Using Compatibility Wizard

[Guest]

I have an old W98 program called GoldMine. I'm still running a 1999 version.
I just migrated my whole system to XP Pro over the past couple months with
all new software except for this one program. Being a customized CRM
database, it will be quite an undertaking for us to modify the layout in
order to upgrade to a more current -- and thus XP-compatible -- version of
it.

It uses dBase IV file format and the Borland Database Engine.

Users on forums that can comment intelligently on such an old program have
been difficult to find but the consensus has been it should run fine. My
experience, however, has been that it "usually" runs fine but whenever it
feels like it it will give me an error message saying it can't find the
database files. Sometimes it will fix itself in an instant, usually it will
fix itself in a few moments or minutes... and I'm hoping I'll never be stuck
in a crunch against a deadline and be stuck looking at those error messages,
which I'm becoming increasingly concerned about.

When I first got XP I had inquired from a number of people about using the
XP Compatibility Wizard and a few sales people at CompUSA said to use it if
any program isn't listed on the XP compatibility list, or others would say to
go ahead and try to install it anyway and only if it doesn't install I should
then use the Compatibility wizard, or if it installs but doesn’t run
correctly... and then there were the majority, who happened to seem to be the
ones who were more in the realm of experienced techs, who said DO NOT mess
with the Compatibility Wizard because they're rarely seen it solve the
problem and have instead seen it corrupt the entire XP installation.

So, now I'm coming to the most reliable source for expert opinions I can
think of -- this newsgroup.

(Hopefully I'm not putting anyone in a delicate position by asking an MS
support person to agree with the opinion that it might be risky and may not
be a great idea.)

What do you think?

Thanks!

Jay

 

[David Candy]

Probably won't help. Your program works. Therefore the compat wizard can't help. Fix the presenting problem rather than looking for magical solutions.

 

[Malke]

I have an old W98 program called GoldMine. I'm still running a 1999
version. I just migrated my whole system to XP Pro over the past

(snip long post basically saying should the OP run GoldMine under
Compatibility Wizard, etc.)

This isn't MS tech support. However, the success of running an older
program depends entirely on the coding of the older program. Databases
can be tricky because they all can suffer corruption. All good database
programs have some sort of "rebuild database" maintenance function to
deal with this.

To answer your question, here are your choices re GoldMine:

1. Upgrade to a newer version. I have clients who have done this
successfully. Pay the GoldMine people for the conversion if you need
it. This is a cost of doing business.

2. Continue running the program on XP. The instability will remain no
matter whether you run it under Compatibility Mode or not.

3. Stay with Windows 9x/ME on the computers that need GoldMine.

4. Set up a virtual machine running Win9x on Windows XP using Virtual PC
2004. Test GoldMine on this.

Good luck,

Malke

 

[Guest]

(snip long post basically saying should the OP run GoldMine under
Compatibility Wizard, etc.)

This isn't MS tech support. However, the success of running an older
program depends entirely on the coding of the older program. Databases
can be tricky because they all can suffer corruption. All good database
programs have some sort of "rebuild database" maintenance function to
deal with this.

To answer your question, here are your choices re GoldMine:

1. Upgrade to a newer version. I have clients who have done this
successfully. Pay the GoldMine people for the conversion if you need
it. This is a cost of doing business.

2. Continue running the program on XP. The instability will remain no
matter whether you run it under Compatibility Mode or not.

3. Stay with Windows 9x/ME on the computers that need GoldMine.

4. Set up a virtual machine running Win9x on Windows XP using Virtual PC
2004. Test GoldMine on this.

Good luck,

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

Thanks so much.

So, can I at least take comfort in your experience, Malke, that this is a
basic problem of running an old version of GM under XP and probably isn't
anything wrong with my OS per se? I do occasionally get quote/bubble messages
above the SysTray saying "Your network is now reconnected again" or something
to that effect, usually right before or after GM acts up by saying it can't
find the database, and I've been assuming/hoping that that's just a reaction
to GM having its issues. I never have networking issues other than that.

I'm really hoping GM continues to maintain its integrity through these
glitches. It has done so thus far, to the extent that I can tell. Sometimes I
get an endless loop of error messages saying files can't be found, are Read
Only, are Locked, etc, and I have to close the program with less than elegant
smoothness, but so far it has not shown any signs of damage/corruption. I run
the Maintenance Wizard to do a full reindex as well as
rebuild/pack/sort/verify pretty frequently, and I don't know if it fixes
things or has nothing to fix. At least I know it's never said it found
something it can't fix.

I'll have to do that upgrade soon, I know. For now, financial and time
resources have to go elsewhere. This will not be a simple upgrade procedure.

I really appreciate saving me the waste of time of trying the Compatibility
Wizard!

I'm not clear on the reason to try Virtual PC... not sure I understand the
steps but, moreover, the reason. What if it tests out okay. Then what would I
be doing?

Thanks again!

Jay

 

[Malke]

Chigongman wrote:

See my comments inline:

Thanks so much.

You're welcome ;-)

So, can I at least take comfort in your experience, Malke, that this
is a basic problem of running an old version of GM under XP and
probably isn't anything wrong with my OS per se?

I don't know about "taking comfort". Remember, this isn't *my*
experience; it is the experience of an attorney client of mine and they
did *not* find that their ancient version of Goldmine worked well with
XP. They needed to upgrade. I don't know how much money or time it cost
because the Goldmine tech support people did this for the client and I
wasn't involved.

I do occasionally get
quote/bubble messages above the SysTray saying "Your network is now
reconnected again" or something to that effect, usually right before
or after GM acts up by saying it can't find the database, and I've
been assuming/hoping that that's just a reaction to GM having its
issues. I never have networking issues other than that.

I have no way of knowing whether the above is coming from Goldmine or
not. A wise move would be to have a local computer professional come
on-site and look at your computers and your network setup. This isn't
really something you can solve via Usenet postings. You need on-site
help and this is a cost of doing business. Naturally, the cost depends
on where you live, but it should not be very expensive to do this. Ask
yourself if your company's computing health is worth spending a few
hundred dollars (or less). Think about whether you would fritter that
amount of money away on something less important than your company's
data security.

I'm really hoping GM continues to maintain its integrity through these
glitches. It has done so thus far, to the extent that I can tell.
Sometimes I get an endless loop of error messages saying files can't
be found, are Read Only, are Locked, etc, and I have to close the
program with less than elegant smoothness, but so far it has not shown
any signs of damage/corruption. I run the Maintenance Wizard to do a
full reindex as well as rebuild/pack/sort/verify pretty frequently,
and I don't know if it fixes things or has nothing to fix. At least I
know it's never said it found something it can't fix.

Databases get corrupted. This is a fact. You have been lucky. I hope you
are backing up regularly onto removable media.

I'll have to do that upgrade soon, I know. For now, financial and time
resources have to go elsewhere. This will not be a simple upgrade
procedure.

Maybe it will be simpler than you think. Maybe it won't. See my
"penny-wise-pound-foolish" comments in the paragraph above. These are
your choices; just give some thought to what would happen if you have
to manually rebuild everything. Please don't take my comments as
"scolding" (although they are, a little, but only out of concern for
you) - it is just that I have lots of small businesses as clients and I
have seen first-hand what happens to them when their owners won't spend
a relatively small amount of money on their systems and:

1. Run old systems
2. Don't maintain the systems
3. Don't do any proper backups
4. Don't have any security/virus/etc. protection
5. Wait until there is a crisis and believe me, there *will* be a crisis
eventually.

I'm not clear on the reason to try Virtual PC... not sure I understand
the steps but, moreover, the reason. What if it tests out okay. Then
what would I be doing?

Virtual PC is a program that you run on your new host machine that
enables you to create virtual machines running different operating
systems. Virtual PC "tricks" the other operating systems into thinking
they are running on a standalone machine, all by themselves. For
instance, I have a host machine running XP Pro and have virtual
machines running DOS 6.2, Win3.1, Win95, Win98SE, and OS/2. Each
virtual machine operating system is a *real* operating system,
installed just like you would on a standalone machine. The advantage is
that if there is a program that you really need that only runs under
(say) Windows 95, you can make a virtual machine of Win95 and install
that program and use it. Here's a link to Virtual PC's homepage for
more information:

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

Malke

 

[Guest]

Malke,

Your comments are well received. In my case, the "scolding" isn't really
well placed, though. I am fanatical to the max about my system maintenance,
security, etc, etc. Conferring on this issue alone included numerous hours
with the local tech who is a networking ace as well as a
stockholder/advisor/friend of mine who is a Silicon Valley genuine former
"senior engineer" with Sun Micro, Borland, and half a dozen other major
names. Nobody for a moment suspects I'm not more than on top of proper
configuration, maintenance, etc. It really is "hopefully" just this one
program... and I've conferred with some top GM people and they agree it is
quite a bit of an undertaking I'm looking at to upgrade since I'm at the same
time looking to redo the structure itself.

Actually, now that I think about it, you have motivated me to at least look
into that upgrade issue again. Maybe I can live with the minor imperfections
that will result for the time being, and overhaul the upgraded version when
I'm ready to deal with it. At least that minimizes the chance that I get
fatal corruption of the database from continuing to limp along with what I
have.

So, yes, your scolding may have been more well-placed that I had first
thought.

Thanks for the advice and coaxing, really!!

Jay