Inserting any ActiveX control wants to install LabVIEW.

[BARMatt]

I'm having a problem with Visual C++ 6 that seems directly related to the NIDAQ software. When in the dialog editor, if I attempt to insert an ActiveX control (via the right-click menu), MSVC insists on starting a Windows installer for LabVIEW 7.1... constantly. If I hit Cancel then it just starts over. I even let it install LV once and it asked again not ten minutes later.

I have uninstalled all NI software but now adding a control results in a "Preparing to install..." box flickering about a dozen times before it finally gives up and presents me with the list of ActiveX controls that used to pop up immediately.

This is extremely vexing and I wish it to stop. Has anyone else run into this after install
ing NI drivers and SDKs?

[bilalD]

Hello

Can you describe the system configuration that you currently have? This is something we have tested and did not see this problem internally. If we can reproduce this problem in house, it would help avoid problems like this in the future. so a PC description, installed software (NI and non NI software) and installation order would help.

As a workaround, I would recommend uninstalling all NI software, and then using the msiBlast utility ( attached below ) to check and remove any left over NI components.

Then reboot and reinstall the software one at a time to see if there is a specific one causing the problem. I know this sounds tedious, but this is usually the best way to get rid of such weird installer issues.

Hope this helps

Bilal
Durrani
NI

[BARMatt]

Fixed it.

Attached is the complete export given by Microsoft System Information. It provides a lot of information and if you need more then let me know.

Luckily, it seems that MsiInstaller has been reporting errors to Windows while it flickers. You'll find these in the system report and they helped me track down the problems. The errors stemed from this:

Detection of product '{518930BE-7875-4547-B026-20B92F695781}', feature 'DataSocket.LVW71RTE' failed during request for component '{FC3E0B6E-F62B-11D1-B144-00C04F990B2B}'

For some reason, it was trying to install these things and it began to fail after the software was uninstalled because the keys it was looking for no longer existed.

I also found a lot of what looks like data c
orruption related to NIDAQ stuff in my registry. For instance, many of my Microsoft common controls (like TabStrip) contained a value named InprocServer32 within their InprocServer32 key that had not previously existed. As random as it looks, the value always contained the following string:

G!P5BM[^==)9LRdDWOXQDataSocket.LVW71RTE>j^8!E}1.(?KY(JMzo[{A@-HK,BS+T93)NrWc5@!pDataSocket.LVW16>j^8!E}1.(?KY(JMzo[{A

Note that the same string "DataSocket.LVW71RTE" as in the error is contained in there.

Also, deep in the registry there was this key:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\EB039815578774540B62029BF2967518\Features

...that appeared to contain all sorts of gibberish. I have attached an export of that key as well. For example, the value ActiveX.LVW71RTE was set to:

J$YfbexG-?m!AbH6US{*Msu*X]isJ9X{tiy(&XkvRun_Time_Engine.LVW71RTE

I can't tell you what was the exact cause of MSVC6 always trying to install these thing
s and, for all I know, that "gibberish" is actually meaningful, encoded data but deleting those whacked out keys has eliminated the issue.

[bilalD]

Was there a particular installation order that caused this problem to occur? Did the problems show up after you installed DAQ? Did you have LV on the machine previously? The system info file has alot of details in it but it cant tell me if there was a specific instllation order that caused you to end up in a bad statem

I have similar registery entries on my system (complete with the funky characters) and I can't seem to reproduce this problem.

Let me know if you have any thing I can use to reproduce the issue. Sometimes things end up in a bad state and trying to reproduce that state becomes a challange. But it's usually it can be traced down to a single software component installation.

Bilal

[BARMatt]

I really don't know. I've only ever had Traditional NIDAQ, NIDAQmx and MAX. I started with v7.0.1 then later installed 7.1 and 7.2. I first noticed this problem monthes after I was finished with my NIDAQ development and was working on something else entirely that required an ActiveX control in a dialog.