VFP6 on Win10: "Ole Error Code 0x8002801d: Library Not Registered"

[Stella740pl]

Hello, everyone!
Haven't been here in a while and glad to find this forum alive, well and active.

Here at work, I have recently received a new machine with Win10, and still need to use VFP6 (it's the only one we have) for some mission-critical legacy applications. I installed it several times, with the same result. After the files copied over, the installer shows "Updating your system" screen, and then becomes unresponsive (I tried to wait for up to 45 minutes to see if it still doing something; should I try to wait any longer?). The only way to finish it is to force close. After that, Control Panel doesn't show Visual Studio or VFP in the list of installed programs (to properly uninstall it), but the folders with all the files are there and seem to be working.

The problem I have is that each time VFP starts, it throws "Ole Error Code 0x8002801d: Library Not Registered" error, then Welcome screen (even if it was checked to not show again the previous time). When I close both of these, it works normally (at least the simple things that I tried). I googeld, and the most helpful tip I found was to run RegSvr32 with full name and path of the library in question - but I don't know what library that is, as the error message doesn't provide it. Another tip was to find and register VFP6ENU.DLL, which I tried, and got the following message from RegSvr32: "The module "C:\...\VFP6ENU.DLL" was loaded, but the entry-point DLLRegisterServer was not found. Make sure that "C:\...\VFP6ENU.DLL" is a valid DLL or OCX and then try again."

I can probably live with having to press two extra keys every time it starts, to close error message and then the Welcome screen, but it is annoying. Besides, I am not sure what else may not work properly at some point because of this.

Up until now, I have been using VFP6 on Win7 for years, without major problems, even though it did throw some errors during installation, if I remember correctly, and once in a while an internal consistency error.

If someone knows how to fix this, please share.

Thank you,
Stella

 

[Stella740pl]

>Sounds like UAC is turned off.
Hm. You were right. Found the setting and turned on. Good thing that I am now allowed to turn settings like that on/off .

Still doesn't solve the original problem...

 

[Tore Bleken]

You may not have deleted everything from the failed install, before you started a new installation.

I haven't used it myself, but Win10 has a new feature which makes it possible to set the machine back to an earlier stable state. This means that unless you more recently have installed something else, you can set your machine back to where it was before you started this installation nightmare.

 

[Stella740pl]

Oh. OMG. I actually know about that feature (not really tried it), but didn't think I needed to create a restore point before installing VFP. I am not sure if any relatively recent restore points exist, and some installations and updates were pushed automatically from the IT dept. I guess I might be screwed. On the other hand, is there any reason why a new installation wouldn't fail as the previous ones?

 

[Tore Bleken]

I think the restore points are automatic with newer versions of Win10, but I maybe wrong.

 

[Stella740pl]

May be. Need to check - that would be nice.
But you sure can create a restore point manually.

 

[Stella740pl]

OK, many thanks to everyone who tried to help.

I don't know what exactly I did right this time, but I installed it, and it works (so far) without throwing "Library not registered" error, or that annoying Welcome screen after the first time. I guess, the fact that this time around I found more files in more places from the previous installations and deleted them was what helped. Technically, this installation also failed - became unresponsive while "updating the system", but in fact, it succeeded doing what it was supposed to do. I hope that will work and I am set for at least as long as we have VFP6 and Win10.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

is there any reason why a new installation wouldn't fail as the previous ones?

When the installation runs with elevation because UAC was turned off - or with elevation, because the UAC confirmation dialog asked for confirmation of elevation - or because of running the setup as normal user and UAC asks for admin credentials, the result is the same and registry keys for registering components go into the same locations, as the setup runs elevated. This only differs and then surely does not work, if you run a setup without elevation.

It was the most frequent misunderstanding a regsvr32 success result meant successful registration since Vista, but UAC causes redirection not only regarding some system directories but also system registry branches.

VFP6 was long ago, for me only about 1.5 years in 1999 and 2000 despite the revisit I talked about, I don't really remember a welcome screen. Nothing like the VFP9 task pane, which suffered from the shutdown of gotdotnet.com

But I remember the help installation was a separate MSDN library installation as VFP6 was still part of Visual Studio as you already said. It would really be helpful to know what ole class is really missing if it has to do with VFP's help installation of the legacy help workshop could help. Maybe ask dependencywalker about vfp6.exe, but I doubt you get such dependency information. this mainly just analyses functional DLL dependecies.

Bye, Olaf.

Olaf Doschke Software Engineering

https://www.doschke.name

 

[Olaf Doschke]

I installed it, and it works (so far) without throwing "Library not registered" error

OK, then forget about my last post.

Bye, Olaf.

Olaf Doschke Software Engineering

https://www.doschke.name

 

[Stella740pl]

Olaf, thanks. As I just mentioned, I was able to install it, even though with a snag, but it is done, and it works.
I think, the fact that I found and deleted more files from previous installations helped. But do you think it also has anything to do with turning on UAC shortly before that? I mean, the first few times it ran with elevation without confirmation dialog (and maybe, just maybe, it ran once or twice without the elevation - not sure), and the last time it ran with elevation with a confirmation dialog. Shouldn't be any different, should it?

Yes, help is a separate MSDN Library installation, and I have that disk, too. It is not related to Visual Studio or VFP in any way, and can be installed at any time and totally separately (so I don't think the failure had anything to do with Help installation - the help just was not there yet at all). But I don't really have to install it any longer. After VFP is there, I just copy the whole MSDN98 folder over from an original installation, then in FoxPro Tools->Options->File Locations->Help File browse to the FoxHelp.chm, and it works just fine from F1 button, if I want to. But I usually also set up a link/shortcut to it separately from FoxPro, so it works even when Foxpro is closed.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

The only problems I can imagine with setups like Visual Studio on UAC is a main setup starting further setup processes as child processes. That should work best with UAC turned off, though. Because then elevated process also have elevated child processes - the child installations. Whereas with UAC only asking for elevation of the main setup child processes without embedded manifest requiring admin run without elevation. And Visual Studio 6 installers surely don't include these modern manifest sections about such specifications. They only ask for elevation through being named setup.exe or alike, that was one thing Microsoft added for backward compatibility of installations needing elevation.

I would, therefore, guess it's either about removed files not hindering something any more or the registration of that library finally could work after previous runs at least installed prerequisites. So this installation may have run ran fine in NT/XP systems that had some things on board preinstalled but on Win10 would need another sequence and trying multiple times thus helped.

You might still find hints on what went wrong with previous installations in install.log files and the Windows event log.

Bye, Olaf.

Olaf Doschke Software Engineering

https://www.doschke.name