Designer has failed to start...

[ERokc]

because it's side by side configuration is incorrect. The notice refers to viewing the event log which I don't know where that is or if I could understand it anyway.

I have three DELL computers running Win 7 Home Premium.  The oldest does not have this problem.  The newer ones (one is a laptop I just purchased) won't execute Designer 1.1 or 1.2.

At DELL's site I find only one reference to this problem in a 2007 post and it was related to C++.  An upgrade solved the problem.

Can you offer any help?

[franji1]

Try running it as administrator.  This is different than the current user having administrator privileges.

Basically, right click on the shortcut to the DmDesigner.exe, and select "Run as Administrator".  You may have to enter a password.

[ERokc]

Same result.  User Account Control comes up and I click YES to allow Host Eng to make changes.  Same notice comes up at clicking YES.

[ERokc]

I discovered that the computer that works has Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.  The others do not have Microsoft Visual.  I installed redistributable Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 x86 on both computers that didn't work, now they run Designer.

Is this the correct version of C++ runtime?

I don't understand why no C++ on the machines???

Question, can I use Designer 1.1 and 1.2 to edit my program without conflict?  I usually want to run the new version for awhile before discontinuing the previous version.

[franji1]

Is this the correct version of C++ runtime?

Yes, that's what we use for Designer

I don't understand why no C++ on the machines???

It could have been your anti-virus software.  When Designer installs, it recommends closing your anti-virus (sad, but true).  I have no problems with my anti-virus, but there are some out there that do block install of system DLLs like the MFC DLLs, or sometimes you must install as administrator (see previous comment on that).  So it could be that you just needed to run the install "as administrator" or with your anti-virus software disabled (note that if you did that, I would definitely take myself off any network before disabling my anti-virus s/w and installing Designer or any software - there's something strange about installation that recommends that, but it's the nature of the beast).

Question, can I use Designer 1.1 and 1.2 to edit my program without conflict?  I usually want to run the new version for awhile before discontinuing the previous version.

You can run either program, just not at the same time (there is a check in the software for this).  Regarding the project files themselves, they are compatible.  However, this is not always the case as we go forward (e.g. the next version may have a different file format or Technology Version not supported by 1.2).  Hence, we recommend that you don't purposefully switch back and forth across versions with the same project file.

For example, 1.2 supports the Terminator DM1 CPUs, but 1.1 has no clue what those are.  It's probably best to keep your 1.1 projects in your 1.1 Projects folder and your 1.2 projects in your 1.2 Projects folder.  1.2 can open 1.1 Projects and 1.1 can open most 1.2 projects, but you don't want to get in the habit of intermixing them.  So copy your 1.1 projects to your 1.2 folder, and use 1.2 on those and save those using 1.2.  We definitely are backward compatible (i.e. newer software versions can open older files but then save in newer project file format), but not necessarily the other way around (older software versions may not be able to open newer versioned project files).

[ERokc]

Bottom line is it's running so this is just FYI. Thanks for your reply.  Keep up the good work on Designer.

The first thing I do with a new computer is remove nagging software that I don't want. MacAfee is the first one to go after disconnecting from the internet.  The new laptop I just bought has no virus software on it so it must have needed "As Administrator" to install Designer.  The best way to keep viruses out is never connect to the internet.  The inconvenience is having to transfer programs from another computer.

The other computer that would not run Designer had Win 8 on it and I just couldn't take it anymore so I removed it and installed Win 7.

I just want to use Designer 1.2 until I'm comfortable with it.  It probably won't take long to decide. I will be editing on the new laptop at my customer's location then copy to my office computer where I can write changes over the internet when needed. One reason I chose Do-more was for the internet connect-ability. I got that working!

[MikeS]

we also recommend that you run the install itself 'As Administrator' so that the VC++ redist code can get installed properly.

[ERokc]

My first encounter with "As Administrator" was with installing software on one of the two new computers.  No explanation is given as to why and I don't have time to look for an answer.

Can and should I always install as administrator?  What's the difference in the regular install I've been doing for 30 years?

[plcnut]

Can and should I always install as administrator?  What's the difference in the regular install I've been doing for 30 years?

I believe the difference is Windows 7 and the modern security. I try to do everything as administrator, I don't know how many programs that I've had problems with since switching to Windows 7 that was remedied by Run As Administrator. I even lost my RSLogix 500 key because of it