Software & Computer Question

[fire-medic8104]

I recently had my programming laptop go down and the processor is fried so I pulled the hard drive hoping to salvage my programming setup since I lost all the disks and cds in a fire about a year ago.

Question I have is I know all dos programs are pretty much copy from the old hard drive and past into folders, but is there anyway I can salvage the CPS programs? If I try to run them off the old hard drive it says it is missing a DLL file. Found the file, pasted it on the C drive and it still wouldn't run. Get an error, something about point of entry, a string of characters and reinstall the program. I have all the dos programs working again, but the CPS ones I can't get to run.

Is there a way to salvage them from the hard drive or am I just screwed and have to pay Motorola for the programs again?

[Wowbagger]

The way the Windows Component Object Model (COM) works is that a DLL supplies zero or more "objects". When a program wants to create an "object" of that type, it asks the COM system "Hey, do you have something that can give me an object of type FOO?" The COM system then looks in the registry for a key that says "Objects of type FOO are created by DLL 'foo.dll'". If it finds that registry entry then that DLL will be loaded (if it's not already) and the appropriate object created and handed back to the program.

Now, even though you've dropped the DLL on the computer, that DLL hasn't had the appropriate registry keys added - so as far as COM is concerned, it doesn't exist.

You need to run a program to register that DLL. Normally, that's done by the installer. You *MAY* be able to trick it by:
1) Open a command prompt (Start->Run->cmd.exe).
2) change to the directory you placed the DLL in (cd <the directory you put the DLL in>).
3) run the command "regsvr32.exe <name of the DLL file>".

So, you'd do something like:
C:> cd windows\system
C:> regsvr32 foo.dll

and it MAY create the needed registry entries.

[fire-medic8104]

Cool, I'll give it a shot this evening and post how it goes.

[RKG]

Before you do, make sure you have made a "restore point" and backed up the registry files.

[fire-medic8104]

Got an error that said dll loaded, but DLLregister server entry point not found

Can I do it from the E: drive, which would be the old hard drive or does it have to be on the C:?

[Wowbagger]

That message meant my guess was wrong - the DLL in question isn't a COM server.

The other possibility is that you simple didn't put the DLL in the right place - is it in a corresponding directory to where it was on the old drive?

[HLA]

why can't you just use the old hard drive as the main one in the new machine and it will work fine, you will just have to update the computer drivers for the board and things like that but it will all work the same as it did in the old machine

[fire-medic8104]

I didn't think about that. Is there a way since I am using my regular computer to switch back and forth?

[HLA]

all you'd have to do is mount both in the case and shut down the computer and just plug into which ever drive you want to use. plus i'm shure there is somebody out there that makes an a/b switch so you won't have to open the case?

[sethcwilliams]

This may or may not help you out, but if you connect both drives and edit the "boot.ini" (I think that's the file name) to add an entry for the second hard drive containing it's own OS, you'll be able to select which drive to boot from. Last time I did this (a long time ago), I was dual booting XP and 2000 Pro. Tricky thing there was XP boots from the "windows" directory, 2000 Pro booted from "winnt" so you had to make sure and specifiy the correct file paths. If you're using Vista on either drive, this won't do you any good. That's a more detailed process I haven't had a reason to attempt yet.

//EDIT 0305Z 29MAY2009//

More detailed instructions IF you're not using Vista on one or both of the drives:

When everything has booted up, Open up the control panel and double click on the 'system properties' icon. Click on the Advanced Tab and then click on the 'Start up and Recovery' Settings button. This will bring up a new window with your boot options in it. About 1/3 of the way down on the Right Hand Side is a button marked "Edit" - click on this.

Notepad will now open up with your Boot Configuration file - be careful when editing this, because if you hash it up you could possibly damage your XP installations.

You will now be presented with something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Windows XP" /fastdetect


Change the line from "Windows XP" to something more descriptive, and add a second line to mark the second hard drive.

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Drive1" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)WINDOWS="Drive2" /fastdetect


On the second line, If the "rdisk(1)" doesn't work to show the second physical drive, then change it back to "(0)" and modify the "disk(0)" to say "disk(1) and see if that works. it's been a while since I did it and I don't have an XP pc booted up right now to check it out. Like I said, this is assuming that you're using XP. If one of the drives is 2000, by some chance, then enter the second line as follows:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)WINNT="Drive2"

[fire-medic8104]

I had a chance to change the boot file, but when trying it as XP, I get an error, so I tried it as Windows NT and it just loops back and restarts and goes back to the panasonic start up and choose drive 1 or drive 2. I am not sure what version of windows he had in it.

What would I do for 2000 or 98? I think the last option was my best try, but need to figure out what version of windows it is maybe?

[sethcwilliams]

Yup, you'll definately need to know what the OS was. If it was 2000, then the boot directory was "WINNT". I assume that Windows NT was the same, but I'm not sure about Windows 98 or anything else. Thing to do would be to disconnect the current bootable drive, connect the drive you're trying to save in it's place (meaning connect to the same port on the motherboard) and make sure that it will boot on it's own. If it won't then dual booting will never work.

[fire-medic8104]

Ok, thanks. I don't want to really tear apart my toughbook, I was hoping that it was something I could do from the hard drive reader. I appreciate the help and I will look and see what I can do. I really don't want to front Motorola money again, but may have no choice if I can't get my old software out of it.

[fire-medic8104]

Looks like my problem is that it is Windows 98 and that has to be on my c drive when I am using it as a external HDD. I think I have an old laptop I may be able to put it in and see if it will boot that way.

[sethcwilliams]

That might be your best bet. I don't know why I assumed you moved the salvaged hard drive into a desktop, I should've asked that up front. There's a whole other set of concerns if you're trying to boot to a USB connected or other external source. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[thebigphish]

If you collect all of the motorola-based DLLs that the programs install, and then place them in the CPS folders individually, you will be able to use the program w/o registering them with the OS. I have done this when i want to use my CPS off a usb drive. YMMV.