Making a JB program available on the 'net

[donjohn24]

On my webpage www.donjohnson24.co.uk/springprog.php, I make available to others a program I wrote some time ago for designing springs.
I added a comment that VB40032.DLL might need to be downloaded into C:\WINDOWS to allow springs.exe to run, and I think that some people were able to get the program to work, but with the memory problems that come at the age of 83, I cannot really be sure.

I have now put springs.exe and VB40032.DLL into a downloadable file, springs.zip.

A friend has downloaded springs.zip and copied the .DLL file into C:\WINDOWS, but when he runs springs.exe he gets the error message 'Error Accessing System Registry'.

The program runs OK on my own Win10 Home 64 bit system, but I obviously have something not quite right regarding its use by others.
I would therefore appreciate some guidance from the younger(?) and certainly cleverer members of this Forum.

Thanks in anticipation,    Don

[Rod]

Hmmmm…. You can’t just chuck stuff into Windows directories these days. You need permission and you need to be aware of UAC user account control.

If you have a program that needs resources like .dll there is no need to store it in Windows directories it will function perfectly well in the programs own directory. But you need to own the .dll or have permission to distribute it.

Anything that interferes with my Registry is not going to get run on my PC.

Not sure if there is a .bas shipped in the .zip

So more questions than answers. I will look at the .zip tomorrow.

Is there a reason that you can simply share the .bas?

[xxgeek]

There are 2 files in the zip, springs.exe, and VB40032.DLL.

After a bit of hacking I found a file in the dll with that error message, which makes me believe the error is coming from the dll. So it seems the program starts, then when asked to use the dll it chokes.

The exe file is a concern since JB cannot make a single exe that will execute in windows.
So, how was the exe file created?
(It was not by any of the programs I have written that use IEXPRESS)

Help will be scarce if no source code is provided.
Running an exe file, especially one that writes to the registry without knowing the code behind it is a risky endeavor most will be unwilling to take on.

[donjohn24]

I am now beginning to realise that my program was probably created in Visual Basic rather than JB, so I am asking for help in the wrong place. I do apologise, but can only put the blame my aged memory. Unfortunately, I cannot find the source code on my PC, nor even any VB applications - I must have deleted VB when having a spring clean, thinking I only used JB nowadays. Alternatively, I probably created the program on another, long gone, PC, and only transferred the .exe file and the DLL. Subsequent system upgrades may have taken care of permissions(?) to keep the file runnable.

It is frustrating that I have a working springs.exe on my PC, but without the source code probably cannot pass it on to anyone else.

Later  . . .

I found a dialogue about a similar problem at windowsforum.com/threads/vb40032-dll-on-windows-8-1.179713/.    The penultimate post (in 2013) contains 'Great news! The program runs on Windows 8.1! Thanks for the hints, Josephur. I created a shortcut icon on the desktop to the exe file and set the compatibility mode to Windows 7'

So, I shall ask my friend to try some compatibility modes and see if that works.  Would anyone be interested in the result?

Later still . . . . 
Well, I finally succeeded in getting my program to run, but it took a while.
Using my separate Microsoft Surface PC, I downloaded springs.zip.
I extracted  VB40032.DLL into C:\Windows and springs.exe into a new folder C:Documents\springs
I created a shortcut for springs.exe on the Desktop, but every time I tried to run it, my virus protection deleted it from the springs folder.
After replacing springs.exe in the springs folder, I accessed my virus protection (Panda Dome) to create an Exclusion for springs/springs.exe
I set the Compatibility mode on the Desktop shortcut to Windows7 but when I tried to run it - accepting it might be dangerous - I got the error that comdlg32.ocx could not be accessed.

I downloaded comdlg32.ocx and - eventually - moved it to C:\Windows\SysWOW64, but still got the error message
I tried to register the file using a command line of regsvr32 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\comdlg32.ocx, but although it found the file it could not register it
I tried again with the command window 'Run as Administrator' and it was then successful, and the program opened when I clicked the shortcut. Hurrah! 

This all took a couple of hours and lots of 'net searches, and although I have now included a detailed list of instructions for potential users, I wonder if many will be willing to go through it all just to get my program.

How I wish I could create an installation file to do the job automatically!

 
 

[xxgeek]

How I wish I could create an installation file to do the job automatically!

You may be able to do that by using a freeware installer creator.
The main problem is getting the comdlg32.ocx file into the c:\Windows\sysWoW64 dir. Admin privilege's are needed for that.
But the user can be prompted to provide the admin password.

I believe the comdlg32.ocx is distributable, but you better check first.