.NET 2.0 program (VS 2005) runs in Visual Studio but not from Windows Explorer

A:

have you tried the redistributable ( vcredist_x86.exe )?

ryansstack 2009-05-21 23:47:08

Are you making a project with DLLs ? Do you have to register them?

ryansstack 2009-05-21 23:48:05

Good point. My Prerequisites include that but each time I tried to install, it would hang so I would cancel and just click launch. UPDATE: I just let it run that install and it tries to launch the application but still has the same problem. (probably because when it finishes, my default browser is launched (Firefox) which can't handle the .application file type). Ugg. I hate this stuff. Tried letting IE be default browser and still needed to reinstall the VC Redist... it's not installing correctly otherwise it wouldn't ask for it each time I clicked the Install button or little launch link. :(

Jared Updike 2009-05-21 23:54:54

The VC redistributable should not be needed for a pure .NET project.

0xA3 2009-05-21 23:56:53

This is really weird since I have another .NET program with C++ Redist prereqs and it installs/updates just fine. It seems this one assembly is gummed up. I'll try renaming it and republishing to a new URL and see where that gets me.@ryannsstack: My project has dozens of DLLs. How do I register them short of just using the ClickOnce stuff? Other projects with a superset of the DLLs install/publish correctly. Somehow this one got gummed up. (I think I had an annoying earlier problem with access or cache jargon...)

Jared Updike 2009-05-21 23:58:03

There is a mixed managed/unmanaged DLL in there.

Jared Updike 2009-05-21 23:58:21

I think the problem is vcredist related or else that component would install correctly.

Jared Updike 2009-05-21 23:59:08

regsvr32.exe <dllname.dll>regsvr32.exe <dllname2.dll>etc

ryansstack 2009-05-26 20:38:22

in a command line prompt, that is.

ryansstack 2009-05-26 20:38:49

+1 A:

do you have anything that catches and reports unhandled exceptions in the application events section?

Maslow 2009-05-22 01:43:25

My binary is not launching at all, otherwise it would hit my exception handler (I would hope), so I don't believe it's in my code... I mean, it's perfect (at launching) on other machines and from VS.

Jared Updike 2009-06-23 00:05:06

still you may want to put something in that section just to see if it does catch anything.

Maslow 2009-06-23 11:50:42

@Maslow: I did put something in there: I have a global exception handler that works great when the program actually runs. As I noted, it's not even running the .NET code at all or it would hit my exception handler and give me a .NET error instead of a Windows error.

Jared Updike 2010-01-21 19:42:40

can you show us the code for your global exception handler and how/where it's being injected? Also check the windows event log on that machine, it might have some more detailed information there.

Maslow 2010-01-22 17:18:03

+1 A:

Check the Application Event Log using the Event Viewer. You probably won't get a lot of information, but sometimes it can point you in the right direction.

2009-05-22 18:01:54

It does have an error every time I try to run it:Event Type: ErrorEvent Source: .NET Runtime 2.0 Error ReportingEvent Category: NoneEvent ID: 1000User: N/ADescription:Faulting application myapplication.exe, version 1.0.0.0, stamp 49fbbc29, faulting module kernel32.dll, version 5.1.2600.5781, stamp 49c4f482, debug? 0, fault address 0x00012afb.

Jared Updike 2009-05-26 17:49:10

A:

have you tried manually copying the exe and supporting files to the machine instead of using publish? Also not that you want to go through the hassle, but on our machine that occasionally has a problem like this we have a copy of Visual Studio installed, so it comes up with a debug or close prompt, we hit debug and copy down the source code file it asks for and we get to see more details.

Maslow 2009-06-23 11:52:09

Yes, as I mentioned I can go into the Release directory and copy all of the DLLs and EXE to a new folder and double click the .exe and it crashes before running my code. The same folder of manually copied DLLs and EXE will run fine on other machines.

Jared Updike 2009-06-23 23:38:44

A:

It doesn't run when you double-click your compiler output directly? If so, What's usually solved this for me, is specifying Copy Local = True for all DLLs referenced in the project.

Dov 2009-06-25 19:36:47

Can't figure out how to do this in VS 2005. Where do I click to find "Copy Local"? I found "Copy to Output Directory" and set it to "Copy if newer" but I don't see how this will help me since my Release folder has all the requisite DLLs and EXE, and this same folder manually copied to another machine allows the .exe to run without a hitch.

Jared Updike 2009-06-25 21:39:47

If you have the Solution Explorer and Properties palettes visible (View->Solution Explorer and View->Properties Window, respectively), expand the References pseudo-folder of your project, which should expose your referenced assemblies. When you select one of the referenced assemblies, its properties display in the Properties window, one of which is "Copy Local", below "Aliases" and "(Name)" (some of the others, which are read-only, include "File Type", "Identity", "Path", "Resolved", "Runtime Version", "Strong Name", and "Version")

Dov 2009-06-29 14:30:20

@Dov: No luck. The only DLLs with Copy Local = False were System.* and changing that to True indeed copied them to the output folder, but running the .exe from the Explorer (by double clicking) still does not launch my program.

Jared Updike 2009-08-25 18:52:13

Have you tried running it on another computer?

Dov 2009-08-26 13:36:51

@Dov: yes, and it runs fine if I copy the folder to another computer

Jared Updike 2010-01-21 19:41:05

+1 A:

I'd also suggest doing the manual copy of the EXE and Dll's to a directory, and getting yourself a copy of Reflector and open your main application exe with reflector, then walk through all the references. Maybe there is some dependency where it is expecting a different version or something in the Gac that is older and you thought you'd removed it.

Also find the entry point in your program and see what Reflector thinks it is doing.

Paul Farry 2009-06-26 04:23:01

I think I'll try this.

Jared Updike 2009-06-26 23:47:16

BTW is this Red Gate's Reflector you're talking about?

Jared Updike 2009-07-01 23:13:13

yes Redgate's Lutz sold it to them

Paul Farry 2009-07-02 06:05:11

ansaurus

tags:

views:

answers:

.NET 2.0 program (VS 2005) runs in Visual Studio but not from Windows Explorer

related questions