INFO: Troubleshooting VB Application Installation Issues (193270)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 4.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 5.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 6.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 4.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 5.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 6.0
This article was previously published under Q193270 SUMMARY
The information included in this article provides some insight into
preventing errors resulting from installing a Microsoft Visual Basic
program using the Application Setup Wizard (ASW) and/or the Package and
Deployment Wizard (PDW). The information in this article is divided into
different areas that need to be considered before deploying an application:
Environment, Operating System, Installed Applications of the Development
Machine, and Third-Party Controls.
NOTE: This article does not cover specific issues on using the ASW/PDW to create Internet Component Download distribution sets. Although the information may be helpful in the creation of such distribution sets, this article is intended for standard application deployment.
MORE INFORMATIONNOTE: The Application Setup Wizard (ASW) and Package and Deployment Wizard
(PDW) are referred to as ASW/PDW throughout this article.
Environment
When developing an application, the development machine needs to stay free
of any external applications or Internet downloaded components that are not
specifically necessary for the development of the application. For example,
beta software should not be used because it is possible that beta
components may be included when you create the application distribution
set.
Another area that can affect the development environment is the browsing of
the Internet on the development machine. Depending on the security level of
your browser software, some sites can download new components and install
them. This may not affect the development of the application, but, when
creating the application distribution set, may cause unknown file versions
and/or non-redistributable files to be included with your application. The
preferred method of avoiding this problem is to not use your development
machine for browsing the Internet. If this is not possible, consult your
Internet browser's documentation for instructions on how to avoid
downloading components or how to successfully uninstall components after
they have been installed.
Please refer to the "Application Distribution Set Methodology" section
later in this article before using the ASW/PDW to build the application
distribution set.
Operating System
If possible, develop the application on the same operating system the
target machine will use. This will ensure that operating specific versions
of the supporting files are similar in the development and target
environment. Also, service packs often fix many known problems with the
operating systems and, with some operating systems, a certain Service Pack
release is required to install a Visual Basic application. The latest
Service Packs can be found at the following location:
Applications Installed on Development Machine
Applications installed on the development machine may affect the ASW/PDW in
many ways. For instance, the presence of Microsoft Office 97 may have newer
versions of some files and have additional controls that did not ship with
Visual Basic. Once again, it is best to keep the development machine as
clean as possible so as not to introduce any component that can alter the
Visual Basic environment.
For the most part, having multiple versions of Visual Basic on the same
machine does not alter the development environment. With regards to
application deployment, however, having multiple versions can cause the
application to not install correctly due to newer versions of components
and the inability of the installation application to correctly determine
dependency information and/or register these components. To ensure a good
distribution of the application, the development machine should have only
the necessary version of Visual Basic installed.
Again, please refer to the "Application Distribution Set Methodology"
section of this article before using the ASW/PDW to build the application
distribution set.
Third-party Controls
Third-party controls are controls that do not ship with Visual Basic and
are supplied by a third-party vendor. These controls can be incompatible
with other pieces of the application or even the operating system itself.
If you suspect a third-party control may be causing a problem with your
distribution set, you should create a test setup using the Setup Wizard for
a very simple application (the Calc.vbp sample project that comes with
Visual Basic is a good sample application). Create a distribution set using
the Setup Wizard for a sample application such as Calc.vbp. If this setup
is successful, begin eliminating the third-party controls from the original
setup one by one and re-test. This helps you decide if a control is causing
the problem. If you identify a control that is causing the problem, contact
the vendor for additional information regarding the control.
Application Distribution Set Methodology
The information below lists the ideal way to create a setup routine for
your Visual Basic application. It is meant to be used as a guideline for
setting up a clean environment for creating trouble-free application
distribution sets and is not intended to be used as a step-by-step example: - Use a clean development machine that has as little as possible
installed. A clean installation of the Windows operating system plus
Visual Basic and AntiVirus software would be the ideal environment.
- In an ideal environment, the development machine should have the same
version of Windows (95/98/Me, NT, or 2000) as the target machines. This may not be possible due to differences on the target machines. Use the operating system that is the most common among your target machines.
- Install the latest Service Pack updates for both the operating system
and for Visual Basic to ensure you are using the most up-to-date files
available.
- Using AntiVirus software, check the machine for all known viruses. This
ensures that you will not be distributing a virus to your target
users.
- Test the application using the Visual Basic IDE, ensuring all components
of the application work as designed.
- Run the ASW/PDW on your project to create the necessary distribution
files.
- Test the application on the development machine by installing the
application and ensuring all components of the application work as
intended.
- Again, use AntiVirus software to check the machine.
- Test the installation on a target machine. Testing on more than
one target machine can also help identify issues before the application
is deployed to clients.
This should lead to a resolution of most issues dealing with the
installation of a custom application using the ASW/PDW. If the above
information does not lead to a resolution, please check the Microsoft
Knowledge Base for any known issues or contact Microsoft Technical
Support for help resolving the issue. The Microsoft Knowledge base can
be accessed directly from the Internet using the following URL:
REFERENCESFor additional information, click the article numbers below
to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
161344 INFO: Visual Basic 4.0 and Visual Basic 5.0 Compatibility
174135 PRB: Setup Cannot Continue...System Files Are Out of Date
178354 INFO: How Setup Wizard and PDW Uses Dependency Files
180071 FILE: MSVBVM50.EXE Installs Visual Basic 5.0 Run-Time Files
187282 INFO: List of Visual Basic Run-Time Files Installed by Product
191692 PRB: SHDOCVW.DLL Not Included in PDW Setup Package
190978 PRB: Missing Dependency Information Dialog in PDW
192461 FILE: VBRUN60.EXE Installs Visual Basic 6.0 Run-Time Files
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 7/25/2006 |
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| Keywords: | kbAppSetup kbinfo kbwizard KB193270 |
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