Re: Existing applications won't run now

From: chuck (chuck_at_homeplansoftware.com.nospamplease)
Date: 11/23/05 

Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 10:17:03 -0800

Steve,
Thanks for the good and prompt input. I appreciate it.

I stumbled on a new factor.
All our exe's and dll's are compressed with a compression utility (Shrinker
fron Blink inc.), after compilation and prior to putting in the installation.
We've been doing that for years to reduce the file size and to discourage
hacking and reverse engineering.

Well, I find that If we don't compress the exe and dll files, they run
normally on this XP home machine. It is only when the files are compressed
that they refuse to load.

They have been running compressed on this machine for about two years, but
something has changed so that these compressed executables will not start.

I sent a message to the utility maker and made some new installations with
un-compressed executables to send to the affected users.

I hope that somebody can fix it so we can continue to compress these files.
If you have any ideas, or hear of anything, I'd really appreciate your
letting me know. 

-- 
Chuck
Home Plan Software
-------------------------------------------
"Steven L Umbach" wrote:
> What I would do if possible is to first make an image of that computer with 
> something like Norton Ghost so that no matter what you do you can get the 
> computer back to the original state for a quick restore because it will 
> become difficult to track things down as you make changes and try things.
> 
> You can uninstall the update though I have to wonder if it is related since 
> it was installed a couple months ago unless the problem happened right after 
> that. Since the application works in safe mode that tells me there is a 
> problem with a startup service, application [including malware/spyware], or 
> maybe even a driver. You can use msconfig to do selective startup of the 
> operating system to try and track down what service/application/driver is 
> causing the problem and this can be tedious because it has to be done in a 
> trial and error method. Look again in Add and Remove programs for any 
> applications that have recently been installed which could be suspect.  I 
> would also do a full scan for malware and spyware because they can also 
> interfere with an application starting. AdAware SE is a pretty good spyware 
> program and whatever antivirus program you use be sure to use the latest 
> virus definitions that are up to date as of today. Trend Micro Sysclean 
> should be used as a second opinion for malware and it is free. You can use 
> Device Manager to check the status of and to test the modem. See the links 
> below for more details.   --- Steve
> 
> http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html  --- AdAware SE
> http://www.trendmicro.com/download/dcs.asp   --- Sysclean
> http://www.trendmicro.com/download/pattern.asp   --- virus pattern file
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434   ---  
> advanced clean boot troubleshooting using msconfig
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353
> 
> "chuck" <chuck@homeplansoftware.com.nospamplease> wrote in message 
> news:FEF941C8-7336-4A8F-95F5-C366F1F4EA8A@microsoft.com...
> > Steve,
> >
> > Thanks for the reply.
> > Through a very fortunate circumtance, I was able to get hold of a machine
> > that is refusing to run one of our applications.  It's sitting right here 
> > in
> > my office.
> >
> > This machine has XP Home ver 2002 service pack 1.
> > On Sept 3. 2005 "Update for Windows XP (KB898461)" was installed.
> >
> > The machine has two problems.
> > 1.  The Modem disappeared from Windows' notice, disabling its dialup
> > connection.
> > 2    Our app EasyMail won't run.
> >
> > Both the modem and EasyMail had been working for a couple years, and both
> > seemed to quit working at the same time.
> >
> > The machine has two users: "Motorcycle Mike" and "Ruth the Sweet". Both 
> > have
> > admin privileges.  Neither can run EasyMail, except in Safe Mode. EasyMail
> > will run in Safe Mode from both users.  In Normal mode, the hourglass 
> > flashes
> > for a couple seconds and then nothing.
> >
> > I can't see any new entries in the Events log after trying to start 
> > EasyMail
> > in Normal Mode.
> >
> > Here I have the malfunction right in front of me, and I don't know the 
> > best
> > way to go at this thing.
> > Should I uninstall  "Update for Windows XP (KB898461)"?
> > -- 
> > Chuck
> > Home Plan Software
> > ------------------------------------------------
> >
> > "Steven L Umbach" wrote:
> >
> >> First off I am not a programmer or developer so I could not say exactly 
> >> what
> >> the problem is but I would try to find some common ground with the 
> >> problem
> >> as in did a specific event trigger it such as installation of SP2 or a
> >> particular security update. SP2 tightened up security quite a bit which 
> >> did
> >> cause some applications to fail but that should not be something you are
> >> hearing about just now. You can use Add and Remove programs and select 
> >> show
> >> updates to see what updates have been installed and when. I would also 
> >> check
> >> the membership of the user who is having a problem compared to the
> >> membership of the user that is not to see if there is a difference. The
> >> support tool whoami is probably best to do that with the /groups option.
> >> Also the logs you see with Event Viewer can show valuable information 
> >> though
> >> you may need to enable more auditing such as privilege use, process
> >> tracking, and object access for failure and enable auditing on all
> >> folders/registry keys the application would use which is not a user 
> >> friendly
> >> process. Of course you would want to duplicate the customers computer
> >> configuration even if it means cloning their computer so you can see
> >> firsthand what is going on and compare to installations that are not 
> >> having
> >> the problem. SysInternals makes valuable and free tools such as
> >> Filemon,Regmon, and Process Explorer that can track real time activity of 
> >> an
> >> application/operating system.  Booting into Safe Mode and scanning for
> >> malware/spyware should also be done. --- Steve
> >>
> >>
> >> "chuck" <chuck@homeplansoftware.com.nospamplease> wrote in message
> >> news:33217E83-AC9B-426D-9E23-CE5A9E9398D8@microsoft.com...
> >> >I hope someone can shed some light on a perplexing problem.
> >> > Our company has been developing and selling software for several years.
> >> >
> >> > In the last two weeks, we have had several reports from long time users
> >> > that
> >> > our software no longer runs.
> >> > When they double-click on an exe file nothing at all happens.
> >> > If they create a new user with admin privileges, they can run the
> >> > application as that new user.  This even though the previous user had
> >> > admin
> >> > privileges.
> >> >
> >> > These are XP users with sp2. I haven't been able to determine any other
> >> > common thing that has changed on these machines.
> >> >
> >> > These programs were installed over two years ago and have run fine 
> >> > until
> >> > now.
> >> >
> >> > What could have happen now to cause these machines to suddenly stop
> >> > running
> >> > our programs?
> >> >
> >> > What can I do?
> >> > -- 
> >> > Chuck
> >> > Home Plan Software
> >>
> >>
> >> 
> 
> 
>

Relevant Pages

  • Re: SBS2003 SP1 Installation Files - Can I remove?
    ... >> I have 2 locations of what seem to be installation files for SP1 for our ... > The ServicePackFiles folder is needed, as it acts as a supplementary ... it probably won't compress much). ... > Steve Foster [SBS MVP] ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • RE: Compressed (Zip) Folders: Why does it show in some versions of Win
    ... The compressed ZIP folder is a part of the operating system. ... It may be altered when one installs a 3rd party ZIP manager such as Winzip [depending upon the installation settings chose by the operator on installation]. ... > Properties then Advanced to choose to compress the file/folder. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Installation of XP Home
    ... Win98 has a tool called "DriveSpace." ... You have used it to compress some ... DriveSpace will not work in WinXP, ... can continue with the XP installation. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.accessibility)
  • Re: Existing applications wont run now
    ... Device Manager to check the status of and to test the modem. ... > 2 Our app EasyMail won't run. ... Neither can run EasyMail, except in Safe Mode. ... >> as in did a specific event trigger it such as installation of SP2 or a ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: Existing applications wont run now
    ... that is refusing to run one of our applications. ... Our app EasyMail won't run. ... Neither can run EasyMail, except in Safe Mode. ... > as in did a specific event trigger it such as installation of SP2 or a ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)