The error — “The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process”, usually seen while the updater reports Backing up files — means something on your PC is holding a file open in the Stardraw Design 7.4 program folder, so the updater cannot replace it.

During an update, every file in C:\Program Files\Stardraw.com Ltd\Stardraw Design 7.4 that has a new version to install is first written out as a .bak (backup) file; those .bak files are then deleted at the end of the process. If another process has one of those files open, the update cannot complete.

Please work through the following steps in order. Steps 1 to 4 resolve the great majority of cases; steps 5 and 6 are only needed if the update still will not complete, and are best carried out by whoever looks after your IT.

1. Close Stardraw Design 7.4. Save any work in progress and exit the application.
2. Confirm that the application has stopped completely. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, select the Details tab, and look for any entry whose name begins with Stardraw Design 7. If you find one, select it and click End task. It is common for a copy of the application to remain running invisibly after the window has been closed, and this alone will prevent the update.
3. Delete any leftover backup files. Open C:\Program Files\Stardraw.com Ltd\Stardraw Design 7.4 in File Explorer and delete every file whose name ends in .bak. Windows will ask you to confirm this as an administrator. If there are no .bak files, simply continue to the next step.
4. Run the updater as an administrator. Right-click Stardraw Updater.exe and select Run as administrator — do not simply double-click it. In most cases the update will now complete normally.
5. If the update still fails, find out which program is holding the files open. The culprit is a program on your own system rather than anything installed by Stardraw.com — most often antivirus software, OneDrive or another file-sync service, backup software, or a roaming or remote user profile. Windows includes a tool called Resource Monitor that will name it: open it from the Start menu, go to the CPU tab, expand Associated Handles, and type .bak into the search box. Anything listed there is holding one of the backup files open.
6. Stop that program, then try again. Close or temporarily disable whatever step 5 identified — or end it in Task Manager — and then return to step 3 and repeat the process from there.

Note that disabling antivirus software on its own is often not enough, because several different programs can hold a file open. If you have worked through all six steps and the update still will not complete, please contact techsupport@stardraw.com and tell us which step you reached and what Resource Monitor reported.