Re: Install Problem with FPW26a Application

Thank you Lee!!! After I read your response and answered it, I took a look
at the Start Menu\Programs folder and sure enough, I had one entry that was
56 characters long. This entry was not too old but I can't say when it was
installed. I truncated that one and tried my program setup again - It
WORKED!! I also tried setup via the Start Menu Run command and it worked
too! I sure don't understand what the Start Menu has to do with it if I
don't use that folder but it makes a difference. This also explains why
only one other (and myself) have reported this problem after years and
installation by hundreds. Do you know the reason for this strange
behavior? I sure would be interested in knowing.

Many thanks again - it could have taken me years to stumble on that one - if
ever.
Ray

Lee Mitchell <Leemi@online.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Hi Ray:
>
> I have heard of this error when any menu option in the Start Menu
> folder has a name greater than 49 characters in length. Do you have
> any folders
> in the Start menu that might meet this criteria? If so, the only
> option is to decrease the length of the name.
>
> I hope this helps and have a Happy New Year!
>
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights.
>
> Sincerely,
> Microsoft FoxPro Technical Support
> Lee Mitchell
>
> *-- VFP8 HAS ARRIVED!! --*
> Read about all the new features of VFP8 here:
> http://www.universalthread.com/VisualFoxPro/News/VFP8Release.asp
> Purchase VFP8 here:
> http://shop.microsoft.com/Referral/Productinfo.asp?siteID=11518
>
> Keep an eye on the product lifecycle for Visual FoxPro here:
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=fh;[ln];lifeprodv
> - VFP5 Mainstream Support retired June 30th, 2003
> - VFP6 Mainstream Support retires Sept. 30th, 2003
>
>> I've got a real problem with a FPW2.6a program and I could use
>> some big help on it! This is long but I don't know how to shorten
>> it, sorry.
>
>> Here's the problem:
>> I have a program that has existed for many years and is downloaded
>> over the internet. There have been a number of upgrades made and
>> is currently on version 4.1. The program has been installed by
>> hundreds of different people and more times than that by me
>> personally with no problems. Yesterday I got a message from a new
>> user using WinXP. He said he could not install the program and
>> got the following error message during install: "An error has
>> occurred in your application / If you choose Ignore you should
>> save your work in a new file / If you choose close, your
>> application will terminate." The error window within the FPW
>> install window is titled "DSHELL".
>
>> What I've done:
>> I tried to install the program and I too got an error. On a
>> Win98SE machine the error read similar indicating a problem with
>> DSHELL. The "ignore" button does nothing. After using the
>> "Close" button, the machine exhibits a "not enough memory" error
>> if I try installing again without resetting the computer. I tried
>> to install an older version of the same program and now get the
>> same error (when I had installed from the same install files many
>> times before). I re-setup the program within FPW26a and then
>> tried another install. Got the same failure.
>
>> As of now, I can not install any version of the program.
>
>> I did a complete virus check on the machine and there is no virus.
>
>> I know that the install program's setup.lst file shows, under
>> [Params] section, that DrvModName = DSHELL but I do not know the
>> significance of it.
>
>> It seems to me that maybe one of the dlls that get installed by
>> the FPW26a installer is bad and for some reason (?) replaced the
>> one I had on my machine. This would have to be one of the old FPW
>> era dlls since common ones would be dated much later and should
>> not get replaced. I tried removing some some of these old dlls
>> and replaced them with ones that came with FPW26a. Now I get a
>> different error that "Bind time error. 'SPAWN' not found in
>> specified library" before I can get to the original error.
>
>> Any help would be greatly appreciated!
>
>> Ray

Leemi
Wed Dec 31 09:23:24 CST 2003

Hi Ray:

Thank you very much for the feedback. I am glad that suggestion helped you
get the application installed.

This was simply a bug in the FoxPro 2.x Setup. The FoxPro 2.x Setup
program had no concept of long folder names. Remember, when FP 2.x was
created, we were running DOS 3.x and Windows 3.11! No long folder names in
that universe.

The error is documented in a Knowledge Base article; however, since we no
longer support FoxPro 2.x, those are not available for pubic consumption.

Have a Happy New Year.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Sincerely,
Microsoft FoxPro Technical Support
Lee Mitchell

*-- VFP8 HAS ARRIVED!! --*
Read about all the new features of VFP8 here:
http://www.universalthread.com/VisualFoxPro/News/VFP8Release.asp
Purchase VFP8 here:
http://shop.microsoft.com/Referral/Productinfo.asp?siteID=11518

Keep an eye on the product lifecycle for Visual FoxPro here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=fh;[ln];lifeprodv
- VFP5 Mainstream Support retired June 30th, 2003
- VFP6 Mainstream Support retires Sept. 30th, 2003


>Thank you Lee!!! After I read your response and answered it, I took a look
>at the Start Menu\Programs folder and sure enough, I had one entry that was
>56 characters long. This entry was not too old but I can't say when it was
>installed. I truncated that one and tried my program setup again - It
>WORKED!! I also tried setup via the Start Menu Run command and it worked
>too! I sure don't understand what the Start Menu has to do with it if I
>don't use that folder but it makes a difference. This also explains why
>only one other (and myself) have reported this problem after years and
>installation by hundreds. Do you know the reason for this strange
>behavior? I sure would be interested in knowing.

>Many thanks again - it could have taken me years to stumble on that one -
if
>ever.
>Ray

>Lee Mitchell <Leemi@online.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Hi Ray:
>
> I have heard of this error when any menu option in the Start Menu
> folder has a name greater than 49 characters in length. Do you have
> any folders
> in the Start menu that might meet this criteria? If so, the only
> option is to decrease the length of the name.
>
> I hope this helps and have a Happy New Year!
>
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights.
>
> Sincerely,
> Microsoft FoxPro Technical Support
> Lee Mitchell
>
> *-- VFP8 HAS ARRIVED!! --*
> Read about all the new features of VFP8 here:
> http://www.universalthread.com/VisualFoxPro/News/VFP8Release.asp
> Purchase VFP8 here:
> http://shop.microsoft.com/Referral/Productinfo.asp?siteID=11518
>
> Keep an eye on the product lifecycle for Visual FoxPro here:
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=fh;[ln];lifeprodv
> - VFP5 Mainstream Support retired June 30th, 2003
> - VFP6 Mainstream Support retires Sept. 30th, 2003
>
>> I've got a real problem with a FPW2.6a program and I could use
>> some big help on it! This is long but I don't know how to shorten
>> it, sorry.
>
>> Here's the problem:
>> I have a program that has existed for many years and is downloaded
>> over the internet. There have been a number of upgrades made and
>> is currently on version 4.1. The program has been installed by
>> hundreds of different people and more times than that by me
>> personally with no problems. Yesterday I got a message from a new
>> user using WinXP. He said he could not install the program and
>> got the following error message during install: "An error has
>> occurred in your application / If you choose Ignore you should
>> save your work in a new file / If you choose close, your
>> application will terminate." The error window within the FPW
>> install window is titled "DSHELL".
>
>> What I've done:
>> I tried to install the program and I too got an error. On a
>> Win98SE machine the error read similar indicating a problem with
>> DSHELL. The "ignore" button does nothing. After using the
>> "Close" button, the machine exhibits a "not enough memory" error
>> if I try installing again without resetting the computer. I tried
>> to install an older version of the same program and now get the
>> same error (when I had installed from the same install files many
>> times before). I re-setup the program within FPW26a and then
>> tried another install. Got the same failure.
>
>> As of now, I can not install any version of the program.
>
>> I did a complete virus check on the machine and there is no virus.
>
>> I know that the install program's setup.lst file shows, under
>> [Params] section, that DrvModName = DSHELL but I do not know the
>> significance of it.
>
>> It seems to me that maybe one of the dlls that get installed by
>> the FPW26a installer is bad and for some reason (?) replaced the
>> one I had on my machine. This would have to be one of the old FPW
>> era dlls since common ones would be dated much later and should
>> not get replaced. I tried removing some some of these old dlls
>> and replaced them with ones that came with FPW26a. Now I get a
>> different error that "Bind time error. 'SPAWN' not found in
>> specified library" before I can get to the original error.
>
>> Any help would be greatly appreciated!
>
>> Ray

Ray
Wed Dec 31 11:58:51 CST 2003

Lee Mitchell wrote:
> Hi Ray:
>
> Thank you very much for the feedback. I am glad that suggestion
> helped you get the application installed.
>
> This was simply a bug in the FoxPro 2.x Setup. The FoxPro 2.x Setup
> program had no concept of long folder names. Remember, when FP 2.x
> was created, we were running DOS 3.x and Windows 3.11! No long
> folder names in that universe.
>
> The error is documented in a Knowledge Base article; however, since
> we no longer support FoxPro 2.x, those are not available for pubic
> consumption.
>
> Have a Happy New Year.
>
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights.
>
> Sincerely,
> Microsoft FoxPro Technical Support
> Lee Mitchell

Thanks again for the information. Would you happen to know the KB number?
I thought I had a pretty complete record of all applicable articles/KB items
and other documents relating to FPW (it's a big folder) but I didn't find
anything related when I searched prior to asking for help here.

Incidently, the only user that had this problem (besides me) was aghast when
I told him what to do to get the program installed but it worked for him too
:o).

Thanks once again! This newsgroup is great even for us who work in the
distant past.

Happy New Year to All,
Ray

>> Thank you Lee!!! After I read your response and answered it, I
>> took a look at the Start Menu\Programs folder and sure enough, I
>> had one entry that was 56 characters long. This entry was not too
>> old but I can't say when it was installed. I truncated that one
>> and tried my program setup again - It WORKED!! I also tried setup
>> via the Start Menu Run command and it worked too! I sure don't
>> understand what the Start Menu has to do with it if I don't use
>> that folder but it makes a difference. This also explains why
>> only one other (and myself) have reported this problem after years
>> and installation by hundreds. Do you know the reason for this
>> strange behavior? I sure would be interested in knowing.
>
>> Many thanks again - it could have taken me years to stumble on
>> that one - if ever.
>> Ray
>
>> Lee Mitchell <Leemi@online.microsoft.com> wrote:
>> Hi Ray:
>>
>> I have heard of this error when any menu option in the Start Menu
>> folder has a name greater than 49 characters in length. Do you have
>> any folders
>> in the Start menu that might meet this criteria? If so, the only
>> option is to decrease the length of the name.
>>
>> I hope this helps and have a Happy New Year!
>>
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>> rights.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Microsoft FoxPro Technical Support
>> Lee Mitchell
>>
>> *-- VFP8 HAS ARRIVED!! --*
>> Read about all the new features of VFP8 here:
>> http://www.universalthread.com/VisualFoxPro/News/VFP8Release.asp
>> Purchase VFP8 here:
>> http://shop.microsoft.com/Referral/Productinfo.asp?siteID=11518
>>
>> Keep an eye on the product lifecycle for Visual FoxPro here:
>> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=fh;[ln];lifeprodv
>> - VFP5 Mainstream Support retired June 30th, 2003
>> - VFP6 Mainstream Support retires Sept. 30th, 2003
>>
>>> I've got a real problem with a FPW2.6a program and I could use
>>> some big help on it! This is long but I don't know how to shorten
>>> it, sorry.
>>
>>> Here's the problem:
>>> I have a program that has existed for many years and is downloaded
>>> over the internet. There have been a number of upgrades made and
>>> is currently on version 4.1. The program has been installed by
>>> hundreds of different people and more times than that by me
>>> personally with no problems. Yesterday I got a message from a new
>>> user using WinXP. He said he could not install the program and
>>> got the following error message during install: "An error has
>>> occurred in your application / If you choose Ignore you should
>>> save your work in a new file / If you choose close, your
>>> application will terminate." The error window within the FPW
>>> install window is titled "DSHELL".
>>
>>> What I've done:
>>> I tried to install the program and I too got an error. On a
>>> Win98SE machine the error read similar indicating a problem with
>>> DSHELL. The "ignore" button does nothing. After using the
>>> "Close" button, the machine exhibits a "not enough memory" error
>>> if I try installing again without resetting the computer. I tried
>>> to install an older version of the same program and now get the
>>> same error (when I had installed from the same install files many
>>> times before). I re-setup the program within FPW26a and then
>>> tried another install. Got the same failure.
>>
>>> As of now, I can not install any version of the program.
>>
>>> I did a complete virus check on the machine and there is no virus.
>>
>>> I know that the install program's setup.lst file shows, under
>>> [Params] section, that DrvModName = DSHELL but I do not know the
>>> significance of it.
>>
>>> It seems to me that maybe one of the dlls that get installed by
>>> the FPW26a installer is bad and for some reason (?) replaced the
>>> one I had on my machine. This would have to be one of the old FPW
>>> era dlls since common ones would be dated much later and should
>>> not get replaced. I tried removing some some of these old dlls
>>> and replaced them with ones that came with FPW26a. Now I get a
>>> different error that "Bind time error. 'SPAWN' not found in
>>> specified library" before I can get to the original error.
>>
>>> Any help would be greatly appreciated!
>>
>>> Ray