Run-Time Problems

[Guest]

I have an Access application for schools that I have been distributing with a
run-time version of Access for some time now. I bought a new computer, and
suddenly the schools are no longer able to install the application. They
get an error message that tells them some of their files are out of data.

I opened an email case with Microsoft, and they tell me that you can't
distribute run-time applications to earlier versions of Windows, because of a
file called OLEAUT32 which keeps getting updated with a new version. The
only solution is keep creating the run-time version with my old computer, or
have all my users install the latest version of Internet Explorer on their
computers.

This seems crazy. I can't update my computer and move to a later version of
windows without creating problems for my users. Is there a way around this?
What do other developers do?

Any help would be appreciated.

Frank Wagner

 

[Brendan Reynolds]

I used to keep an old PC for the purpose. More recently, I use Virtual PC
....

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

 

[Guest]

you don't say which version of Access, or which
installation packager you are using.

(david)

 

[Guest]

Brendan

Thanks for responding. What you've told me is even though it seems crazy,
I need to keep my old Widows 98 PC alive and kicking as long as some of my
schools still have Widows 98 computers. Thanks for the tip on Virtual PC.
That sounds like a good solution.

One thought has occurred to me. Can I just replace the OLCAUT32 file in my
package with one from the Windows 98 package? Or is the problem larger than
that?

Frank Wagner
--
Frank Wagner
(e-mail address removed)

I used to keep an old PC for the purpose. More recently, I use Virtual PC
....

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

 

[Guest]

David:

Thanks for responding. My Developer package is for Office 2000. The system
was developed using Access 2000. I also have Access 97 and Access 2002 if I
need them.

The PC is just replaced was an early version of Windows XP. That seemed to
work with some of the Windows 98 computers and not with others. My newer PC
is a later version of Windows XP, and the package it creates doesn't work
with anything, even my wife's computer which also is an early version of
Windows XP. I have an old Windows 98 computer that I loaded the Developer
Tools onto just to see if it might work - - and, lo and behold, the package I
created with that computer works on everything.

One thought I had, can I just replace the OLEAUT32 file in my XP package
with the same file from the Windows 98 package - - or is the problem larger
than that?

Thanks for your help

--
Frank Wagner
(e-mail address removed)

you don't say which version of Access, or which
installation packager you are using.

(david)

 

[Guest]

As I remember, the R2K runtime minimum is package anyway,
so I take it that your are talking about problems getting your
Installation Package to run, not problems with the Runtime
after it has been installed, and not problems running ART2Kmin.exe?

So a possible solution is to use a more intelligent Packager,
which does not create packages which have problems.

I'm not really familiar with all of the options (including free
and open source options), but if you look through the group
archives you will see that the A2K P&D wizard has a long
reputation as a poor option.

Windows DLL's come in matched sets, which is why OLEAUT32
from XP SP2 can't be installed on Win98. Do not try to mix
and match.

On the other hand, on a properly configured copy of Windows
XP, the bad old OLEAUT32 would not be installed. In fact,
any good copy of OLEAUT32 on any machine should work
for the installer. In fact, for most machines, OLEAUT32 doesn't
need to be installed at all. The A2K P&D wizard was designed
to force installation of IE onto machines that did not have IE
installed. Machines that already have IE 5+ installed, don't need
to have OLEAUT32 installed by the P&D wizard.

(david)

David:

Thanks for responding. My Developer package is for Office 2000. The system
was developed using Access 2000. I also have Access 97 and Access 2002 if I
need them.

The PC is just replaced was an early version of Windows XP. That seemed to
work with some of the Windows 98 computers and not with others. My newer PC
is a later version of Windows XP, and the package it creates doesn't work
with anything, even my wife's computer which also is an early version of
Windows XP. I have an old Windows 98 computer that I loaded the Developer
Tools onto just to see if it might work - - and, lo and behold, the package I
created with that computer works on everything.

One thought I had, can I just replace the OLEAUT32 file in my XP package
with the same file from the Windows 98 package - - or is the problem larger
than that?

Thanks for your help

 

[Guest]

David:


Thanks for your help.

You mention the use of a more intelligent packager. I was not aware of any
options except the packager that come with Office Developer Tools. Where
would I go to find such options? Any recommendations?

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

SageKey http://www.sagekey.com/ is one of the more popular.

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

http://www.sagekey.com/, http://www.wise.com,
http://www.InstallShield.com/ , www.dev4pc.com/installer2go.html , Inno,
NSIS,

(david)

 

[Guest]

David, Douglas & Brendan:

Thanks. I've learned a lot from all of you, and have some good ideas on how
to proceed