Installation Problem

[rroch]

Help!

I purchased Alpha Five version 7 yesterday and tried to install it, with all other programs closed. All seemed to go well (the message to run the program and or the help file appeared - no desktop icon was created, but that may be intentional), and if I just asked for the help file, it came up. If I tried to run the program, nothing happened (spun the disc for a couple of seconds, then nothing). Same thing if I tried to run it from the start programs menu. I attempted to uninstall the program via the windows uninstaller, and got an error message that it could not uninstall, the program appeared to be already uninstalled.

I then uninstalled it manually, erasing the A5V7 folder with all its files, and removing all references to A5V7 from the registry. I tried installing it again - same problem. I uninstalled again, downloaded the entire file for a second time, and installed the new download - same problem.

I'm running WinXP Pro (SP2) on an 866mhz Pentium III with 512 meg RAM and something over 75 gigs of free disk space. Alpha Five version 6 is still installed and runs well, as are all other programs. Am I missing something? Is the downloaded file (a5v7.exe, 48.8MB) corrupted? Could there be something in Windows that's interfering with the installation? At this point, I've run out of things to try - any suggestions?

Thanks,
Ron

[Al Buchholz]

Ron

You may want to look at the a5startup.log in your a5v7 prog directory just to see if anything interesting is in there. Or see where it stops.

[rroch]

Al - thanks for the reply. There doesn't appear to be an a5startup.log file - there is an install.log file, but it's empty (another install.log file appears in the templates\databases\inventory subdirectory, but it's old and bears no resemblance to my directories). Obviously, the installation is not progressing normally, in spite of appearances. There must be some conflict, but what? Any other suggestions? Thanks again, Ron

[Al Buchholz]

Ron

With an older machine like yours, it's really hard to say what it might be.

Do you have another machine to try this with?

[rroch]

(Installation) Run Problem

I guess my last reply didn't make it through. I still can't get A5V7 to run normally. I did finally get it installed and running properly in safe mode, but have tried disabling every combination of services/programs I can think of in normal mode, and it still won't run except in safe mode. If I click the icon, it blinks, but nothing else happens, including not generating a new a5startup.log file. It's obvious there's something on my computer interfering with A5V7, but I can't seem to determine what it is. Does anyone know of any type of programs or services that could cause such interference - that would give me an edge in finding the culprit. I should mention that I still have A5v6 on the computer, and it runs fine. Thanks for your help. Ron

[Cheryl Lemire]

Ron,

Did you try installing the latest patch and open it after that?

[rroch]

Startup Problem

Thanks for the reply, Cheryl. At your suggestion, I did download the latest patch - it wouldn't install properly in normal mode, but did in safe mode. As before, the program runs fine in safe mode (a5startup.log file appears normal), but won't even start in normal mode. It tries to load (disc spins for a second or two), but then just disappears (no log file, nothing). Any other suggestions? Ron

[martinwcole]

do you have any old hp printer drivers installed - they used to cause me untold grief - also, try slowing down your graphics card

I know for a fact V7 will work on a laptop using Windows Home - as I have it on mine. I am confident it is an issue with that particular machine - whatever the issue is.

[rroch]

Startup Problem

Thanks for the reply, Martin - I have two HP drivers installed - my 882C printer, and a 2200C Scanjet, both of which are in use. I have had other HP printers previously, but if their drivers are still on the system, they are not active, and I can't find them.

As for the graphics speed - I assume you mean screen resolution - it's normally set at 1024 x 768. I tried changing it to 800 x 600 - no effect on the program.

I appreciate any and all suggestions, though - any more? I'd sure like to get A5V7 working!

[martinwcole]

No, I meant slowing down the card. See attached.
Try putting it in the middle, and the progressively moving it up.

If this doesn't fix it. Try removing the printers. If you get it working without any printers, try getting an alternate driver form HP. HP used to modify some of Windows' dlls, and they were used by Alpha, and the change caused the software to not work intermittently. This was the worst problem I have ever tried to run down.

[rroch]

The graphics acceleration did the trick, Martin - thanks! As you suggested, I tried moving the slider to the middle, then increasing it. Strangely enough, I was able to get it right back up to full, and it still works. Any ideas why this should happen? Anyway, I'm back to normal, and very happy. Again, thank you!

[martinwcole]

Computers!! Humph!! Just goes to show you!! Glad you got it working.

[Rayr]

Computers!! Humph!! Just goes to show you!! Glad you got it working.

Martin,
Y would that happen? I never had any other program have trouble with the speed of a graphics card, what goes on with Alpha and these very strang things?

[martinwcole]

I see the symptom you described mentioned by other users maybe 2 or 3 times a year. I don't have a clue as to what causes it. But I guarantee that you can pick any programming language out there, and there will be as many problems as there are with Alpha.

[Rayr]

I see the symptom you described mentioned by other users maybe 2 or 3 times a year. I don't have a clue as to what causes it. But I guarantee that you can pick any programming language out there, and there will be as many problems as there are with Alpha.

Thanks Martin.