FastTips for FoxPro for Windows: Installation Q&A

Last reviewed: December 12, 1996
Article ID: Q96170
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, version 2.5

      Microsoft(R) Technical Support Application Note (Text File)
              FW0929: INSTALLATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
                                                  Revision Date: 10/93
                                                      No Disk Included

The following information applies to Microsoft FoxPro(R) version 2.5 for Windows(TM).

| INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT AND ANY SOFTWARE THAT MAY     |
| ACCOMPANY THIS DOCUMENT (collectively referred to as an Application |
| Note) IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER      |
| EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED      |
| WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR       |
| PURPOSE. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and    |
| the use of this Application Note. This Application Note may be      |
| copied and distributed subject to the following conditions:  1) All |
| text must be copied without modification and all pages must be      |
| included;  2) If software is included, all files on the disk(s)     |
| must be copied without modification (the MS-DOS(R)  utility         |
| diskcopy is appropriate for this purpose);  3) All components of    |
| this Application Note must be distributed together;  and  4) This   |
| Application Note may not be distributed for profit.                 |
|                                                                     |
| Copyright (C) 1993 Microsoft Corporation.  All Rights Reserved.     |
| Microsoft, FoxPro, and MS-DOS are registered trademarks and Windows |
| is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.                            |
| SuperStor is a trademark of AddStor, Inc.                           |
| LANtastic is a registered trademark of Artisoft, Inc.               |
| AST is a registered trademark of AST Research, Inc.                 |
| COMPAQ is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation.    |
| Dell is a registered trademark of Dell Computer Corporation.        |
| NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation.                   |
| Stacker is a registered trademark of STAC Electronics.              |
| TIGA is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments, Inc.           |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|

This FastTip script provides answers to common questions about installing and configuring FoxPro for Windows on a network installation.

Network Setup

  1. Q. How do you perform an Administrative Setup of FoxPro on a

           network?
    

        A. In a network environment, you first must install FoxPro on the
           server by using the Administrative Setup option (setup /a).
           Administrative Setup decompresses all the FoxPro for Windows
           files and the Setup files onto the network drive, marking the
           FoxPro files as read-only. Once FoxPro is installed on the
           server, you can then set up each workstation by using Setup
           with the /n option. Workstation Setup copies the FoxPro
           resource files FOXUSER.DBF and FOXUSER.FPT to the local disk.
    

           To perform an Administrative Setup, perform the following two
           steps:
    

           1. In the Windows Program Manager, choose Run from File menu.
    

              The Run dialog box appears.
    
           2. In the Command Line box, type a:\setup /a or b:\setup /a,
              depending on which floppy disk drive you are using, and then
              press ENTER.
    
              During Setup, you will be prompted for user information and
              an installation directory, default drive, path name, and so
              on. For more information, see "Instructions for
              Administrative Setup" in the "Installation and
              Configuration" guide for FoxPro for Windows.
    
    

  2. Q. How do you perform a Workstation Setup of FoxPro on a network?

        A. To set up individual workstations, use the Workstation Setup
           option, which requires a previous Administrative Setup. The
           Workstation Setup option sets up a workstation to run a shared
           network version of FoxPro for Windows by copying FoxPro
           initialization files, updating some common .DLL files, and
           creating a program group and program icon on the workstation.
    

           A Workstation Setup can be performed from the network or from
           disk. To install from a network drive, open the Windows File
           Manager, open a window with the correct network path for FoxPro
           for Windows, then run SETUP.EXE. In the Installation Type
           dialog box, choose the Workstation Installation button.
    

           To perform a Workstation Setup from disk, open the Windows
           Program Manager, choose Run from the File menu, type a:\setup
           /n or b:\setup /n in the Command Line box, and then press
           ENTER. For more information, see "Instructions for Workstation
           Setup" in the "Installation and Configuration" guide for FoxPro
           for Windows.
    

  3. Q. What network rights do I need to install FoxPro on a network?

        A. You need full network system rights to install on a network.
           Contact your system administrator for further information about
           your specific installation.
    

  4. Q. Why are workstation users on our network unable to use FoxPro's

           graphing and spell-checking capabilities?
    

        A. Workstation users need at least read-access to the MSGRAPH and
           PROOF subdirectories in order to use these features. Contact
           your system administrator regarding user access to these
           subdirectories.
    

  5. Q. Can I put a common WIN.INI file up on the server?

        A. No. Each workstation must have its own WIN.INI file.
    

General Setup

  1. Q. During installation I was asked to select either MS-DOS-style

           keystrokes or Windows-style keystrokes. Which should I choose?
    

        A. If you are not sure which style to use, select Windows-style
           keystrokes. Windows-style keystrokes correspond to standard
           Windows keystrokes. MS-DOS-style keystrokes let FoxPro for
           Windows behave like FoxPro for MS-DOS. Later, if you want to
           use MS-DOS-style keystrokes, add the line KEYCOMP=DOS to your
           CONFIG.FPW files. For more information about the styles of
           keystrokes, see the SET KEYCOMP TO command in the FoxPro
           "Language Reference" manual.
    

  2. Q. What is the minimum FILES setting for FoxPro for Windows?

        A. The minimum FILES setting is 40. During installation, FoxPro
           for Windows checks your CONFIG.SYS file. If you have a FILES
           setting less than 40, a dialog box presents you with three
           options: make the modifications for you, allow you to review
           and edit changes, or allow you to make the modifications later.
           If you allow the installation program to modify your CONFIG.SYS
           file, your old file is saved as CONFIG.OLD (or CONFIG.001 if
           CONFIG.OLD already exists). For additional information, see the
           chapter "Customizing FoxPro" in the "Installation and
           Configuration" guide.
    

  3. Q. Does FoxPro for Windows update any dynamic-link libraries

           (.DLLs) in the Windows subdirectory where system files are
           kept?
    

        A. Yes. The following .DLLs are updated: COMMDLG.DLL, DDEML.DLL,
           OLECLI.DLL, OLESVR.DLL, SHELL.DLL, TOOLHELP.DLL and VER.DLL.
    

           FoxPro's graphing capabilities require that the files GRAPH.EXE
           and GRAPH.HLP be stored in the WINDOWS\MSAPPS\MSGRAPH
           subdirectory.
    

           FoxPro's spell-checking capabilities require that the files
           MSSPELL.DLL, MSSP_AM.LEX, and MSSP_BR.LEX be stored in
           WINDOWS\MSAPPS\PROOF subdirectory.
    

  4. Q. I accidentally deleted some of the FoxPro sample files. Can I

           reinstall these files without reinstalling FoxPro?
    

        A. Yes. Run Setup again and select the Custom Installation option
           from the Installation Type dialog box. This option lets you
           choose the components you want to install.
    
    10. Q. I'm having difficulty reading the FoxPro disks because of an
           alignment problem with my floppy disk drive. Is there another
           option for installation?
    
        A. One option is to copy all the files to a directory on your hard
           disk and then run the FoxPro installation from the hard disk
           instead of the floppy disk.
    
    11. Q. I'm trying to install FoxPro for Windows under Windows 3.0 and
           I'm getting the message "Cannot write VER.DLL." How can I work
           around this problem?
    
        A. Rename the VER.DLL file in the Windows System subdirectory to
           some other name, such as VER.OLD.
    
    12. Q. I'm having difficulty installing FoxPro. I've tried minimizing
           both my CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files and I still can't
           install FoxPro for Windows.
    
        A. If you are having installation problems, check the following:
    
            - Install FoxPro from the original Program Manager shell only.
              Don't try to install FoxPro from a replacement shell, such
              as Norton Desktop for Windows or other similar programs.
    
            - Make certain you have disabled all terminate-and-stay-resident
              (TSR) programs, such as virus-protection programs, screen-saver
              programs, and so on. Generally, TSR programs are disabled by
              "commenting out" (placing a semicolon [;] in front of) the
              appropriate LOAD= and RUN= lines in the WIN.INI file.
    
    13. Q. What is the best tool for editing the WIN.INI file?
    
        A. Use the NotePad program, located in the Windows Accessories
           group, or the MS-DOS Editor program.
    
    14. Q. If I modify my WIN.INI file is it advisable to restart Windows?
    
        A. Yes, because after you have modified the WIN.INI file, changes
           made to it aren't reflected in the current environment until
           you restart Windows. There are some exceptions, but if you are
           troubleshooting, restarting Windows ensures that all changes
           are reflected in the current environment.
    
    15. Q. Can I delete the directory named "~msstfqf.t"?
    
        A. Yes. The "~msstfqf.t" directory is created during setup.
           Ordinarily, this directory is deleted at the end of
           installation process, so it is okay to delete it.
    
    

Video/Memory Related Setup

16. Q. I get the error message "Insufficient memory" when trying to
       load FoxPro for Windows. How do I correct this problem?

    A. Increase the amount of memory available to Windows by doing one
       of the following:

        - Add more RAM to your computer. This will give you the best
          performance.

        - If you have modified Windows so that it does not use a swap
          file, create a temporary or permanent swap file.

        - If you are using a temporary swap file (which Windows uses by
          default), increase the amount of free space on the swap file
          drive. This will allow the swap file to grow to a larger size.
          Temporary swap files are slower than permanent swap files,
          but only occupy space on the hard disk while Windows is running.

        - If you are using a permanent swap file, create a larger one.
          In Windows 3.0, you can modify permanent swap files by running
          SWAPFILE.EXE in real mode. In Windows 3.1, you can modify swap
          files by choosing the 386 Enhanced icon in the Control Panel and
          then choosing the Virtual Memory button. Permanent swap files
          are faster than temporary swap files, but they occupy disk space
          even when Windows is not running. Also, a permanent swap file
          cannot be used on a drive that uses a disk-compression utility,
          such as DoubleSpace, Stacker(R), or SuperStor(TM).

        - If you are using a MEMLIMIT statement in your CONFIG.FPW file,
          reduce the minimum memory parameter.

17. Q. When using my LANtastic(R) network card, I get a memory
       conflict when loading FoxPro for Windows. How can I avoid this
       conflict?

    A. This error can be avoided by putting emmexclude=d800-dfff in
       the SYSTEM.INI file in the Windows directory.

18. Q. When using a Paradise video driver, I get a memory conflict
       when trying to load FoxPro for Windows. How can I avoid this
       conflict?

    A. This error can be avoided by putting emmexclude=c600-c800 in
       the SYSTEM.INI file in the Windows directory.

19. Q. When I use QEMM386 memory manager with FoxPro for Windows, I
       get a memory conflict. How can I avoid this?

    A. This error can be avoided by putting emmexclude=c0ff-c7ff in
       the SYSTEM.INI file in the Windows directory.

20. Q. When I use the Mach32 video card with my Gateway 2000, I get a
       "General Protection Fault in module MACH32.DRV at 0003:0E22"
       error message. How can I fix this error?

    A. You are experiencing a problem with your video driver. Contact
       your video card vendor for the most recent version of the
       driver. In the meantime, you can use the VGA.DRV or the
       8514.DRV drivers that come with Windows.

21. Q. I understand that a number of video drivers do not work
       properly with FoxPro for Windows. Why is this, and what steps
       should I take to resolve the situation?

    A. FoxPro for Windows makes intensive use of screen I/O and
       requires that video drivers support a complete implementation
       of the Windows video driver standard. If you experience general
       protection (GP) faults or display problems with borders, status
       bars, fonts, or unusual alignment when you preview reports, you
       may have a problem with your video driver.

       To test for video driver problems, load one of the standard
       Windows video drivers and go through the steps to reproduce the
       problem. If the problem no longer exists when you are using a
       standard Windows video driver, it's very likely that the old
       driver was the cause of the problem. Contact the vendor for an
       updated version of the driver or download the Windows Driver
       Library (WDL) on the Microsoft Download Service (MSDL).

       We have identified problems with the following video card
       drivers:

          ATI Ultra Graphics Pro (local bus) - caused GP fault, fixed
          with update.
          AST(R) Power Premium 486 w/VGA on motherboard, fixed with
          update.
          COMPAQ(R) QVision
          Dell(R) 486/20 with VGA on motherboard
          Genoa 7900 MM card
          Mach32
          NEC(R) 2A
          Speed Star 24x
          Trident 8900C
          TIGA(R) 1024 x 768 x 256 small fonts

       Contact your video card vendor for the most recent version of
       the driver for your card. In the meantime, you can use the
       VGA.DRV or the 8514.DRV video drivers that come with Windows.


Additional reference words: FoxWin 2.50 ivrfax fasttips appnote
KBCategory: kbsetup kbfasttip kbappnote
KBSubcategory: FxsetupAdmin


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Last reviewed: December 12, 1996
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