Mazabuka

Soporific I used the May 2007 full release of AP to install all the patches from the following modules (with Norton AV auto-protection disabled): Internet Explorer Windows Media Player DirectX 9 Critical Security Hotfixes Critical & Recommended System Updates Other Recommended System Hotfixes Visual Basic Runtimes The modules were installed one by one by repeatedly running AP after each module had been installed. 1. On the Windows Media Player (WMP) module, AP's test to determine whether or not WMP 9 is installed does not function correctly. On my SE system, AP failed to detect that WMP 9 was not installed and thus attempted to install all the patches for WMP 9, notifying that it has installed the patches. After SE reboots, however, AP then notifies that the patches are not installed which of course is correct if WMP 9 is not installed. 2. On the Critical Security Hotfixes module, an "out of environment space" warning occurred after SE rebooted. This warning occurred after AP confirmed that patch q323172 had been installed and before confirming that patch q323255 had been installed. When the "out of environment space" warning occurred AP went went through the usual error checking looping code => :LoopWARN "%LOC8%\bin\ASET" NHour := HOUR FOR %%_ in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) DO IF %NHour%==%%_ SET NHour=0%NHour% "%LOC8%\bin\ASET" NMin := MINUTE FOR %%_ in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) DO IF %NMin%==%%_ SET NMin=0%NMin% "%LOC8%\bin\ASET" NSec := SECOND FOR %%_ in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) DO IF %NSec%==%%_ SET NSec=0%NSec% SET TYME=%NHour%:%NMin%:%NSec% echo. %TYME% -- starting to loop installs: %TITLE% (%TRACK%)>> "%LOC8%\logs\I_Result.Log" CLS echo. echo. %TITLE% (%TRACK%) echo. is starting to loop through multiple installations. echo. If this keeps happening then the program code is not configured echo. properly or does not work for your version of Windows 98. echo. echo. You can either skip to the next title or try this again. echo. If this is only the 1st time you've seen this message, echo. or if there was any error messages the previous time echo. then its a good idea to try to install it again. IF %TvarA%!==! goto LoopWCON IF NOT %USECD%!==FILC! goto LoopWCON as well as :LoopWCON echo. [s] to skip [t] to try again [S,T]? echo. echo. [s] skip will be automatically chosen in 20 seconds ... echo. echo. choice>nul /c:st /n /t:s,20 if errorlevel 2 goto DELTRACK if errorlevel 1 goto DontDELT goto ErrChoic Despite the "out of environment space warning, both patches q323172 and q323255 had been installed correctly. 3. On the Visual Basic Runtimes module after SE rebooted, AP did not run through the post processing that normally occurs after each reboot, with the result that the "I_Result.log report for the Visual Basic Runtimes was not displayed. The last line of text in this report was => 22:07:54 .. the computer was set to reboot 4. The Rich Text documentation of May 2007 full release of AP needs to be updated to reflect changes that have occurred since the AP 1.95 PR2 release => i) Patch kb837009 is is not referenced in the Internet Explorer module documentation, but is installed by this module of AP ii) Patches q313829 and kb816093 are referenced in both the Internet Explorer and the Critical Security Hotfixes module documentation. The patches are, however, only installed by the Internet Explorer module of AP. iii) Patches q307004, q308349, q309081, and q310695 are not referenced in the Other Recommended Systems Hotfixes documentation, but are installed by this module of AP.

Try manually setting DEBUG=Y inside START_ME.BAT ... the only difference between START_ME.Bat and START_DEBUG.bat is that. That could only be because the system can't find NOTEPAD.EXE in any of the locations set by the PATH statement. Have you done something with notepad? The reason i asked that is because Windows 98se is notorious for needing re-building, especially for systems that have seen lots of installing and uninstalling. When i see a system like that, that gives errors and such when trying to run stuff normally, i dont't waste one second trying to solve the problem, the first thing i do is prepare the computer for re-building. The only choice i make is whether to try to simply re-install the OS (for systems that don't seem too bad or old) or do a clean freash re-install (for systems that crash regularly). Now, the reason i do this is because THIS FIXES THE PROBLEMS! The time it takes to do either of the above is sometimes a lot quicker than trying to solve these problems. No, its going to help track down what is wrong. What you could do: set up a VM and install Win98 on it. Then install all the programs you have on your current machine, on the test system and try to set it up exactly the same. You will then be able to see if you can replicate the problems on both systems. This project simply WOULD NOT EXIST if i didn't have access to VM software. Please try the following: * please set AP to only search through individual modules, one at a time. ie set AP to search thru the Stability hotfixes module only, and then set it to search thru the tweaks module, etc. Please report what happens. You say that the program is crashing when it gets to HPSecure (the critical security hotfixes module), so unless there is more information for me, AP should get thru the individual modules and report what it finds? Why do you think the code gets executed in a different sequence? Some things may not execute, but it is ALWAYS in the same order. Please explain how it can be otherwise ... The fact that DOS 7.1 doesn't have things like FOR loops is actually one of its strengths, the command set is tiny. In my experience, the only thing that can go 'Out of bounds' is the environment space which gives a very similar message to array errors ('Out of environment space'). When each module is invoked, the following variables are passed to it: %WINDRIVE% %WINDODIR% %LOC8% %MARKER% (this is actually %TRACK% from ModMenu.bat) Soporific - some more feedback => I'm not sure if the following is by design or an error in AP? => When one requests AP to report all missing patches for all modules, AP does not report on the patches contained in the "Obscure" module. Some suggestions: 1. If you think creating a batch file to launch Start_ME.bat is a good idea, then the following line of code in Start_ME.bat => %COMSPEC% /E:6120 /K "%LOC8%\code\AutoPach.bat" "%LOC8%" %debug% can be changed to => CALL "%LOC8%\code\AutoPach.bat" "%LOC8%" %debug% because the required ES space will already have been allocated by the batch file that launches Start_ME.bat 2. With the functionality built into "Strings.com", as I recall, it is possible to read data from a flat text file? Assuming my recollection is correct, this functionality could be used to remove all the hard coding of patch details one finds in AP. Doing so would greatly simplify the maintenance of AP when new patches are brought out or existing ones superseded by newer ones (I guess it may not be worth the effort though, because new patches hardly ever appear for SE these days?) Taking the Stability Module as an example, one would create a flat file similar to the following => q239887 N q239887 Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement q239887.exe %windir%\system\Vpowerd.vxd 4.10.0.2223 FILC q240075 D q240075 USB Devices May Not Work in Windows 98 Second Edition q240075.exe %windir%\system32\drivers\UHCD.SYS 4.10.0.2223 FILC etc In HFStable.bat one would then use Strings.com to process the flat file, line by line inserting the values read from the flat file into the Environment Variables that AP requires. Once the required values for a patch have been read and inserted into the Environment Variables that AP requires, the patch is then processed using the command => %COMSPEC% /E:2048 /C "%LOC8%\code\MainCode.bat" DIALOG1 The process is then repeated for the each subsequent patch until all the patches in HFStable.bat have been processed.

OK, this is getting a bit serious ... 1) AP works perfectly fine on a newly installed OS. 2) AP works perfectly fine on systems with large PATH statements 3) AP gives general protection faults on your machine. That tells me that there is something particular to your system that is causing all these problems ... it may or may not be something in the code and that is what i want to determine. It is also possible that your system is a bit screwed and is giving you these messages as a result. ie this problem is either something to do with AP or something to do with your system. can you please tell me more about the system you are trying to use AP on ... things i want to know: 1) how old is your OS installation? ie how long ago did you install the operating system and do you re-install the OS regularly? 2) please post the contents of your configuration files (PM me) - use SYSEDIT to bring them up and just copy and paste into a text file. the files i want are: CONFIG.SYS AUTOEXEC.BAT SYSTEM.INI WIN.INI Please try the following: 1) manually add the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file: SHELL=COMMAND.COM /E:4096 /P and then try the program again. If you get a message saying the system can't find COMMAND.COM then add this to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: SET PATH=%PATH%;%windir% (why the above is needed is beyond me) 2) consider learning how to use a virtual machine program (MS Virtual PC 2007 is decent enough) and try the program out on a test system. You should be able to see AP working perfectly well on a new system. See how you go with all that.

Soporific. Sorry to spoil your day, but "We have a problem Houston"! With respect to AP 1.96.58 => 1. The debug report option does not work when selected from the Start Menu 2. AP hangs if one selects the Custom option to edit Config.sys to change the amount of ES allocated when SE boots up (Ctrl C cannot be used to terminate the console window) 3. AP outputs the following error message when the option to report all the missing patches is selected This program has performed an illegal operation and will be terminated. Quit all programs, and then restart your computer. If the program consistently encounters problems, click the Start button, then select Help, Troubleshooting, and 'If you have trouble running MS-DOS programs'. The program encountered a general protection exception. Fault location: FFFF:10000 Interrupts in service: None I wasn't able to fully research the third problem last night, but this is what I have established thus far => 1. The "general protection exception" (GPE) occurs in MainCode.bat which is launched by this section of code in HFsecure.bat :ENDTHIS %COMSPEC% /E:2048 /C "%LOC8%\code\MainCode.bat" HF_END At the time the GPE occurs, Report.txt contains the following with respect to the Critical Security Hotfixes module: *** Critical Security Hotfixes module: 36. q245729: Hotfix for File Access URL Vulnerability 37. q258765: Hotfix for Remote Update Option Vulnerability 38. q269239: Hotfix for NetBIOS Vulnerability May Cause Duplicate Name 39. q269388: Hotfix for Spoofed Route Pointer Vulnerability 40. q273991: Share Level Password Update 41. q273727: Hotfix for Malformed IPX NMPI Packet Vulnerability 42. q274113: Hotfix for WebTV Vulnerability 43. q314941: Hotfix for Vulnerability in Universal Plug 'n' Play 44. q323172: Hotfix for Certificate Enrollment Control Vulnerability 45. q323255: Hotfix for Windows Help Facility Vulnerability 46. q329048: Hotfix for File Decompression Function Vulnerability 47. OLEDBUp: OLE DB Provider for Internet Publishing Update 48. TelnetUp: Hotfix for Buffer overrun in Telnet Vulnerability 49. kb811630: Hotfix for HTML Help Security Vulnerability 50. kb823559: Hotfix for Buffer Overrun In HTML Converter Vulnerability 51. kb873374: Hotfix for Vulnerability in JPEG Processing 52. kb891711: Unofficial Hotfix for Cursor and Icon Format Handling Vulnerability 53. kb917344: Hotfix for Vulnerability in Microsoft JScript 54. kb918547: Unofficial Hotfix for Vulnerability in Graphics Rendering Engine 55. UCrypt9x: Unofficial 128-bit SSL Encryption Security Fixes 56. kb926247: Unofficial Hotfix for Vulnerability in SNMP Service 2. If I change the aforementioned code in HFsecure.bat to read as follows: :ENDTHIS CALL "%LOC8%\code\MainCode.bat" HF_END then the GPE still occurs, but in (I think) a different section of AP's code. When the GPE occurs this time, Report.txt contains the following with respect to the Critical Security Hotfixes module: *** Critical Security Hotfixes module: 36. q245729: Hotfix for File Access URL Vulnerability 37. q258765: Hotfix for Remote Update Option Vulnerability 38. q269239: Hotfix for NetBIOS Vulnerability May Cause Duplicate Name 39. q269388: Hotfix for Spoofed Route Pointer Vulnerability 40. q273991: Share Level Password Update 41. q273727: Hotfix for Malformed IPX NMPI Packet Vulnerability 42. q274113: Hotfix for WebTV Vulnerability 43. q314941: Hotfix for Vulnerability in Universal Plug 'n' Play 44. q323172: Hotfix for Certificate Enrollment Control Vulnerability 45. q323255: Hotfix for Windows Help Facility Vulnerability 46. q329048: Hotfix for File Decompression Function Vulnerability 47. OLEDBUp: OLE DB Provider for Internet Publishing Update 48. TelnetUp: Hotfix for Buffer overrun in Telnet Vulnerability 49. kb811630: Hotfix for HTML Help Security Vulnerability 50. kb823559: Hotfix for Buffer Overrun In HTML Converter Vulnerability 51. kb873374: Hotfix for Vulnerability in JPEG Processing 52. kb891711: Unofficial Hotfix for Cursor and Icon Format Handling Vulnerability 53. kb917344: Hotfix for Vulnerability in Microsoft JScript 54. kb918547: Unofficial Hotfix for Vulnerability in Graphics Rendering Engine 55. UCrypt9x: Unofficial 128-bit SSL Encryption Security Fixes 56. kb926247: Unofficial Hotfix for Vulnerability in SNMP Service *** Critical & Recommended System Updates Module: With the exception of the last line of this report, the output of Report.txt here is identical to that of Report.txt before I changed the code. I haven't had time to investigate further, but with the coding change I made I suspect the GPE now occurs in HFSysOth.bat instead of MainCode.bat?

what is it with people and their humungous PATH statements in their AUTOEXEC.BAT files ? No offense Plonk me mate ... OK this advice is the definite way to temporarily solve most AP problems where it just exits out ungracefully. If the following is true: 1) When you use AP, especially the 1.96 upgrade, it doesn't reach the end, or it doesn't even start, or you see "Out of environment space" messages. 2) Inside your AUTOEXEC.BAT file you have a "SET PATH= ...." or "SET CLASSPATH= ..." that is quite a long string of text. You can by-pass this problem by doing the following: 1) go to START - RUN and in the Run dialog box type SYSEDIT and hit return (enter) -- this brings up all your configuration files into like notepad type windows 2) choose the AUTOEXEC.BAT window, and any line that starts with "SET PATH= ...." or "SET CLASSPATH= ..." put the word "REM" at the start of the line. eg if your AUTOEXEC.BAT looks like the following: you would then add REM words like this: you don't have to REM out all the lines, just do the really big one that is causing all the fuss !! After you use AP, just return your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to the way it was by taking out the REMs. What is the effect of adding REMs? What will happen? You were wondering weren't you... it just means that the particular program that 'installed' that PATH statement (or whichever variable it is) won't be able to run normally while that REM word is there. SO this means that if a anti-virus program has added a line then maybe keep that unREMmed. Again, the easiest thing is just to REM out one line --- which line? The longest line! That's right, you there at the back. I am writing a function that will do this as a menu option and or if you fail the ES test but until then, everybody in this situation, this is what you do! Soporific. Last night I spent some time working with AP 1.96.52 because this version contains the "debugging" code you inserted for Nathanson1947, I think it was, saving me the trouble of having to insert the code myself. In running my tests I made use of "Strings.com" as well as the "Set" command which I used to list the environment variables that were defined at the time I invoked the Set command, the output of which was redirected to a text file. The results of the limited testing I did were very interesting and showed that the "Start.exe" command that you use to launch some of your batch files does not function in the way one would expect. The use of Start.exe is (was?) in fact one of the reasons that AP unexpectedly runs out of ES. Here's an extract of some of the code from AP 1.95.55 AutoPatch.bat => :RESTART8 :: pause a bit "%LOC8%\bin\WAIT" 1.2 :: clear environment values starting the next file to ensure variables don't have a 'no memory' excuse for not setting. FOR %%! in (ZZ ZY ZX) DO SET MD%%!= FOR %%! in (00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07) DO SET MD%%!= FOR %%! in (08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16) DO SET MD%%!= FOR %%! in (0201 0202 0203 0204 0205 0206 0207 0208 0209) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (0601 0602 0603 0604) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (0901 0902 0903 0904 0905 0906) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (1201 1202 1203 1204 1205) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (1411) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (WillBe WontBe NoSave YeSave CULOR MM) DO SET %%!= FOR %%! in (MyDayN MyDay MyMon MyYear NSec NMin NHour) DO SET %%!= :: start the current module START %COMSPEC% /E:2048 /K "%LOC8%\code\Run-Mod.bat" Fullup %WINDRIVE% %WINDODIR% "%LOC8%" Because Start.exe does make use of the environment space available to AutoPatch.bat, nor the variables defined within AutoPatch.bat, nor those defined within the Batch files that launched AutoPatch.bat, clearing the environment variables using the FOR loops shown above does not make additional ES space available to Run-Mod.bat prior to it being launched. In other words, had you left your code the way you had it in versions of AP prior to 1.96.55, you would have achieved exactly the same result as you do with AP 1.96.55. So AP 1.96.55's code would be just as effective written this way => :RESTART8 :: pause a bit "%LOC8%\bin\WAIT" 1.2 :: start the current module START %COMSPEC% /E:2048 /K "%LOC8%\code\Run-Mod.bat" Fullup %WINDRIVE% %WINDODIR% "%LOC8%" :: clear environment values starting the next file to ensure variables don't have a 'no memory' excuse for not setting. FOR %%! in (ZZ ZY ZX) DO SET MD%%!= FOR %%! in (00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07) DO SET MD%%!= FOR %%! in (08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16) DO SET MD%%!= FOR %%! in (0201 0202 0203 0204 0205 0206 0207 0208 0209) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (0601 0602 0603 0604) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (0901 0902 0903 0904 0905 0906) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (1201 1202 1203 1204 1205) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (1411) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507) DO SET OP%%!= FOR %%! in (WillBe WontBe NoSave YeSave CULOR MM) DO SET %%!= FOR %%! in (MyDayN MyDay MyMon MyYear NSec NMin NHour) DO SET %%!= Before I get into any explanations, I think it best to describe the tests I set up. First test I modified the code in AutoPatch.bat as follows: :: start the current module c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Bin\Strings envsize c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Bin\Strings envfree set > "c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Logs\envpatch.txt" pause START "%LOC8%\code\Run-Mod.bat" Fullup %WINDRIVE% %WINDODIR% "%LOC8%" %WINDODIR% "%LOC8%" pause Goto End In Run-Mod.bat, after the CLS command I inserted the following code: c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Bin\Strings envsize c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Bin\Strings envfree set > "c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Logs\envmod.txt" pause 2nd Test I modified the code in AutoPatch.bat as follows: :: start the current module c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Bin\Strings envsize c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Bin\Strings envfree set > "c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Logs\envpatch.txt" pause CALL "%LOC8%\code\Run-Mod.bat" Fullup %WINDRIVE% %WINDODIR% "%LOC8%" pause Goto End In Run-Mod.bat, after the CLS command I inserted the following code: c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Bin\Strings envsize c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Bin\Strings envfree set > "c:\Program Files\AutoPatch98\Logs\envmod.txt" pause Results of 1st Test Run-Mod.bat gave two "out of environment space" warnings Envsize in AutoPatch.bat was 4112 bytes Envfree in AutoPatch.bat was 2330 bytes Envpatch.txt listed all the environment variables that had been defined by AP prior to Run-Mod.bat being invoked Envsize in Run-Mod.bat was 1456 bytes Envfree in Run-Mod.bat was 1008 bytes Envmod.txt did not list any of the environment variables that had been defined by AP prior to Run-Mod being invoked. This was a very suprising result to me because I had expected Envsize to be the same in both AutoPatch.bat and Run-Mod.bat. I had also expected the contents of Envmod.txt to be exactly the same as those in Envpatch.txt which they were not. Results of 2nd Test Run-Mod.bat did not give any "out of environment space" warnings Envsize in AutoPatch.bat was 4112 bytes Envfree in AutoPatch.bat was 2330 bytes Envpatch.txt listed all the environment variables that had been defined by AP prior to Run-Mod.bat being invoked Envsize in Run-Mod.bat was 4112 bytes Envfree in Run-Mod.bat was 2330 bytes Envmod.txt listed exactly the same set of environment variables as those listed Envpatch.txt This result was in line with what I had expected. It was also the result I had expected from the 1st test. Also you can see that using CALL instead of START to launch Run-Mod.bat resolved the "out of environment space" warnings previously output by Run-Mod.bat in the 1st test. Ok, so what's going on here? Before I can answer that I need to provide another piece of information. In the first test the values of Envsize and Envfree in Run-Mod.bat as well as the contents of Envmod.txt were strangely familiar to me. After some time puzzling over the familiarity, I realised that the values of Envsize and Envfree were exactly the same values I would get if I used Strings.com to check my environment space immediately after booting up SE. In addition, the environment variables listed in Envmod.txt were exactly same as those that would be listed if I used the Set command to list the environment variables defined immediately after booting up SE. Taking cognisance of everthing I described above, here's what I conclude from my tests => Start.exe actually spawns Run-mod.bat off as a separate process that is totally independent of AutoPatch.bat Because Run-mod.bat is spawned off as a separate process, SE has to allocate it an initial amount of ES space. By default the amount of space allocated is exactly the same as that allocated at the time SE boots up. Because Run-mod.bat is spawned off as a separate process, the environment variables defined in AP are not available to Run-mod.bat as global variables. The only environment variables available to Run-Mod.bat are those defined at the time SE boots up, and those passed as parameters to Run-Mod.bat. A command such as START %COMSPEC% /E:2048 /K "%LOC8%\code\Run-Mod.bat" Fullup %WINDRIVE% can only be used in situations where the batch file being launched does not need to make use of more than 8 (or is it 9?) environment variables defined by AP prior to launching the batch file. The values of the environment variables can of course be passed as parameters to the batch file as happens in this particular command, but then no more than 8 (9?) values can be passed in this way If on being launched the batch file needs to make use of more than 8 (9?) environment variables, then the CALL command must be used instead of the START command. If the CALL command is used, then the amount of free environment space available to the batch file being launched will be the same or similar to that available in the batch file that initiated the launch

I tried this - the results were exactly the same as above in point 1) meaning that the file REPORT.TXT was created instead of DEBUG.TXT? No, both files are created when you turn debugging on. Can you not find DEBUG.TXT when you use debugging? This may still help us although i think the problem lies with your system rather than the program (although I plan to include any code that will fix this problem). Are you saying you have specifically configured your OS to use a certain amount of environment space (ES)? Or are you reporting the default ES that Windows allocates... You are correct when you say that it doesn't make sense that you are having ES problems because I DO set the amount of space that I think is required to run the module. You can try adjusting these to see if it helps -- sorry, i didn't create a variable for this so you'll have to do them all manually. The second error message is very likely related to the first one. When you start getting ES messages, this means that variables aren't being set properly and any code that uses the variables not being set will crash. Yep, i'm very sure about this one. It means that the hotfix is trying to install for the second time when it should only need to install once. This makes perfect sense to me. The module installed properly, its just that when you rebooted, the ES problem returned. I will check out those Strings you suggested ... I will also reply again when i've done some investigating ... Soporific. I've Upgraded from AP 1.95 PR2 to 1.96.50 - the bad news is that the problem still persists in AP 1.96.50. In addition, debugging cannot be turned on from the shortcut folder in the Start Menu. The good news is that there appears to be a very simple workaround to the problem of insufficient environment space that I am experiencing. Once I realised that using AP to patch a vanilla SE system that has no applications installed on it is very different to using AP to patch a SE system that has several applications installed on it, a workaround to the problem became readily apparent. In brief, all that was necessary was for me to "configure" my SE system in such a way as to make it appear to AP that it is a vanilla system without any applications installed on it. There are two ways to do this: 1) Boot SE into Safe Mode and then run AP 2) Use Msconfig to change SE's bootup configuration from "Normal startup - load all device drivers and software" to "Selective startup" in which the "Config.sys", "Autoexec.bat" and "Load startup group items" options are disabled, followed by a reboot and then running AP. I've tested AP's reporting system (including the debugging option which I ran from AP's install folder) using both methods without experiencing any problems. Once you release the full version of AP 1.96.50, I will download it and test AP further by installing some of the other patches that remain to be installed on my SE system. I would not expect any further problems related to environment space when I install the patches, provided I use the Msconfig workaround and reboot prior to using AP to install the patches. I think the new AP user interface is a big improvement on the previous one, and the addition of the "Help" system also gets a big thumbs up!

I tried this - the results were exactly the same as above in point 1) meaning that the file REPORT.TXT was created instead of DEBUG.TXT? No, both files are created when you turn debugging on. Can you not find DEBUG.TXT when you use debugging? DEBUG.TXT does not get generated; only REPORT.TXT gets generated. This may still help us although i think the problem lies with your system rather than the program (although I plan to include any code that will fix this problem). Are you saying you have specifically configured your OS to use a certain amount of environment space (ES)? Or are you reporting the default ES that Windows allocates... According to Strings, the default ES that Windows allocates on bootup is 1504 bytes. By including the Shell command "shell=c:\command.com c:\ /e:2048 /p" in config.sys, according to Strings my ES increased to 3088 bytes on bootup. You are correct when you say that it doesn't make sense that you are having ES problems because I DO set the amount of space that I think is required to run the module. You can try adjusting these to see if it helps -- sorry, i didn't create a variable for this so you'll have to do them all manually. The second error message is very likely related to the first one. When you start getting ES messages, this means that variables aren't being set properly and any code that uses the variables not being set will crash. Yep, i'm very sure about this one. It means that the hotfix is trying to install for the second time when it should only need to install once. This makes perfect sense to me. The module installed properly, its just that when you rebooted, the ES problem returned. I will check out those Strings you suggested ... I will also reply again when i've done some investigating ... I've used Strings extensively with DOS 6.22, but not DOS 7.10 which is delivered with Windows 98 SE - there may be some incompatibilities on DOS 7.10?

Correct! 10 points and a purple flower stamp to you sir. I got this as a PM: What you are reporting is a bug. When you choose to make a report, it should finish searching and present a text file for you to read. It should not terminate unexpectedly. Things you can do: 1) Inside the logs folder you should find a REPORT.TXT file that is created every time you make a report --- please find that file and post the EXACT contents to this thread. Also tell us what options you choose to make the report, and any info you can on when it terminates unexpectedly I already did - the 5 lines of blue text below represent the entire content of REPORT.TXT => ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Report for Auto-Patcher v1.95 Preview Release 2 generated on Tuesday, 27 March 2007 - the time is now: 2:03am - the most recent report is at the end of this log file. The following list of updates were not found on this computer: 2) Turn debugging on. In the Start Menu shortcut folder that is created when you install Auto-Patcher (AP) there is an icon that will turn it on for you. This will greatly help tell us WHERE the problem occurred. Start the report process as normal, then when it terminates, look for the DEBUG.TXT file this is created in the logs directory and post that to this thread. I tried this - the results were exactly the same as above in point 1) meaning that the file REPORT.TXT was created instead of DEBUG.TXT? 3) try to only search through the first module - the stability hotfixes module - and see what the result is with that I tried this - the results were exactly the same as above in point 1) - I tested each module individually More info: the save folder is where your module choices are stored. The markers folder is where all the files that AP needs to work each session are stored. If you use debugging, this information is stored in the log file. The FoundUpd.txt file is a temporary file that stores the list of updates found and at the very end, the list is copied to the main log file. Since you never make it to the end, this info never makes it to the Report.txt file. The problem I have seems to be related to the amount of environment space I have configured on SE. By default, my SE configures 1504 bytes of environment space on bootup. If I insert the following shell command in config.sys "shell=c:\command.com c:\ /e:2048 /p", my environment space increases to 3088 bytes on bootup and the reporting system works perfectly! This does not make sense to me because I note that you dynamically allocate environment space within each batch file, and I would expect that you have sized the allocations appropriately? Having got the reporting system to work successfully, I then proceeded to install the fixes in the Stability Module. Phase I of the installation appeared to proceed without any problems. However, when phase II of the installation started after the reboot, two error different error messages were displayed, viz.: i) "out of environment space" ii) "- the above title started to loop thru installations and so was not installed again" Whilst I understood the first error message, the second one was too cryptic for me to comprehend. As a consequence of receiving the two error messages, I was concerned that the some of the fixes in the Stability Module may not have been installed correctly, or not at all. I thus manually checked that each fix had been installed correctly, which to my surprise was the case. I then got a little bolder and proceeded to install the MDAC updates and patches. Again phase I appeared to proceed without any problems, whilst phase II resulted in the same error messages that I got with the installation of the Stability Module patches being displayed after each reboot . Compared to the Stability Module, it is a lot more difficult to manually confirm that the MDAC updates and patches have been installed correctly. Having looked at a report I generated using PC Mag's "Inctrl" tool, which showed "all" changes that had been made to my Registry as well to the files and folders on my hard drive as a result of the installation of MDAC, my gut feel is that the MDAC updates and patches have been installed correctly. Fyi, to check my environment space, I also made use of another PC Mag tool, called "Strings" which you might find very useful. It contains +- 70 string type functions specifically designed for use in batch files. If you are interested in reviewing the functionality of either Inctrl or Strings, these two tools are freely available from many sites on the web - search for "inctrl5.zip" and "string25.zip" respectively.