Sautreau

Some software written in VB6 using the serial com ports were working fine on
4 computers until 27th Ocober.

The 4 computers are running XP pro.

This software stopped working during the week-end, I presume this is because
of a security update.

Does anybody know which one and why?

Thanks in advance.

Twayne

> Some software written in VB6 using the serial com ports were working
> fine on 4 computers until 27th Ocober.
>
> The 4 computers are running XP pro.
>
> This software stopped working during the week-end, I presume this is
> because of a security update.
>
> Does anybody know which one and why?
>
> Thanks in advance.

Were they working on Friday? I don't have a calendar handy.
AFAIK there were no Friday and no weekend MS updates unless you manually
installed them. Did you? MS updates usually come earlier in the week.

What are the chances the VB6 progs were trial versions with a schedueld
"stop working" date"?

Have you tried reinstalling those VB6 apps?
How about uninstalling the latest dated updates from Add/Remove?
Please see the file ref'd in my sig.

Twayne
--

How to Post a newsgroup
question effectively:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q555375

Sautreau

Hi Twayne,

Thank you for your answer.

The VB6 application is not a trial version, it was uninstalled and
re-installed and there was same problem afterwards.

A modified version of the VB6 application is running on two other PCs and
there is the same problem.

For info, these PCs are in China and running an English version of XP pro,
all the licences were bought in the UK. No Chinese software was installed on
these PCs.

The problem started presumably on Thursday 30th October. I am sure now, a
Windows patch is preventing the Serial com port to operate.

Regards,

Sautreau


"Twayne" wrote:

> > Some software written in VB6 using the serial com ports were working
> > fine on 4 computers until 27th Ocober.
> >
> > The 4 computers are running XP pro.
> >
> > This software stopped working during the week-end, I presume this is
> > because of a security update.
> >
> > Does anybody know which one and why?
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
>
> Were they working on Friday? I don't have a calendar handy.
> AFAIK there were no Friday and no weekend MS updates unless you manually
> installed them. Did you? MS updates usually come earlier in the week.
>
> What are the chances the VB6 progs were trial versions with a schedueld
> "stop working" date"?
>
> Have you tried reinstalling those VB6 apps?
> How about uninstalling the latest dated updates from Add/Remove?
> Please see the file ref'd in my sig.
>
> Twayne
> --
>
> How to Post a newsgroup
> question effectively:
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q555375
>
>
>
>

Twayne

Yup, that could be the result of an update. I'm kind of wondering which
updates it gets, too; soulds like probably the UK versions.

You should be able to identify the updates that came in Thursday or
maybe Wednesday late, and uninstall them from Add/Remove. You might
have to tick the "show updates" box if it isnt' already ticked.
Then you can scroll down to Windows XP or whatever the entry is on
your machine, and see all the updates along with the date when they were
installed. Look for last Wed or Thurs dates. There you can uninstall
the updates one at a time until you've backed them all out.
I know it's a pain, but I would do a Restart after each removal, just
to help Windows keep track of things.

Another way to do that is to go to C:\windows\ and view the updates and
uninstall packages there. It's better to use Add Remove IMO, but ...
ymmv I suppose. The uninstallers also contain the KB article that
describes the updates if you want to chase down the particular one that
is causing the problem and uninstall just that one. KBxxxx-y can each
be looked up at the MS site to see what they were for.

Caveat: The author of your VB6 app may be aware of this problem and may
have a patch for the VB program ready instead of messing with the
updates.
Personally, that would be the first place I would check. If you're
right any and all with that prog on XP are going to have your problems
so there will be a want on his part to correct the issue. If it was a
prog crafted just for you, then he has even more impetus to correct it
for you, hopefully free of charge, assuming he's a good consultant.

HTH

Twayne





> Hi Twayne,
>
> Thank you for your answer.
>
> The VB6 application is not a trial version, it was uninstalled and
> re-installed and there was same problem afterwards.
>
> A modified version of the VB6 application is running on two other PCs
> and there is the same problem.
>
> For info, these PCs are in China and running an English version of XP
> pro, all the licences were bought in the UK. No Chinese software was
> installed on these PCs.
>
> The problem started presumably on Thursday 30th October. I am sure
> now, a Windows patch is preventing the Serial com port to operate.
>
> Regards,
>
> Sautreau
>
>
> "Twayne" wrote:
>
>>> Some software written in VB6 using the serial com ports were working
>>> fine on 4 computers until 27th Ocober.
>>>
>>> The 4 computers are running XP pro.
>>>
>>> This software stopped working during the week-end, I presume this is
>>> because of a security update.
>>>
>>> Does anybody know which one and why?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Were they working on Friday? I don't have a calendar handy.
>> AFAIK there were no Friday and no weekend MS updates unless you
>> manually installed them. Did you? MS updates usually come earlier
>> in the week.
>>
>> What are the chances the VB6 progs were trial versions with a
>> schedueld "stop working" date"?
>>
>> Have you tried reinstalling those VB6 apps?
>> How about uninstalling the latest dated updates from Add/Remove?
>> Please see the file ref'd in my sig.
>>
>> Twayne
>> --
>>
>> How to Post a newsgroup
>> question effectively:
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q555375