What I Learned Today

I'm just back from an install job. I ran into some unusual stuff and want to leave some record, in case someone else runs into the same.

So, this morning my job was to install a replacement computer, copy all the files over, and then install a couple of CAD/CAM programs--MasterCam 8 and MasterCam X3.

Now, this was a machine shop, with some older equipment; he was using serial port networking, for compatibility. We were installing a Windows XP machine (for backward compatibility). The only thing that was relatively new was the replacement computer.

Not that I don't understand. I'm a great one for holding onto something that still works, until it doesn't. These guys were early adopters of computerized milling; they have big bucks tied up in their investment; and so they need special, obsolete equipment to support it.

So, I turn on the machine, do a little setup, copy over the files. Good so far. Next, I installed Aladdin drivers (MasterCam uses a hardware hasp for registration), and then MasterCam 8. Ran it to confirm that all was good.

Now I installed MasterCam X3. Ran it to confirm that all was good.

Just for fun, I tried running MasterCam 8 again.

Wouldn't run. Couldn't find an ocx file.

I did a repair install. Ran it. Tried to open a file. Crash.

For the next couple of hours, I tried various permutations of the install order, while searching online, for answers, til I was blue in the face. Crash. Crash. Crash. You get the idea.

I took five, had a think out in the brilliant sunshine. Immediately after installing X3, 8 couldn't find an ocx file. Now, I knew that an ocx is so named because it is an "OLE Control Extension." I also knew that it had to be registered. What if, somehow, during the install process it had been unregistered?

On the machine, in Windows Command Prompt, I ran:
  regsvr32 mcbitmap.ocx -u
then
  regsvr32 mcbitmap.ocx

(The first iteration unregisters object, just in case. The second reinstalls it.)

And it still didn't work.

Ah, said I. Windows XP is old stuff, and quite frequently needs rebooting after system changes.

I rebooted, and we were off to the races.

Oh, and the serial port networking? It just worked.

*Phew!*

-Bill