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Groups > comp.lang.basic.visual.misc > #968

Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty

From "Farnsworth" <nospam@nospam.com>
Newsgroups comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
Subject Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty
Date 2012-03-16 21:56 -0500
Organization Aioe.org NNTP Server
Message-ID <jk0uhb$7cg$1@speranza.aioe.org> (permalink)
References <29481981.185.1331853938104.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@vbgx21>

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peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
> Hi.
> I distribute my programs via the internet from my web site. The file
> which users download is a self extracting zip file, with the .exe
> extension.
> When it is run it extracts all the files within it to a temp
> directory and runs automatically one of these files (install.exe)
> which is a little vb program I have written which presents the user
> with a pretty picture screen and the choice of running the various
> "setup.exe" files now in the temp directory (there are several
> different "setup.exe"s to choose from).
> OK, this has worked fine for years.
> But, I today got a call from a Win7 64 bit user telling me that
> "install.exe" won't run and instead reports it can't find msvbm50.dll
> (I use vb5).
>
> Now, msvbm50.dll is contained in the install package, and up 'til
> now, its presence in the temp folder has been sufficient for
> "install.exe" to run - it seems it doesn't need to be in the Sys32
> folder for VB5 to run.
>
> "Install.exe" eventually ran OK once the user had manually pasted
> msvbm50.dll into the SysWow64 folder.

Your problem is most likely that you have a user who didn't turn off their 
Anti-Virus program before installing the software, and it was blocking the 
loading of that DLL. Windows searches for the DLL first at where the EXE was 
ran from unless it was already loaded or if the DLL is listed in a 
"KnownDLLs" registry key. See this article for more details:

Dynamic-Link Library Search Order:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682586%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Ignore the section "Search Order for Metro style Apps" because it's for the 
upcoming Windows "8" OS.

> So, I'm guessing that on a 64bit system, msvbm50.dll has to be in the
> SysWoW64 folder for vb5 to run.
> My question is, how do I programmatically put it in this folder?

Beware that writing to that folder is restricted unless the user runs your 
app as admin. Windows sometimes asks for elevation when there is the word 
"setup" or "install" in the EXE file name or version information. What I 
recommend is that you use Inno Setup. Here are the instructions on how to 
use it with VB6:

http://www.jrsoftware.org/iskb.php?vb

There are 6 runtime files, and they are the same for VB5 and VB6, except 
msvbvm60.dll. Just change the "6" to "5". The other 5 runtime files have 
become part of the OS for a long time, so you don't need to install them. 
Also, you need to remove "OnlyBelowVersion: 0,6" for MSVBVM50.dll because 
Inno author found out that Windows Vista+ protects the registry entries for 
the runtime files(not sure if it's for MSVBVM60.dll specifically), so this 
flag says to only install or update the files on pre-Vista 
OS(2000/XP/2003Server). So, instead of 6 files, just install the one file 
like this:

; begin VB system files
; (Note: Scroll to the right to see the full lines!)
Source: "vbfiles\msvbvm50.dll"; DestDir: "{sys}"; Flags: restartreplace 
uninsneveruninstall sharedfile regserver
; end VB system files

The only change I made is removing "OnlyBelowVersion: 0,6". You can add an 
extra flag called "onlyifdoesntexist". This would only install the DLL if it 
doesn't exist, but if the user had an old version of the DLL, then the DLL 
won't be updated to the version that you are including, so I recommend that 
you don't use that flag. The default with the line above is that Inno would 
check the file version and only update the file if it's newer. Here is a 
link to Inno Setup home page:

http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php

The help file is provided online. See a link called "Documentation" on the 
left menu.

Here is a quick way to create an installer using Inno Setup:

1 - Download Inno Setup. There are two versions: ANSI and Unicode. The ANSI 
version would create installers for Windows 95+(Including the latest OS'es, 
like Windows 7), and the Unicode version would create installers for Windows 
2000+SP4+. There is no difference as far as VB is concerned except that it's 
easier to support multiple languages if you use the Unicode version. Some 
Inno users write complex scripts and it's easier for them to call the 
Unicode version of the Win32 API functions.

2 - Go to File-->New to run the Wizard. For starters, just click Next till 
the end to see what you get, then start it again and fill the required 
information.
3 - The default installer file name is "setup.exe". You can change that by 
specifying "OutputBaseFilename" parameter so you don't have to rename the 
file each time you create the installer.
4 - The image shown in the installer can be changed by using 
"WizardImageFile". See the help for [Setup] section to see what other 
cosmetic parameters that you can change.
5 - If you like to make the installer cover the whole screen, see 
WindowVisible/WindowShowCaption/WindowStartMaximized parameters. You can 
make it cover the Task Bar or not, however, many users nowadays find it 
annoying if the installer covers the Task Bar.

> I can't use VB because it has to be there before VB can run.
> I was thinking of writing a .bat file which would automatically run
> when the install package is unzipped, and would copy msvbm50.dll to
> the Syswow64 folder, and then start install.exe.
>
> Trouble is, would that mess up install on 32 bit systems - would it
> crash if the SysWow64 directory did not exist?
>
> I am hampered at the moment by not having a 64bit system here to try
> things out on!

You can if you have a 64-Bit CPU and enough RAM(more than 512 MB), and hard 
disk space. It doesn't matter if you are currently using a 32-Bit OS or not. 
You can download this free software and install a 64-Bit trial version of 
the OS on it. There is no need for a second PC. You don't need to 
repartition your hard drive. The new OS would be installed to a file in your 
hard drive that you can back up and restore as much as you want to. For 
example, after you install the OS, make a backup(snapshot) and call it 
"Clean Install". After you screwup the OS with your experimental installer, 
you can return the OS to the clean install state just by restoring the 
snapshot, which would take a minute or two, rather than redoing the clean 
install which could take like 30 minutes, so it's a time saver:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VirtualBox


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Thread

64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-15 16:25 -0700
  Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-15 20:34 -0500
    Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-16 08:49 -0700
      Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-16 12:33 -0500
  Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty H-Man <Spam@bites.fs> - 2012-03-16 13:53 -0600
  Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Farnsworth" <nospam@nospam.com> - 2012-03-16 21:56 -0500
    Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-18 06:23 -0700
      Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-18 15:51 +0000
        Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-18 11:07 -0700
          Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-18 13:38 -0500
          Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-18 20:41 +0000
            Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-18 14:06 -0700
              Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-18 22:43 +0000
            Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty GS <gs@somewhere.net> - 2012-03-18 18:49 -0400
              Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-18 23:09 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty GS <gs@somewhere.net> - 2012-03-18 19:15 -0400
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty GS <gs@somewhere.net> - 2012-03-18 19:26 -0400
      Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Farnsworth" <nospam@nospam.com> - 2012-03-18 11:54 -0500
        Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-18 11:47 -0700
          Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Farnsworth" <nospam@nospam.com> - 2012-03-18 19:09 -0500
          Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-18 22:11 -0500
            Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-19 01:07 -0700
              Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-19 10:14 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-19 05:03 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-19 07:20 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-19 14:55 +0000
              Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-19 07:05 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-19 06:00 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mayayana" <mayayana@invalid.nospam> - 2012-03-19 09:31 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mayayana" <mayayana@invalid.nospam> - 2012-03-19 10:15 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-19 08:18 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-19 09:36 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-19 10:05 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-19 18:48 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-19 15:50 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-19 20:42 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-20 11:09 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-20 08:32 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-20 08:52 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Farnsworth" <nospam@nospam.com> - 2012-03-20 15:34 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-20 16:07 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Farnsworth" <nospam@nospam.com> - 2012-03-21 14:00 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-21 14:20 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-20 10:29 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-20 08:46 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2012-03-19 20:12 -0500
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-21 01:29 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-21 09:57 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-21 04:57 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-21 13:14 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-21 15:29 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty peter.lawton@blueyonder.co.uk - 2012-03-21 09:47 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mike Williams" <Mike@WhiskyAndCoke.com> - 2012-03-22 11:11 +0000
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty chinamicah@gmail.com - 2012-04-15 16:12 -0700
                Re: 64 bit Windows install difficulty "Mayayana" <mayayana@invalid.nospam> - 2012-03-19 09:32 -0500

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