bibtex fails with error: “document.blg: Forbidden to open for writing”

Question

I am using a Windows Vista system. From the command line,

pdflatex ...document

works fine, with the expected errors about missing citations. It also reports:

No file document.bbl

which I assume is ok, because I think document.bbl is to be created by bibtex. However, when I run bibtex I get the error

document.blg: Forbidden to open for writing I couldn't open file ...document.blg

I thought bibtex created and wrote its own log file (.blg); so I am confused about how to proceed.

try running the executables as administrator. This is probably a windows security error. Right click on the file and use run as administrator.
@YiannisLazarides: I wouldn't adivse on running arbitrary programs as administrator. Especially not to one still running Vista. ,-)

Martin Schröder · Answer 1 · 2011-12-19 22:55:28Z

up vote 1 down vote

Google is your friend. I found these answers:

answered Dec 19 '11 at 22:55

Martin Schröder
6,76121462

	Thank you for your time and effort. The first reference is for a package called TeXnicCenter, which apparently provides for "make-like" command line arguments for bibtex. The second is for TexLive 2010, which is what I was using, but only the question is posted - no answer. I do appreciate your effort to help someone who is still working at the "magic" level. – Gene Dec 21 '11 at 15:19
	@Gene: Follow the links `next message` for the second reference. It brings you to tug.org/pipermail/tex-live/2010-September/027234.html and tug.org/pipermail/tex-live/2010-September/027246.html – Martin Schröder Dec 21 '11 at 16:25

1 Answer