I recently decided to try FreeVPN.me with OpenVPN but did not realise the problems I would encounter. I have Win 8.1 on a fast desktop PC. The problems I am meeting are: 1. Cannot get OpenVPN to start up automatically despite following all the OpenVPN guidelines and extensive Internet searches. I have ticked 'Run as administrator', inserted the appropriate string in HKCU plus --route-method exe, added RAS. OpenVPN appears in the startup list in msconfig but it still does not start on boot. So, I can't even think about adding a logon feature for FreeVPN.me. 2. With the VPN connected, I can neither send nor receive e-mails. This is evidently a concise version of the story but I have spent much of the last week on these issues and have just about reached the end of my tether. Can anyone offer any suggestions - preferably in layman's terms?

[quote]OpenVPN appears in the startup list in msconfig but it still does not start on boot[/quote] did you checked openvpns logs to see what is happening? you do understand that this is not openvpns problem... [quote]With the VPN connected, I can neither send nor receive e-mails. [/quote] which mail server do you use? is it a corporate mail server or a ISPs one? if you know its ip you can exclude the traffic to it via the vpn. Michael.

[quote="maikcat"][quote]OpenVPN appears in the startup list in msconfig but it still does not start on boot[/quote][/quote] did you checked openvpns logs to see what is happening? you do understand that this is not openvpns problem... [quote] The logs for the four ports all say the same: Fri Mar 27 20:08:22 2015 OpenVPN 2.3.6 x86_64-w64-mingw32 [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [PKCS11] [IPv6] built on Dec 1 2014 Fri Mar 27 20:08:22 2015 library versions: OpenSSL 1.0.1j 15 Oct 2014, LZO 2.08 Enter Auth Username: I called my hosting service to see if they had any ideas and they said to contact the VPN provider.

[quote="maikcat"][quote] which mail server do you use? is it a corporate mail server or a ISPs one? if you know its ip you can exclude the traffic to it via the vpn. Michael.[/quote][/quote] My incoming mail is handled by an independent hosting company. Outgoing mail is handled by the SMTP server of my ISP. Neither of them are accessible via the VPN. I didn't know I could exclude IP addresses from the VPN. I will look into that or perhaps you can tell me how it works.

[quote]Enter Auth Username:[/quote] the openvpn prompts for username... post your configs please. [quote]My incoming mail is handled by an independent hosting company. Outgoing mail is handled by the SMTP server of my ISP. Neither of them are accessible via the VPN. I didn't know I could exclude IP addresses from the VPN. I will look into that or perhaps you can tell me how it works.[/quote] if you know their ip addresses you can add something like this to your config: [code]route x.x.x.x 255.255.255.255 net_gateway[/code] this will cause traffic for x.x.x.x ip to flow via your internet router. Miichael.

I think the problem is deeper than that. It seems the log files are not logging anything but they are being updated each time I log in. The config files are all in contiguous code. Every time I want to use the VPN, I have to double-click the Open VPN icon and the right-click the tray icon and select 'Connect'.. A screen then appears with the following text: ------------------ Tue Mar 31 15:55:46 2015 Warning: cannot open --log file: C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\log\FreeVPN.me-TCP80.log: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. (errno=32) Tue Mar 31 15:55:46 2015 OpenVPN 2.3.6 x86_64-w64-mingw32 [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [PKCS11] [IPv6] built on Dec 1 2014 Tue Mar 31 15:55:46 2015 library versions: OpenSSL 1.0.1j 15 Oct 2014, LZO 2.08 Tue Mar 31 15:55:46 2015 MANAGEMENT: TCP Socket listening on [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:25341 Tue Mar 31 15:55:46 2015 Need hold release from management interface, waiting... Tue Mar 31 15:55:47 2015 MANAGEMENT: Client connected from [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:25341 Tue Mar 31 15:55:47 2015 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'state on' Tue Mar 31 15:55:47 2015 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'log all on' Tue Mar 31 15:55:47 2015 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'hold off' Tue Mar 31 15:55:47 2015 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'hold release' ------------------------------------ A login screen appears asking for user and password. Once I enter those details, a lot more scrolling text is added but disappears before I have time to read it. I am then connect to FreeVPN.me. Does any of this help to unravel the situation?

if you are using the openvpn GUI you can access the log by right clicking on it and select view log option but i may be wrong because i dont know which GUI are you using... :( Michael.

[quote="TopGeek"]Tue Mar 31 15:55:46 2015 Warning: cannot open --log file: C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\log\FreeVPN.me-TCP80.log: The process [u]cannot access the file because it is being used by another process[/u]. (errno=32)[/quote]Are you run as admin .. is openvpn run already ?

[quote="maikcat"]if you are using the openvpn GUI you can access the log by right clicking on it and select view log option but i may be wrong because i dont know which GUI are you using... :( Michael.[/quote] Yes, I am using the OpenVpn GUI and the log opens with the text shown above, ending with Enter Auth user name:.

[quote="Traffic"][quote="TopGeek"]Tue Mar 31 15:55:46 2015 Warning: cannot open --log file: C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\log\FreeVPN.me-TCP80.log: The process [u]cannot access the file because it is being used by another process[/u]. (errno=32)[/quote]Are you run as admin .. is openvpn run already ?[/quote] Yes, OpenVPN is running as Admin. It runs manually and the tray icon turns green. The ip address changes to the FreeVPN.me server address. It is just that I cannot get anything to run automatically and I cannot get access to e-mail.

[quote="TopGeek"]Warning: cannot open --[u]log file: C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\log\FreeVPN.me-TCP80.log[/u]: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process[/quote][quote="TopGeek"]A login screen appears asking for user and password. Once I enter those details, a lot more scrolling text is added but disappears before I have time to read it[/quote]The log file it detailed [u]above[/u] .. Typically, the error you have is caused by running the same openvpn config twice .. which openvpn can not do ..

New user problems

Traffic

Just to be clear - W8 does have a start menu .. it is called the classic menu ..
The screen you are looking at, I believe, is called Metro and it is ghastly ..

Let me duck duck go that for you ..

This forum does not provide support for Microsoft.

TopGeek

Traffic wrote

TopGeek wroteauth-user-pass C:\Program files\OpenVPN\config\(filename).txt

This is wrong

auth-user-pass "C:\\Program files\\OpenVPN\\config\\(filename).txt"

This is right ..

To autostart on user login:

Windows-Start-Menu > Startup > New Shortcut:
Command:

openvpn-gui.exe --connect client.ovpn

where client.ovpn is the name of your client profile ..

This cannot be done on boot .. to connect on boot you must use the Openvpn Windows Service.

I've tried all of these ideas but all I have achieved is to display the contents of the config file as a popup. I still have to double-click the OpenVPN-GUI desktop icon to display the tray icon, right-click, select the config file and connect from there.
Having the OpenVPN Service on automatic or manual seems to make no difference.

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