USB application loading but not running

[AetL Marc]

Hello TechSpot

In Europe there is a new law requiring to make a special document for proffesional transactions called a DCA/DAE through the internet, instead of the paper document that has always been used.

So our government issues a USB Key with an application on it.
The problem is when i double click this application the computer loads (seemingly, goes slow, makes noise and mouse cursor change to thinking cursor) but nothing actually happens, no window, no error nothing in task manager, like i never clicked the app.

At our office we have 5 computers where 4 of them run windows 7. On one of these computers with windows 7, the USB key works perfectly fine, program runs and can issue the documents.

But take any other computer in the office and we get the above mentioned problem ! XP and Windows 7, no difference. either computer, or laptop, no difference.

Anyone has a good idea of what may cause this ?

 

[AetL Marc]

I have tried running it in Windows XP Compability mode as well as win 95, with and without admistrator rights. still no effect. is there anything i could do to get a better idea where the problem is coming from ?

 

[mailpup]

Perhaps there is a conflict with other installed software. You could try temporarily disabling any anti-virus programs.

 

[AetL Marc]

I have tried disabling all antivirus, firewall etc, still not working.
I also forgot to mention that this application does not require installation, it is launched directly

 

[DelJo63]

a) is the application 64bit?

b) does it run in compatibility mode on a 32bit system

c) the inverse issue might be a 32bit application that can't run on 64bit OS in compat mode.


do some research . . .

 

[AetL Marc]

Thanks for your reply.

Though all computers here at our office are 32bits and one of these computers can run the application on the USB key without any problems whatsoever, so i doubt it has anything to do with that

 

[greypigeon]

Hi, are there any settings in the app you can modify?
Some portable apps use settings for something like .. path to save files or.....
See if there are settings related to the PC where the app works.

 

[AetL Marc]

Well the application is on a USB key that is locked and personalized.
there is only the application file in the usb key, no setting files or anything.

If there is any settings to set, it would be inside the application itself i suppose, which i cannot start up on other computers. Right now there is lunch break at the office so i cannot access the computer who runs the App just fine. but in 30 minutes i will try and see if there are any settings inside the app that could have anything to do with this.

Also is it possible that once an application has been used on a PC it is linked to this PC and not allow any other PC's to use it ?

 

[greypigeon]

Also is it possible that once an application has been used on a PC it is linked to this PC and not allow any other PC's to use it ?

Could be for security reasons??

 

[AetL Marc]

Could be, but is this actually possible ?

 

[AetL Marc]

After opening the application on the USB key it immediatly prompts for a password.
after that, when the password has been entered, it redirects the user to a website and from there the work is done. so i guess the app is only a password and 'link to' app. No settings

 

[greypigeon]

Maybe you can check this:
rightmouse click on the exe, >properties
>security tab

Don't know:
Is difficult to analyze without knowing the program !

 

[AetL Marc]

I do not have a 'security' tab on the .exe file

I also noticed the exe file is only a few KB while there is 120mb's taken on the USB. so i assume there must be hidden files. how can i unhide these ? maybe the problem can be fixed frm there ?

 

[greypigeon]

Try this:

Open CMD prompt:
type the drive letter of the USB drive......>E: (or other) and press enter
Type > attrib -r -h -s
Enter

 

[AetL Marc]

OK thanks, this unlocked all the files in USB Key
but no config file, or program
there is however some sort of log file, maybe this could be of interest to see where it crashes ?

Also the totality of these files is about 40Mb out of the 120 used on the usb key

and how do i hide the files again ><

 

[DelJo63]

Type > attrib +h *.*

for a complete description, use ATTRIB /?

 

[AetL Marc]

Thanks for that. but still no idea's on why this app doesnt run ?

 

[AetL Marc]

Nobody has an idea what the cause could be for a program seemingly loading something, but not opening up any windows or actually starting ?

I have had problems like these before with other software, but never been this important. So i kinda thought that this was a 'known' problem.

Is there any information i can provide that will help you determine what the problem could be ?

 

[DelJo63]

hmm; We all assume that this program will run when located on the system disk, but just NOT when run from the thumb drive - - please confirm.

get a copy of http://www.dependencywalker.com/

start it and then open your program - - it will disclose all the DLLs need to allow the program to execute.

for each DLL reported or missing, find a copy of that DLL and copy it to the same directory on the thumb drive that contains the subject program.

 

[AetL Marc]

The USB Drive is locked and i cannot copy/delete or anything. it only runs from USB and only on one PC in our office. i will try this program you linked right away and post here with result

 

[AetL Marc]

Ok i tried this program and was indeed missing a DLL file. so i downloaded this ISHIMS.DLL that dependency was asking for and tried rerunning a scan with dependency. now it just says :

Warning: At least one module has an unresolved import due to a missing export function in a delay-load dependent module.

I dont really understand what this means ?
The program still don't startup on my computer with the new DLL file

 

[greypigeon]

The USB Drive is locked and i cannot copy/delete or anything. it only runs from USB and only on one PC in our office.

As posted before run > attrib -r
(removes the read-only attribute)
then try to copy the file.

Can you attach the log file? (remember first attrib -h)

 

[DelJo63]

clear symptoms that the application is dependent upon some registry settings on that one PC.

A good standalone App will run on ANY pc and does not depend on any resources except those loaded to the USB Thumb drive

 

[AetL Marc]

Hey again,

I have now tried copying all the files in the usb key to my desktop in a new folder and run the app from there. same issue unfortunately.

Is there any way of resetting that dependency of registry ? because originally when we recieved this key it must have been open for any PC ?

 

[AetL Marc]

I found this log file with several entries. here is one of them:
make sense anyone ?