Installation problem

[LilBob]

Some info 1st:
Running XP Pro with SP3
Somehow, somebody gained access to my system & changed my password
Tried unsuccessfully to change my password through a trick I know but was at least able to back up critical files
Finally ran DBAN & reinstalled my OS & all the tedious work of installing my apps & updating all
Changed all my passwords
Installed Comodo firewall & have been teaching it to know what’s OK or not
All has been running smoothly , AV & AM apps are updated & running

Here’s my problem: I’ve had a little more free time so I reinstalled some old apps that I had. Now, these same old apps that I ran before no longer work. I can install them successfully but when I try to run them, I get the following error message:

D:\Documents and Settings\Bob\Local Settings\Temp\
A temp file needed for initialization could not be created or could not be written to. Make sure the directory path exists and disk space is available.

The directory path exists & I have over 75GB’s available. My wife is running the same OS & can run these same apps as I’m trying to. I don’t know if this has anything to do with it but, when I reinstalled my OS, my slave drive (which was D) became my C drive & the master became D.

I also ran chkdsk /r & sfc /scannow.

It's no big deal but I'm wondering if I run other apps that I haven't used yet, will I get the same problem? If so, how do I resolve it?

Thanks for any help, Bob

 

[strongm]

Check your antivirus software. It may be preventing the creation/execution of files in Temp folders

 

[flyboytim]

You mention "old apps". Are these 16-bit MS_DOS programs?

One possibility could be that the paths required are not available to the application in the environment settings for the user profile (i.e. "Bob") from which you are trying to run the program. Does user "Bob" have sufficient user permissions to install and run programs?

Can you install/run the program logged on as Administrator?

Environment settings can be displayed by running the 'set' command at the command prompt (no quotes '').

Environment settings can be accessed from Start, Run, sysdm.cpl, Advanced tab, Environment Variables button.

 

[linney]

Is D: drive the one that Windows is installed on? What happened to C: drive, are you dual booting, or did you have some USB drive attached when you installed XP? Some really old programs might be hard coded to run on a C: drive?

If your Environment Variables are correct for the logged on user see if you have a compatibility mode option to try. Some older programs might want to run with Administrator privileges.



How to use Windows Program Compatibility mode in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292533/?FR=1

Type - Getting older programs to run on Windows XP - in the Help and Support program for the basics.

How to enable and use the "Run As" command when running programs in Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294676

 

[LilBob]

Hi linney,
Yes, Windows is installed on D: drive & no, I’m not dual booting. I don’t recall having any USB attached when I installed XP. Originally, XP was on my C: drive, D: was my slave drive that held old music, photo, etc. files that I would access often (it has no OS on it). It was like that even after installing the new mobo & cpu and putting all back together again. When I ran DBAN & reinstalled XP, D: became C: & C: became D: somehow. Bob is the administrator & Environment Variables for Bob have variables TEMP & TMP with values of D:\Documents and Settings\Bob\Local Settings\Temp\

Logging on as Administrator still does not allow me to run the app. Tried shutting down Comodo – still no go (it was the only new app installed). As I said earlier, they worked fine before. Considering their age, they’re probably 16-bit MS_DOS programs. I believe I got them when I was running Windows 98SE

Any other ideas? Thanks, Bob

 

[linney]

With Firewalls, and things like Comodo, that have extra defense settings (if I remember correctly), shutting down might not be enough and you might need to completely uninstall and remove it from the machine to properly test whether it is the cause.

Is this XP install a 64-bit install?

If you have a Win 98 CD around the place you could consider a Virtual PC type of solution.

You could also look at this program with a view to seeing what is happening with your older programs.

Process Monitor v2.8

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

Virtual PC 2007

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...3199-48a3-afa2-2dc0b40a73b6&displaylang=en&tm

Have you tried running in DOSbox, if you do, some slight alteration to the Dosbox.conf file is needed to get it to launch in Full Screen.

http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/information.php

fullscreen = true | false
Start DOSBox directly in fullscreen.
Default is false.

Dosbox.conf

http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Dosbox.conf

The last bit of information makes me wonder if these older programs have some configuration file that is looking for a temp folder on C: drive?

 

[LilBob]

Hi linney,

That’s a lot to sort thru. The XP install is 32-bit & uninstalling Comodo still left me with the same error message. I have the Win 98 installation disk (I’m a pack rat & save all in case, have OS cd’s going back to 95. I’ve downloaded & saved both Virtual PC & DOSBox. I’ll run Virtual PC 1st & see if that resolves the situation if not, then option B.
Alas, I fear you may be right about a configuration file looking for a C: drive folder. I’ll let you know what happens.

Thanks again for your help.
Bob

 

[flyboytim]

I wonder if your old programs 'understand' long file names and spaces in pathnames?

D:\Documents and Settings\Bob\Local Settings\Temp\

becomes D:\Docume~1\Bob\Locals~1\Temp\ from the DOS viewpoint

and D:\Program Files\ becomes D:\Progra~1\

If there are spaces in the pathname, then the whole should be enclosed in quotes, in configuration files etc. e.g.

"D:\Documents and Settings\Bob\Local Settings\Temp\"

Here's the environment for a Windows 98 installation
TMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
PROMPT=$p$g
winbootdir=C:\WINDOWS
PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND
COMSPEC=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM
windir=C:\WINDOWS

and the same for a windows XP installation

ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
APPDATA=C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data
CLASSPATH=.;C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTSystem\QTJava.zip
CLIENTNAME=Console
CommonProgramFiles=C:\Program Files\Common Files
COMPUTERNAME=A9D6BB19F
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
FP_NO_HOST_CHECK=NO
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\Administrator
LOGONSERVER=\\A9D6BB19F
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS=2
OS=Windows_NT
Path=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\Windows Imaging\;C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0;C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTSystem\;;C:\PROGRAM FILES\SOLEX110
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.PSC1
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=x86 Family 15 Model 104 Stepping 2, AuthenticAMD
PROCESSOR_LEVEL=15
PROCESSOR_REVISION=6802
ProgramFiles=C:\Program Files
PROMPT=$P$G
QTJAVA=C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTSystem\QTJava.zip
SESSIONNAME=Console
SOLEX11DIR=C:\PROGRAM FILES\SOLEX110
SystemDrive=C:
SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS
TEMP=C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp

The last 4 (bold) lines are added by SOLEX110, which is a DOS program. Note that it sets it's own environment variables.

In the bad old DOS (and Windows9x) days, it was common to have to edit and add bits to the config.sys, Autoexec.bat, and sometimes to .ini files in Windows when installing programs, and almost everything came with a users manual. Sysedit.exe was a windows program to allow editing of all the system files within a single shell.

Some installers would attempt to append their configuration settings to these files, and cause other installed programs, or even the whole system to fall over instead. Happy days!

 

[LilBob]

Hi to all,

Neither option worked. I guess it has to do with configuration looking for the folder in C: drive. I ran regedit & checked HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices & found:

DosDevices C: thru H: (we already know what C: & D: are), E: & F: are my DVD & CD RW drives

G: was created when I connected my camera to the PC & H: was from connecting a USB cable converter connection to copy files from 2.5” & 3.5” HD’s. I know I can rename the C: drive (my slave drive) but not the D: drive as it has the boot partition & OS on it. Right now, all is running smoothly so I'm not going to try anything else. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If I ever have to install the OS again, I'll use Disk Management to rename the C: drive so that letter will be available again (I might run it just to delete the G & H drives). Thanks for all your help!

Bob