How to install VFP without SOAP

If you try to install Visual FoxPro (7.0 or above) without first installing the SOAP toolkit, you will hit a wall. The Setup program checks for the presence of the toolkit (and other prerequisites). If it does not find it, it forces you to install it before you can install VFP itself.

Normally, this is not a problem. The SOAP toolkit is present on the VFP CD, and it only takes one mouse click to start installing it.

However, this does always work. I have occasionally come across machines that refuse to install the toolkit from the VFP CD. I don't know the reason for this. I can only say it seems to mainly affect Windows 2000 systems.

These machines have no problem in installing the toolkit if you download it from the Microsoft site. But what if you haven't got an Internet connection or permission to download files?

In fact, it is possible to install VFP without the SOAP toolkit. Proceed as follows:

1. Insert the VFP CD.

2. If Windows launches the Setup program or welcome screen, close it.

3. In the Windows Run dialogue, type:


where x is the letter of your CD drive.

The parameter in the above command tells the Setup program to skip the check for the prerequisites (all the prerequisites, not just the SOAP toolkit). VFP will then happily install itself.

The documentation warns that "Visual FoxPro will not function properly without these components". In the case of the SOAP toolkit, that applies only to the features that actually need SOAP, notably calls to web services. All other parts of VFP appear to work as you would expect.

Note: My experience with this technique applies only to VFP 8.0. I assume the same solution applies with 7.0 and 9.0, but I have never tested it. For more information, see the file at WCU\help\moreinfo.htm on the VFP CD.

Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland
www.ml-consult.co.uk