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Reinstalling Alpha Five

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    Reinstalling Alpha Five

    We have Alpha Five Version 4 installed on a computer that is running the Windows 2000 Server operating system.

    I ran into difficulty trying to do the critical updates from the Microsoft update site and ended up reinstalling Windows 2000 on this computer. The critical updates have now been run.

    I am now trying to re-install Alpha Five Version 4 on this computer. My installation runs to 94% completed and then hangs. I tried this several times with the same results.

    At this point Alpha Five will not run. It starts and immediately closes down.

    What is the procedure for accomplishing a reinstallation of Alpha Five?

    Thank you.

    #2
    RE: Reinstalling Alpha Five

    If you don't get any error message on the install, but it just stops, that may be very difficult to track down. The install either can't find a required file or can't write to the registry or to the disk.

    When you did the reinstall of Windows, was this a clean install on a reformated drive or just a reinstall over an existing installation? I have had a number of registry issues with reinstall over an existing. The brute force method to clean up any registry issues would be to uninstall the A5 program after noting the registration number. Open the registry using regedit and remove all references to Alpha 5 v4. One registry key would be

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alpha Software\Alpha Five 4.0

    Delete the whole branch. Then remove all traces of A5 on the drive. Remove all directories and files (other than your data files) Then try a new install.

    If this still doesn't work, you have at least 2 possibilities. One, your install program is damaged. Second, there is something in the Windows install that is a problem, such as a missing system file. The fact that you had to do a reinstall of Windows is always a red flag. About the only time this has proved necessary is if the registry or system files have become corrupted. A reinstall may not clean up everything.

    Jerry

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      #3
      RE: Reinstalling Alpha Five

      Jerry:

      Thank you for your reply.

      I don't get an error message. The installation just stops at 94%

      The drive was not reformatted. I reinstalled windows over the original installation.

      This is a developer version of Alpha Five and I need to retain the developed versions of the applications. Each application exists in it's own folder.

      I would like to review your suggestions for getting well.

      Should I use the Windows Add/remove Programs operation to uninstall Alpha Five? Would the Alpha Five directory remain with the applications folders after the uninstall? Should I copy the application folders to a separate location before the uninstall? Or, do you recommend a different procedure?

      Is the registration number that you refer to the same as the license number that came with the CD?

      I have never worked with registry entries but I think that I should be able to locate and remove the key you identify. Are there any other possible registry references?

      Both Alpha Five and Alpha5_Runtime. When you say remove all traces of A5 on the drive would it be sufficient to delete just the A5 directory?

      Are the Alpha5_Runtime applications affected by re-installation of the windows operating system? I haven't tried to reinstall Alpha5-Runtime? Will this be necessary?

      Red Abicht







      Comment


        #4
        RE: Reinstalling Alpha Five

        Many questions. I will try to answer what I can. You should also search the forum for installation problems if you haven't already. There may be other ideas. If you search for "reinstall Alpha" (no quotes) there are over 200 entries. You can also try "install failed"

        An obvious thing to check is user rights. Only a power user or administrator can install a program.

        Actually, reinstalling Windows should not have caused a problem with any existing programs or files. Normally, a Windows reinstall over an existing install will check the registry entries still there and try to reconcile any errors. I have been forced to do this a couple times and typically all programs will work after the Windows reinstall. A Windows reinstall shouldn't overwrite any other files other than Windows system related files.

        The fact that you had to do a Windows reinstall after Windows update failed is odd and somewhat troubling. Some IT people always want to do a reinstll, but unless system files were lost or the registry badly corrupted, it isn't often necessary. However, sometimes it is the only solution, or at least the quickest.

        If you haven't done anything with the original Runtime installation, try to open it. If may open and run normally. The older versions of A5 don't use much of the registry and may run even with registry issues.

        Since you have already tried to reinstall the full version, you will have to try to clean it up.

        The normal safeguard is to always backup everything before you begin. If the development work is off in its own directories, just leave them there. They should be uneffected. Back them up anyway. If they are subdirectories under the A5 program directory, I would make complete copies of the folders and all of the files and save the copies somewhere else.

        One of the points to remember is that A5 program files and folders are separate from any application you have designed. The only files that should be effected by a A5 program reinstall are the Alpha program files themselves. Your databases, tables, and files should not be effected. But backup anyway. Have I suggested a backup? You only have to totally lose something very important once to understand the value of a backup.

        The fact that reloading Windows caused a problem is a sign that the registry is a likely possibility as the source of the troubles. After making backups of anything resembling data, I would try to uninstall both the full version and the runtime if both were originally installed. If the runtime opened correctly above, just uninstall the full version. You can try using Windows Add/remove Programs operation to uninstall. The uninstall may or may not work, but at least try it. If the uninstall does complete, this may remove the registry entries.

        The registration number would be the registration key. It has been quite a while since I installed V4.5, but I think that would have come with the original disk. It should be about a 16 digit number. The runtime has no registration, so that is not an issue.

        If the uninstall went ok, try to reinstall the A5 program.
        If it fails, you haven't lost much other that some time. Just run the uninstall again. If you still have an install issue at this point, you will have to get into the registry.

        If you have never worked with the registry, you may want to get help from someone who has. A small mistake can make Windows not even start. I have seen this and trust me, you don't want to have to deal with it. Many experienced computer people will never even touch the registry, however with much care you can make some changes.

        Open the registry editor by going to the Windows Start menu and selecting "Run". Type "regedit" into the window and press enter. This will open the registry editor. Any changes you make at this point are applied immediately. There is no changing your mind. Microsoft suggests exporting the whole registry before making any changes. You can go to File on the menu and select Export. This will send the contents of the registry to a text file. It may take some time to run.

        The registry is displayed in a tree structure similar to Windows Explorer. Open the HKEY_CURRENT_USER level, then "Software", then "Alpha Software". Highlight the "Alpha Five 4.0" "folder" Right click and you will see some options. Export the key first and then delete it. Close the editor.

        Open Windows Explorer and go to the "C:\Program Files\A5V4_5" folder (or whereever the A5 full version was installed). Delete all files in the folders and sub folders. If you have your applications under this program folder, leave those files and the other, now empty folders. Otherwise, delete the folders too.

        Now, try to reinstall A5 again. If it still fails, then the install program probably can not find a critical Windows System file. This may be a very big headache, since about the only solution is a "clean" install of the operating system. Typically, you won't be able to determine what file is missing. This involves wiping everything off the hard drive and starting from stratch. Not something you want to do if it can be avoided in any way.

        This sounds very involved, but shouldn't take much effort, just care. I have done it a couple times with other programs and Alpha, and normally after removing the registry and original files, a reinstall goes cleanly.

        Jerry

        Comment


          #5
          RE: Reinstalling Alpha Five

          Thank you for your very comprehensive analysis and suggestions. Here is what has transpired.

          My problem was that the Alpha Five installation always stopped at 94% completion. At this point the setup program was working on Adobe Acrobat. I decided to skip the Adobe Acrobat installation during Alpha Five setup to see if the installation would complete. It appears to have finished normally and I ran the Version 4.5 upgrade. As far as I can tell Alpha Five is working normally -- time will tell. I am fortunate that I have your instructions available in case problems occur.

          I am still puzzled about the problem I encountered during the Alpha Five installation. Are you aware of anyone else having this problem?

          Thanks again.

          Red Abicht

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