forums.silverfrost.com

[NigelJayne]

Can anybody help.

We've given a FTN95 executable file (.EXE) and a copy of the SALFLIBC.DLL to a customer of ours, but when they try to run the program they get the error message "This Salford program requires Win32". They tell me they on running on Windows XP.

We've also given the same executable file & SALFLIBC.DLL file to other customers and they've had no problems. Does anybody have any suggestions as to why the first customer is getting the error message.

Regards,

Nigel Jayne

[PaulLaidler]

This is an old message that is still embedded in an FTN95 executable.
It should only appear when you try to run the executable within a 16 bit operating system (i.e. Windows 95).

If the user has Windows XP then I suppose there might be problems if it is the 64 bit version but FTN95 executables should run OK using WOW (Windows on Windows).

[JohnHorspool]

Nigel, Paul,

Just to clarify, 32bit programs produced by FTN95 run fine on XP64.

Nigel, how old is the exe? What version of FTN95 are you using? Call me on Monday if you like (you know where I am !)

Cheers,
John

[NigelJayne]

John,

Thanks for the reply, but the problem seems to have gone away. We resent the executable & the salflibc.dll file and the program is now working fine !

The customer we sent the program to was is China, so some things may have been lost in translation.

Regards,

Nigel Jayne

[LitusSaxonicum]

Why are you sending both files? If you use an installer, you only need send one file. I (and several other FTN95 users) use InnoSetup (Jordan Russell Software) which is free. Basically, you create a "script", and compile it in InnoSetup. The script contains information on where to put the files, what to insert in the registry, what icons to use in the start menu, desktop etc - and "zips" all the files into one self-unpacking EXE.

Greatly recommended!

Eddie

[JohnHorspool]

Nigel,

Eddie is right! I suspect that the Chinese didn't realise they even had a dll to accompany the exe, as it is by default not seen in explorer.

InnoSetup wraps up your exe, dll's and any other files into a single installation exe, just like any other windows installation. It also creates an uninstall option as well. Your end user just has to run the setup.exe created by InnoSetup and isn't required to know anything about dlls.
It also gives your software a more professional look.

cheers,
John

[LitusSaxonicum]

I hadn't realised that dll files aren't shown by Explorer by default, but it is true.

The benefits of an installer are also that one gets to choose the destop and start menu icons - indeed, where the program appears (desktop, start menu; for current or all users etc) - one can set up directory (folder) structures, copy sample files, install fonts, copy help and other files - indeed, everything that happens when you install, for example, MS Office - all from the one program. Although this can be called "setup.exe" you can also call it something more meaningful. You can arrange for the setup program to run automatically from a CD by adding a couple of lines to a file called Autorun.inf. Something similar but slightly more complex makes USB flash drives "autorun-able".

Eddie

[Andrew]

Autorun has now been disable by default in Windows 7 in an attempt to prevent viruses from hijacking the system. I never did like it much anyway!

[LitusSaxonicum]

No, it takes so long that you get impatient and "do it yourself".

Installers are still a good idea.

E