Q. I get errors after installing an update where WinSwim throws errors on finding or accessing data in the installation folder. Also, have issues accessing the sample.mdb when in the installation folder with "Operation must use updateable query".

There is a behavior of Windows 7 where the User Account Control (UAC) of Windows will keep a cache of the initial installation of WinSwim in the VirtualStore folder. This happens when you update WinSwim from a user account that is NOT an Administrator with privledges to update the installation folder. This ultimately causes WinSwim to not find a current file since Windows is redirecting WinSwim to a cache folder without WinSwim's knowledge. Ultimately, this causes an error when a update adds a new field or control field.

When using UAC on Windows 7, you may not have administrator access to open and change files in the installation folder because your user account has insufficient privilages.

Easiest thing to do is always install the software or let WinSwim install update while you are using an Administrator user account. If you find errors happening after a software update, then you may want to try uninstalling the software and installing the new software from a complete installation.

Or, you can open the Local Security Policy and disable UAC (see below). I use these settings and never had this issue arrise.

Q. Get a "1607: Unable to install installshield Scripting Runtime" error during installation.

This is caused because the setup attempts to download the current Microsoft Installation Engine and the Installshield script options when installing. These need to be manually installed before installation by downloading and installing the Installshield script options at http://www.installengine.com/cert02/isengine/isscript.msi and the Microsoft MSI engine at http://www.installengine.com/Msiengine20/instmsia.exe. 

Refer to the Microsoft KB article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888019 or http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292539 for more information on fixing.

Make sure you have an internet connection and login in as administrator access when attempting the installation to assure the scripting engine can be downloaded and you have sufficient permissions to install new software.

Q. Windows 7 64-bit Compatibility Statement

There can be issues with 64-bit version of Windows with compatibility to the MS DAO access to MS-Access databases. I've seen reported errors on Windows 7 64-bit pertaining to missing MSXML3.DLL and Crystal Reports throwing an error for "File Integrity Error". Typically, these problem are without SP1 or using the SP1 pre-release v.741. Windows 64-bit support of Microsoft Jet and DAO needed for accessing the database is questionable (i.e. untested). To assure full compatibility we recommend using the 32-bit version of Windows 7.

Q. Are you getting "Error = (-2147217900) : Unknown?" errors?

After a lot of investigation this was determined to be caused by XP SP2 versions of Microsoft Jet DLL's being installed by TMLite on XP SP3 machines. If you get this error you need to verify that you have the correct version of the msjet40.dll (4.0.9511.0), msjint40.dll (4.0.9502.0), msjter40.dll (4.0.9502.0) and msjtes40.dll (4.0.9502.0) installed into the c:\windows\system32 folder. If you cannot find these versions, re-install the SP3 by finding the download at Microsoft XP SP3 Download and reinstalling the service pack. Then, register the DLL's with REGSVR32.EXE correctly by entering "regsvr32.exe c:\windows\system32\msjet40.dll".

Reference How to obtain the latest service pack for the Microsoft Jet 4.0 Database Engine for more information on MSJet40.Dll versions.

Q. Exported Word from Crystal Reports are blocked. How can I unblock these Word reports?

In 2007 Microsoft released an update to Office 2003 that blocked certain types of old files from being opened.  A similar feature is included in Office 2007 by default.  This blocking was included because of security concerns (the older documents can provide an entry point for malicious code), but the wholesale blocking of these file types is not a practical solution if you have old data you must access.  When you attempt to open a blocked file, you receive one of the messages below:

You are attempting to open a file type that is blocked by your registry policy setting. 
You are attempting to open a file that was created in an earlier version of Microsoft Office. This file type is blocked from opening in this version by your registry policy setting. 
If you are attempting to open a blocked file in Office 2007 you can get around the problem by placing the file in what is known as a “Trusted Location.” Trusted locations are folder that you specifically designate; Microsoft recommends that you not designate your entire My Documents folder as trusted, and instead create a folder inside My Documents that you designate as a Trusted Location.

Follow the steps below to create such a folder, and then tell Office to trust it.

1. In Windows, open your “My Documents” folder (there should be an icon on your desktop).

2. Select File->New

3. Rename the folder, and then copy the file(s) you’re trying to open into the folder.

4. Start Word or Excel (depending on the file you’re trying to open), then go to Office Button->Word Options or Office Button->Excel Options

5. Select “Trust Center”

6. Select “Trust Center Settings…”

7. Select “Trusted Locations”

8. Browse until you find the folder containing the file you want to open. It should be in “My Documents”

9. When you have the folder selected, use “OK” to close all of the dialog boxes.

10. You should now be able to use File->Open to open the file that was previously blocked.

Q. Does Winswim work on a Apple Mac?

Winswim is written to work on a Windows XP or Vista operating system.  That being said, there are virtual Windows you can run under Apple OS from VMware that might work for you. I have not tested the software or know if it works on a virtual XP running on VMware Fusion, but you can try it. Look at VMWare Fusion for more information.

Q. Is WinSwim compatible with Microsoft Vista?

Q. When sending using the critical error dialog, I get a sending error.

You should attempt a few steps to verify the problem.  The first is to make sure you are attached to the Internet when you press the "Send Error Report" button.  If you continue to get an authorization error, download the latest update from the download page.  If it continues, please click on the "click here" link and cut/paste the error into an email and send it to support@winswim.com.

Q. Errors are displayed during reports with dialogs complaining about missing PDBDAO.DLL file.

The PDBDAO.DLL file has been replaced by the P2BDAO.DLL file. If you see this error look at the properties for this file with Windows Explorer and verify that the version is 8.5.0.220. If the version is not this version or lesser value you have a previous version of Crystal Reports on this computer. WinSwim will NOT overwrite Crystal Report files even if it is a previous version. You will need to uninstall this older version and re-install WinSwim to install the newer files.

Q. How do I change the language translation or create my own translation?

WinSwim has been architected so you can change the translation if you have the proper tools.  To do a translation you need use a product, such as ResHacker to change the resource file DLL.  You can download ResHacker by clicking here.  Use this product to change the Winswim<LCID>.DLL where the <LCID> is the language code.  1033=English and 3082=Spanish.  You can make additional changes for the report and wizard texts in the "language.xml" files that are in the installation directories under the LCID directory.  To override the LCID being use by WinSwim when started, setup a <LCID>nnnn</LCID> XML in the "Winswim/Defaults" path in the Winswim.xml file.

If you have questions or create a translation, please send the translation to me or ask question by sending email to support@winswim.com.

Q. I get an error in the installation saying WinSwim requires Microsoft Jet 4.0 or MDAC 2.8.  How do I get this installed?

WinSwim now ships without the Microsoft MDAC or Jet 4.0 database support files.  These are normally part of Windows XP, but may not be on your Windows 95/98/Me system.  To get these, go to the Microsoft site, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/aa937730.aspx. and find latest MDAC.

Q. The software will not open the database or I get errors viewing the reports?

WinSwim now ships without the Microsoft MDAC or Jet 4.0 database support files.  These are necessary for Winswim to open the database and to view reports.  By removing these files, the download size is drastically reduced about 20MB.  In most cases, the correct MDAC and Jet 4.0 is included on your Windows XP release.  But, if you are using Windows 98 or NT you will need to go to the Microsoft site and install the correct MDAC and Jet 4.0 latest release.

Q. How do I override the language and see the software in Spanish instead of English?

WinSwim will sense the default language and automatically switch to Spanish from English.  But, you may have installed Windows in English and just want to see the software in Spanish.  To do this, you would edit the Winswim.xml file in the installation directory and insert "<LCID>c0a</LCID>" into the xml file.  Note: This is a "c" then a "0" (zero) then an "a".  To support English, remove this code to select the Windows default or change to "409".

Before:

<Winswim>
<Defaults>
<Provider>Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;</Provider>

After:

<Winswim>
<Defaults>
<LCID>c0a</LCID>
<Provider>Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;</Provider>

This error has occurred when an incompatible version of Crystal Reports is installed on the computer.  Hy-tek Lite II installs Crystal Reports and can cause this issue.  Also, the older version of WinSwim 2.5.x installed Crystal Reports 6.0 and was upgraded to 8.5 in the 2.6 version of WinSwim.

You should look at the c:\windows\system32\crpe32.dll version from the properties window in Windows Explorer.  The version of crpe32.dll MUST be 8.5.x.x.  If not, your going to have problems and not be able to view or print reports.  You must uninstall the incompatible version of Crystal Reports before reinstalling WinSwim from the download page. The problem is that just uninstalling Hy-tek will not remove these files and you must do it manually (see below).

Manually uninstall Crystal Reports:

These files are installed by WinSwim and should be deleted or renamed before reinstalling to refresh Crystal Reports to the proper 8.5 release level. Delete these files from the locations specified AND if present in the "c:\windows" or "c:\windows\system" folders. Be warned that some software can put the files in many locations.

If after re-installation you still have problems, open the Microsoft System Info Utility from WinSwim using the Help | About | System Info... button. Look at the Software | Loaded Modules section looking for these files and make sure the version is NOT less than 8.x.x.x. If you continue to have issues then save out the .NFO file from this utility and email to WinSwim Support.

Install WinSwim Support Files:

The support files that contain the OCX/DLL's for the Windows controls needed by WinSwim and the Crystal Report 8.5 runtime files are contained in the WinSwim Support Files download.  You can alternately use this to update your computer for these files.  This is different than installing the entire package as this does not contain the Microsoft MDAC update 2.8, MS Jet 4.0 files and the WinSwim package.

Q. I for some reason can't get the program to down load. I have windows 98  & keep getting a fatal error 1603 during installation what can I do to fix this please advise.

The Installshield support site has some recommendations about that error in a knowledgebase article http://support.installshield.com/kb/view.asp?articleid=q107182

Q: During installing I get a dialog saying Installshield is downloading INSTMSIA.EXE and the setup then hangs?

During running the WSWIM250.EXE a dialog pops up during the install saying it's downloading the Instmsia.exe.  During the installation the latest Instmsia.exe is downloaded and installed from the Internet.  If you see this dialog you should do the installation while signed on the Internet so the setup can install the latest install setup files.

Q: I have installed WinSwim already and just want to get the latest changes.  What do I do?

The changes for WinSwim are contained in updates that are available on the website.  If you don't find what you want, just email support@winswim.com and we will find what you need.

Q: When I try to run the Windows installer I get an error message during setup initialization Error 1608: Unable to create Install Driver instance.

This error indicates that InstallShield was unable to successfully install one of its key components using the “ISScript.msi” file. You can solve this problem by downloading the file from here and double clicking on it.  Other critical errors can be caused by the Microsoft Windows Installer not present.  You can solve this problem by downloading the file from here and double clicking on it. Once you have done this, try running the WinSwim installer again.

Q. Can not open the database.

There are some sporadic problems reported with computers running Windows 98 Second Edition.  The symptoms show that WinSwim can't successfully open the sample.mdb database provided.  

This is caused by not having all the data access files needed to use an Access 2000 database.  This problem can be resolved by installing the MDAC 2.5 RTM or the MDAC 2.6 RTM release with the Jet 4.0.  See Microsoft Knowledgebase articles Q239114, Q271908 or go to the Microsoft MDAC site and install the latest MDAC that contains the Jet 4.0 release for Access 2000.

Q. Office Calendar Control Not Working

Sometimes the calendar control mscal.ocx version 8.0.0.4115 doesn't function correctly on Windows 98 and Windows XP platforms.  A newer version of the mscal.ocx version 10.0.0.2601 calendar control distributed with Access 2000 sometimes resolves this problem. 

The symptom is you get a '-2147417848 (80010108)' :  Automation error  when you open the Edit | Options... dialog from within WinSwim.

Download the mscal.zip file and read the instructions contained within the archive to install a newer version of mscal.ocx

Or, you can disable the calendar control by passing the \dc option to WinSwim from within the short-cut appended to the Target name.