Help Needed - can't install SK98 in Windows 7 Home Premium 3

[IanMcKean]

thread807-1571275

I had SK98 working in XP and Vista but cannot install it in Windows 7 Home Premium. I have an install file called skw98sea.exe which is 8972 kb dated 5/11/2001 23:24. I have tried all the compatibility settings but the install won't run. I also tried Internet Sidekick and that did not work either. Reading the forum it seems that a lot of people have managed to get it to work in W7. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Ian

 

[jimalex]

Hi, I have installed it on Windows7 64bit using the procedure James33 indicates in this forum. I think you will find it on

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=3761

or thereabouts.

 

[james33]

Glad to hear that jimalex, good luck!

Jim

 

[IanMcKean]

Thanks Jimalex, but the link you refer to leads to details of a CD with install files, not a procedure. I have the SK98 install file and the patch. I looked at faq807-7112, but this doesn't help because I can't get past the program compatibility error stage, even after trying all the options. So I am still stuck.

Note, I then tried another approach, running SKW from an installed file on an external disk (actually what used to be my windows XP internal disk). First I got the "can't start because TIMESYNC.DLL is missing. In my XP disk, this is located in /Windows/System32. I copied it into the …sidekick98/program folder and this sorted this error. But then I got a strange error with spurious characters followed by cityinfo.dat. This file is present, so I don’t know what to do.

BTW, I also tried installing Internet Sidekick but that won't install either, also getting stuck at the compatibility stage.

Any suggestions?

 

[jimalex]

Sorry I gave you a bum steer. I installed 98 back in 2009 when it was possible to download seven zip files and a 98 patch free. This appears to have disappeared and instead there is a CD to purchase. However, have a look at

http://softwaretopic.informer.com/starfish-sidekick-98-windows-7/

it may have what I have.
It was important to use the correct directory. In my case it is
C:/STARFISH/SIDEKICK
Downloading the zip files involved one file per zip and one file for the patch.
In Disk 1 unzipped there is a set-up file and following this one zip at a time is all I remember having to do.
I still have the zip files and patch and suspect that the above url may be the same thing. This of course is starting from scratch and in using the software you already have I can only suggest the directory. If you go back to the forum page for 2009 it's a bit of an agony page (page5?) of trouble where such things as Safe Mode and new PIMs found a result but starting from scratch is all I know.

 

[jimalex]

Footnote- just had a look at the url. It lists all Starfish Sidekicks but does not look trustworthy.

 

[lgpiper]

@jimalex, the url you posted is indeed sketchy. While they use the name Starfish and Sidekick 98 on their page and use the SK98 icon, the program they are offering has nothing to do with SK. That program fiddles your system settings depending on where you are working. Likely it's also datamining your work.

 

[lgpiper]

Ok, now that's off my chest, lets get on to the problem at hand. Like @IanMcKean, I have the installation program for SK98 and its associated patch. I told Win7 Home Premium that the programs were Win95 compatible and it refused to run them.

Then, I just copied my files over and tried to run the program (from c:\Starfish\Sidekick) and got the can't run because of missing timesync.dll. At the moment, I don't have access to my old system, where I might find timesync.dll. It appears that copying it over didn't work for @IanMcKean anyway.

I've got close to 20 years of my life tied up in SK of one form or another, and this situation rather sucks. If anyone has a clear idea regarding what exact versions of Win7 will work with which versions of SK, that would be nice. Things are rather confusing for me around here.

 

[james33]

Dear Igpiper

The best idea is definitely to do as you did, and copy the whole installation files/folders to your hard drive first but then, once you have done that, right-click the sidekick install file and choose to send it to the desktop as a shortcut.

Go to the desktop and right-click on the shortcut and choose to run it in compatibility mode as XP service pack 4 or 5.
After changing that setting, right-click on the shortcut again and choose to run as administrator and then when asked, choose the folder to install it in C:\Sidekick\Sidekick98 and allow it to create that folder.

That should work.
The patch is only a zip file, so you can just extract the 2 files (Sidekick.exe and Yintll.dll) in it, to a folder on the desktop and then copy the files to the Sidekick Program folder (when it is there)!

HTH
Jim

 

[lgpiper]

Ok, we have two new data points.

My new PC is running Windows 7 Home Premium. As I said, I'm not getting SK98 to install. I put it in compatibility mode for Win 95, ran as an admin, and no luck. I get a message telling me that my version of SK is incompatible with Win and that I should contact the software publisher...like that could happen.

BUT...I remembered that my daughter gave me a 2006-vintage MacBook, but with a relatively new OS (I think it's Snow Leopard). A year and a half ago, I installed a copy of Win7 Pro in a virtual box on the MacBook. My SK98 installation files worked fine in the Win7 partition of the MacBook (in Win95 compatibility mode and as an admin), other than the thing is slow as molasses due to memory issues and the like (only 1 GB for the Win7 partition). It appears that SK works on the MacBook partition. I click run and it runs. I've yet to port over my 18 or so years of fun files to see that they load and read properly, but I'm hopeful.

Now, on my PC, the Win7 Home Premium system, I also tried just copying in all the program files from my previous installation. When I try to run SK by clicking on the program itself, it tells me that TIMESYNC.dll is missing. So, I copied TIMESYNC.dll from my MacBook partition into the Windows/system32/ folder of on the PC. One would think I might get a new error when I try running the SK program, but it still tells me that TIMESYNC.dll is missing. So, I'm guessing there's some issue related to installation/registration of .dll files. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[james33]

Dear Igpiper,

Try this:

http://www.sophos.com/en-us/support/knowledgebase/14343.aspx

Let us know if it works.

Jim

 

[lgpiper]

Hi Jim,

Not so well. I tried the directions, which of course required me to try to remember some DOS commands ;-) , but I got the following message:

The module TIMESYNC.dll failed to load.

Make sure the binary is stored at the specified path or degug it to check for problems with the binary or dependent .dll files.

The specified module could not be found.

So, I did some dir commands to make sure both files were, indeed in the c:\windows\system32 directory. My recollection is that Windows isn't case sensitive, but I tried fiddling with that as well. So far, no go. I might try fiddling with the registry a bit, but probably not for a day or two. I have baby sitting duty tomorrow and a class and groceries on Friday.

Thanks for the suggestion, however. I've been following this particular forum, as a lurker obviously, for quite a number of years, and appreciate your dedication to it.

take care,
larry p

 

[DougSilver]

I was also going to recommend the regsvr32 thing. What happened when you entered that command?

I am still using SKW2 on my Windows XP machine at work. Have also run SK98 but I actually like the look and feel of the old version better. Even in XP running Sidekick is a bit tricky at times. I have had decent luck running it in its own memory space but every so often I get the dreaded "win 16 subsystem has insufficient resources" message and the easiest way around is to reboot (or go through patching and replacing wow32.dll). I am not sure if I tried installing any Sidekick versions on my home machine which is a newer Dell with Win 7 but I might give it a try.

Hopefully, by the time it gets to an operating system that Sidekick will not run on, I will be retired and won't need it. So sad that someone hasn't picked up the ball and run with it to create an update of Sidekick but keeping all of the old features.

Doug

 

[HenryW]

Like many of you, I am a long-time user of Sidekick 98, and when Windows 7 came along, and I could not get it to install using the normal self-extracting install file (skw98sea.exe), I was devastated! I even went so far as to revert back to Win7/32bit on my first Win7 machine a few years ago, just so I could keep Sidekick!

Recently, I have been working on the problem, with both Win7 and Win8 machines. I finally dug back into my archive of old software boxes, and found the original Sidekick 98 install CD. I tried running this in a Win7 machine, and to my surprise, it would run the installer just fine. But the first time I did the install, the program would not run. After some more experimenting, I found the problem to be that the installer put the program here: c:\Program Files (x86)\Starfish\Sidekick 98\ When I re-installed it in the directory: c:\Program Files\Starfish\Sidekick 98\ it ran just fine.

So here is how to install Sidekick 98 in any Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer:

1) Download the following file, and unzip it into a temporary folder on your computer, say C:\SKTemp

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9039305/Sidekick98.zip

2) To install, click on the file: C:\SKTemp\Setup.exe When the WELCOME screen opens, click on "Install Sidekick 98". The Setup progress bar will appear in the lower right corner of the screen. It will quickly get to 100%, and then you might think it has crashed, as nothing appears to be happening. But just be patient , and wait until the Progress window goes away. Then click on Exit in the main WELCOME menu.

3) Then the install window appears - click on Next, then Yes to accept the licence agreement.

4) Enter you Name, and a Company name (required, can be your name again), then click Next.

5) Correct the Destination Folder. Click on the Browse button, then delete the " (x86)" in the Path box, so the install path is: C:\Program Files\Starfish\Sidekick 98 Then click OK

6) Click the Next button to continue the installation. Click Next again to accept Folder settings. Click Next again to accept the "Current Settings".

7) You can probably click No when asked whether you want to install TrueSync for PalmPilot (unless you really need this).

8) Then un-check the box to read the Readme File (unless you want to), and click Finish.

9) Go back to your install directory C:\SKTemp and click on sk98patch.exe. This will unzip the Y2K fix files ( sidekick.exe and Yintl.dll ) into your program directory, normally: c:\Program Files\Starfish\Sidekick 98\program
Then find Sidekick 98 in your Start menu, start the program, and continue to setup program defaults.

If you are moving your Sidekick data files from another computer, you can copy them into a data directory, say D:\SK_Data, and then change Sidekick's "Default Working Directory" to this, by going to Tools | Preferences |General.

I have included two files: TIMESYNC.dll and Timesync.hlp in the directory "System32" in the download ZIP file. Sidekick uses these to do Internet Time Sync, which isn't really needed anymore, since this feature is included in Windows XP and later. If you need it, copy the TimeSync files into your c:\Windows\System32\ folder.

Hope this helps get Sidekick working for you all!

HenryW

P.S. Hate Windows 8 GUI? Get RetroUI at

http://www.retroui.com/

to bring the START menu back!

 

[jimalex]

I really liked the contribution from HenryW and it's better than what I was doing in trying to give IanMcKean a solution. I have never had a problem installing Sidekick98 and I thought the solution was to give him exactly what I did over the years.

http://www34.brinkster.com/trialsites/sidekick98.htm

contains my handywork and it's maybe a lot of hassle compared with HenryW's version as my version relates to the old 7 disks.
Incidentally, I too have found the old disk and even a Borland floppy.

There is a reservation in all this. I now see that the old free site was managed by James33 and he would like some deserved lolly for maintaining future efforts with the software.
So lets get IanMcKean up and working and I'll drop this.

 

[james33]

Dear All

That's ok, I have no problem with this solution.
I am now and for the next 4 years an Art Student, and time is fairly valuable to me, I am quite happy to take a back seat on this one.

I will still however maintain my site in 'tandem' with HenryW and JimAlex doing this, and I will still charge for the program downloads as I need to pay for the FileHQ site.

Good luck all.

Jim

Regards Jim
Check the FAQ area of this Forum for answers (If there are any FAQs!) , it could save you a lot of time and effort! Good Luck!

 

[IanMcKean]

Thanks Henry W and Jimalex for your detailed suggestions. I shall try them tomorrow and report back.

Regards to all forum members,
Ian McKean

 

[lgpiper]

Thanks, @HenryW, your files seem to have solved my problem...mostly. I tried installing last night, and things were slow as molasses and I gave up. I rebooted this a.m. and tried again, and the installation went relatively smoothly. So, it would seem that one can indeed run SideKick 98 in Win 7 Home Premium.

FWIW, I tried, briefly, installing SK 97 from a CD I have, and that didn't work. It might have, perhaps, had I copied the CD files to my desk top or something, and been more aggressive in telling Win7 that we were in Win95 mode. Not sure.

I do have a bit of trouble in Notes in that occasionally, for no apparent reason, one of the words I type in shows up with a strike through. I can remove it, but it's weird none the less.

The only other issue I have is that the interface seems a bit strange. It seems that Win 7 is trying to render things for an old system, so the fonts look a bit ragged.

Whatever, I can now have my calendar back and will be able to tell when I have doctors' appointments, theater engagements and the like.

 

[lgpiper]

Ok, the problem with the weird, random crossings out was because I had auto spell check on. Now it's off and I'm ok again. Whew!

Still having problems enforcing my font choices, but eventually, we'll get it sorted out I'm sure.

 

[DougSilver]

Great to hear that you were successful in getting it to work in Win 7. My main reason for sticking with Sidekick is for keeping track of my contacts and, specifically, for the free form notes that you are able to have for each card. I find this useful for keeping track of calls and previous discussions with someone over the years and I never did find any easy way of porting this free-field stuff over to another contact manager.

I really only had 2 major complaints. The first is I would have liked to have a nested contact capability. What I mean is that I might deal with several people at the same company and I need a separate card for each one. It would have been slick to have one Company card that you click on that then goes to several sub-cards (one per person).

The other complaint is that you cannot highlight, bold, or underline words when adding notes to a card. I would like the capability of having something more important stand out while typing on the fly and as far as I can tell there is no way of formatting the font during or after entering text in the note.

Other than that Sidekick was a perfect program for what it did. Just enough bells and whistles and pretty easy to use.

Doug