Major problem with SetupBuilder and Windows 7 - Corrupted install?

[NewsArchive]

Friedrich,
Want your expert opinion.

SetupBuilder has started deleting my scripts.
I open an existing SB7 file, begin working on it, and save. The size goes
to 58 Kb. (was 835 Kb)
Everything looks fine in SB, no errors or anything. exit, and come back in,
or go to an SBi tab, and come back, and all the script is gone.

This also happens to .SBi files as well. Not every time, but about 20-30%
of the time (yes, 1 out of 4 or 5).
What can you recommend? I am getting ready to uninstall and re-install
Setupbuilder... just not looking forward to all the setup after it is
installed. Have you ever seen behavior like this before?

Thanks,
-Glenn.

PS. this may be related to some of the other weird errors I was seeing in
some of my earlier posts this week.

[NewsArchive]

Glenn

This sounds very much like a problem I saw once and once only back in Jan 2007 with
SB6. Thread was "Strange SB6 Thread issue, I think" on Jan 30 2007.

Yours is only the second such report that I have noticed. My problem never re-occurred
and I did not re-install SB6 at the time.

John Griffiths

[NewsArchive]

Hi Glenn,

> Want your expert opinion.
>
> SetupBuilder has started deleting my scripts.
> I open an existing SB7 file, begin working on it, and save. The size goes
> to 58 Kb. (was 835 Kb)
> Everything looks fine in SB, no errors or anything. exit, and come back
> in, or go to an SBi tab, and come back, and all the script is gone.
>
> This also happens to .SBi files as well. Not every time, but about 20-30%
> of the time (yes, 1 out of 4 or 5).
> What can you recommend? I am getting ready to uninstall and re-install
> Setupbuilder... just not looking forward to all the setup after it is
> installed. Have you ever seen behavior like this before?
>
> Thanks,
> -Glenn.
>
> PS. this may be related to some of the other weird errors I was seeing in
> some of my earlier posts this week.

I don't think that you have a corrupted install. IMO, one of your
"protection" products causes all your issues.

BTW, we are using SetupBuilder on Windows 7 for more that one year and quite
a few SetupBuilder developers are using the product exclusively on Windows
7.

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

John,

Similar, but I think some different. If I read yours correctly, you ended
up with the .sbi in both tabs? When I go back to my .sb7 tab (or .sbi tab,
if that is the one that happens to get axed), I get nothing. just an empty
window. No comments, no line numbers, no nothing. but, the size does
shrink like it did for you.

Did you notice any errors in the log or anything? I know it was some time
ago, but appreciate your feedback none the less.

Thanks,
-Glenn.

[NewsArchive]

Friedrich,

Let me clarify, I am in NO WAY blaming SB7, just looking for a solution. If
it came across that way, I will apologize now.

What do you mean by "protection" products?
I am running Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 (trying to get that updated,
but takes time)
That is the only AV type product I am using. I've been running Win7 for
about 3 weeks, and this is the first time this has happened. Started Monday
evening.

Coincidentally, it also started the exact same time I started trying to
incorporate UAC manifest.
At the time, I got an error embedding UAC into a file that had already been
code signed. That is the first time I saw this issue.
Could the altering of a code signed EXE be triggering something in AV?

Your thoughts and assistance are greatly appreciated.
-Glenn.

[NewsArchive]

Glenn,

> Let me clarify, I am in NO WAY blaming SB7, just looking for a solution.
> If it came across that way, I will apologize now.

I know that you are not blaming SB7 at all!

> What do you mean by "protection" products?
> I am running Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 (trying to get that
> updated, but takes time)
> That is the only AV type product I am using. I've been running Win7 for
> about 3 weeks, and this is the first time this has happened. Started
> Monday evening.

I mean any software product that "monitors" specific file activities at
real-time. For example, a virus-scanner, an anti-spyware scanner, etc.
They all do something with files (e.g. put a temporary lock on it to scan
the contents, "cache" write actions at real-time to analyze the binary
contents and then write it to disk, etc.). It's very well possible that a
virus definition update can cause this -- then, when the protection product
vendor fixes the bug in their system, another definition update magically
solves it.

> Coincidentally, it also started the exact same time I started trying to
> incorporate UAC manifest.
> At the time, I got an error embedding UAC into a file that had already
> been code signed. That is the first time I saw this issue.
> Could the altering of a code signed EXE be triggering something in AV?

To be frank, I can't answer this question because I have no idea what the
AV product is doing behind the scenes. If it still happens after updating
Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 (as I understand it, that version is
not compatible with Windows 7 64-bit and IIRC, you are running a 64-bit
version), check if it also happens if you have the AV product "disabled".

BTW, I am not saying that this is definitely not caused by a bug in
SetupBuilder. But there are quite a few SetupBuilder users out there and we
have not received a similar report.

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

Ok, I will keep diging. Working slowly and watching results.
If I figure out a pattern, I will update this thread.
Would it help to see one of the "corrupted" scripts?

Glenn Paschal

[NewsArchive]

Hi Glenn,

> Ok, I will keep diging. Working slowly and watching results.
> If I figure out a pattern, I will update this thread.
> Would it help to see one of the "corrupted" scripts?

Yes, it would be great if you could send us one of the scripts. BTW, the
"scripts" are standard TPS superfiles.

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

Attached is one of the .sb7 files after it got corrupted.

Glenn Paschal

[NewsArchive]

Glenn,

> Attached is one of the .sb7 files after it got corrupted.

Your .sb7 file (a TPS "superfile" with two data files) still has all the
text resources (file 1). But the script (file 2) is completely empty -- it
does not include a single record. So I assume "something" removed all
records from that file. The SetupBuilder IDE itself does not have any
function that would remove all records from the script file. Very
strange...

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

Oh, btw, my development machine is Win7 32 bit.
My test machine on which I am installing the resulting Install.EXE is Win7
64 bit.
The vanishing script problem is happening on the Win7 32 bit machine.

Glenn Paschal

[NewsArchive]

> Oh, btw, my development machine is Win7 32 bit.
> My test machine on which I am installing the resulting Install.EXE is Win7
> 64 bit.
> The vanishing script problem is happening on the Win7 32 bit machine.

Aha, okay. Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 version 16 is Win7
compatible. But it's still possible that a specific virus definition file
causes this.

What I can say at this point is that there is no Win7 related issue in
SetupBuilder 6 or 7.

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

> Friedrich,
>

>
> Coincidentally, it also started the exact same time I started trying to
> incorporate UAC manifest.
> At the time, I got an error embedding UAC into a file that had already been
> code signed. That is the first time I saw this issue.

Glenn,

Order IS important - illustrated in screen shot - Windows 7 manifest -
optionally Armadillo protect - code-sign

Another important consideration - my suggestion - it's better to work with
"Fresh" files - right after you have Clarion compiled so no manifest or
code-sign exist - my company uses SB7 as illustrated in the screen shot so
in that case - don't use Clarion to manifest - let SB7 manifest it.

http://profileexchanges.com/blog/?p=120

Download the CHM version for updated screen shots and extra tips on using
Armadillo and special SetupBuilder Developer Edition options.

David

--
From David Troxell - Product Scope 7.9 - Encourager Software
Product Scope 7 Viewer - NO Registration Fee! Free to Use!
http://www.encouragersoftware.com/
Clarion Third Party Profile Exchange Online
http://encouragersoftware.com/profile/clarlinks.html
http://www.profileexchanges.com/blog/

[NewsArchive]

In watching a save, I notice the file goes away, then comes back, and the
size steadily grows until the save is complete.
I assume from this, that the superfile is recreated from scratch during a
save?
If so, could it be that some error is being encountered between file 1 write
and file 2 write?
This would create the scenario we are seeing, where the resources are there,
but the script is not.

Just a thought.
-Glenn.

[NewsArchive]

Hi Glenn,

> In watching a save, I notice the file goes away, then comes back, and the
> size steadily grows until the save is complete.
> I assume from this, that the superfile is recreated from scratch during a
> save?
> If so, could it be that some error is being encountered between file 1
> write and file 2 write?
> This would create the scenario we are seeing, where the resources are
> there, but the script is not.
>
> Just a thought.

Yes, that's correct. The backup file (.sb~) is created and then the script
is recreated from scratch. But for all write actions, the ERRORCODE is
checked. As I understand it, no error is reported in your case.

If a file would be "locked" at the beginning of the save process, you would
see : "The file XYZ cannot be saved because it is write-protected. Click Yes
and SetupBuilder will attempt to remove the write-protection and overwrite
the file in its current location."

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

Correct, there is no error message in my case.
Strange.
I will do more to reproduce... however, since I turned off Trend Micro (and
installed Avast), the problem has not re-occurred.
Will keep you updated.

Glenn Paschal

[NewsArchive]

> Correct, there is no error message in my case.
> Strange.
> I will do more to reproduce... however, since I turned off Trend Micro
> (and installed Avast), the problem has not re-occurred.
> Will keep you updated.

Thank you!

We have added another error check to SaveScript. This will be available in
the upcoming SetupBuilder 7.1.

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

BTW, I checked the source codes and the last modification in the
SaveScript() function is dated 11/17/2006.

We'll add another error check to the above function to see if the script
file is "empty" (for whatever reason) after the save operation. If this is
the case, restore the backup file and display an error message.

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

Awesome... need beta testors for 7.1?

Glenn Paschal

[NewsArchive]

Hi Glenn,

>
> Awesome... need beta testors for 7.1?
>

We made a pre-release available three weeks ago.

http://www.lindersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21807

If you are interested, we can upload an updated private SB71 build for you
tomorrow so you can test the modified save functionality. Perhaps this
gives us an idea what is going on.

Could you please send your serial number to our sales [at] lindersoft [dot]
com and you'll receive a notification when your test build is available.

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

Email sent. Thanks again.
Will I be able to install this along side of SB7?

Glenn Paschal

[NewsArchive]

Glenn,

> Email sent. Thanks again.
> Will I be able to install this along side of SB7?

This will update your current SB7 installation to SB71. You can roll back
to SB70 if you want, but you can continue to use it until the final SB71 is
available (this will then update your SB71 "pre-release" to "gold").

Friedrich