplicates.

Example: a laptop to desktop copy that fails

The desktop shows Seek failed on C:\Documents and Settings\Desktop.eap the first time the copied project is opened. Work the three checks:

1. The laptop still opens the original, so the saved file is good.
2. Both files report 1,647,214 bytes, so the copy arrived byte-for-byte.
3. The laptop's About screen shows a newer release than the desktop's.

The first two checks clear the file and the copy; the third names the cause. Install the laptop's release on the desktop and open a fresh copy: it opens on the first attempt.

The transfer numbers agree with the byte count. A project of 1,647,214 bytes is about 1.6 MB, and a USB 2.0 stick moves roughly 30 MB/s in practice, so the copy needs about 0.05 s of transfer time (1.6 MB ÷ 30 MB/s). A file that small that stalls for half a minute or lands at a different size points at the stick or the port. The byte comparison in check 2 catches it before any open attempt.

Decision: put the release that saved the project onto the receiving computer or run its documented conversion, keep the untouched original on the laptop as the master, and reopen the desktop copy once before calling the job done.

The fix

1. Match the release. Install on the receiving computer the version that last saved the project, or run the vendor's documented conversion path for moving a project between releases.
2. Convert a copy, never the original. Many packages upgrade a project's internal layout the first time a newer release saves it, and the older computer may not open that upgraded file again. Run any upgrade on a duplicate.
3. Verify the contents. Every screen opens, tags resolve, trends draw, alarm lists fill. An open that succeeds twice, with a close in between, is the test that matters.
4. Write the version down. Record which release opens the project, so the next transfer between these two computers starts with a version check instead of an error message.

Recommendation: when Seek failed appears on a copied project on one computer only, spend the first ten minutes on the version comparison and a fresh copy, and install or convert to the release that saved the file. Treat storage as the cause only when the original fails on its home computer or two or more unrelated files give read errors on the receiving one, and back up the whole drive before running any disk repair.

Copied projects failing on a new computer is a pattern across HMI packages. The version-first order is the same one other suites document for opening projects copied to another PC. Two related failures sit nearby: a CD-R backup that reports a read-only error fails on a read-only flag, and a transfer that stops early points at a missing firmware file in the project transfer.

When the disk is the real suspect

Two results move storage to the top of the list:

• The original fails on the computer that always opened it.
• Two or more unrelated files give read or seek errors on the same computer, or small copies stall partway.

Back up the whole drive before any repair attempt, then run the drive maker's storage check or plan a replacement. Faults that broad rarely stay confined to one project. The same failing computer often shows the trouble at boot as an invalid system disk error. When a project is genuinely damaged, recovery has its own procedure: recovering a corrupt project file after a crash walks that path.

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