Did you actually instruct MC to create sidecar files for all media types?
Lol, yeah, I did some MAJOR experimenting with your settings and NTFS permissions. Nothing seems to work.
The problem is, MC 25 ALWAYS wants to write to the original file, no matter the sidecar settings. I've tried different folder owners and NTFS settings to no avail.
I just wiped my computer about 2 weeks ago, and put on a fresh copy of windows. So far, MC 25 and a backup program are the only programs installed on Windows right now. So I doubt if any other program is interfering.
I've noticed that it first makes a new file, I guess with the new tags, and then deletes the original file. This leaves a file with read / write permissions, when the original file had read-only attributes. Then it also writes to the sidecar files, which is what I wanted.
I know it does this, because when I take off permissions under Authenticated Users for Write Attributes, Write Extended Attributes, Change Permissions, and Take Ownership, I am left with two of the same music files, the original with a (1) appended to the end of the file name, and the original read-only attribute still on it. I don't have any .wma's, so I'm not sure how it would act on those. I have .mp3's and .flac's. And the covers are in .jpg .
I am using "Update Tags (From Library)" manually to update my tags.
The above is what it usually does, at some random times it has deleted all the original files. It might have something to do with whatever User Function your using to write the files?
I'm looking for a setting that will not write to the original file, and only write to a sidecar file. I'm just going to use these in case I lose my library file. Then I can just suck it all back into a new library by the tags. Which works well, since some video files and such don't take tags anyway. I also use another computer that is hooked to my TV with a separate copy of MC 25 running, and connected to my network to get files (not running right now, so I know it's not that causing issues). Then I can just sync it by "Upgrade Library from Tags".
You guys wrote a great program, best I've seen yet! So far it's just this one irritating bug.