[AlbertB]

Hi, critical one this for me and desperation is setting in.

I have an application to load and assess for work before the end of the week. As a new expensive app it is USB "dongle" protected. When I try to run the setup.exe to install it I get the following error word for word:

"SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDrivers. VDD. Virtual Device Driver format in the registry is invalid. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application". That address is reported incomplete without HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\, and why is VDD displayed unattached to its address, or am I just being too paranoid? I am then offered Close and Ignore as options.

The entry under VDD in the registry is:

"VDD, REG_MULTI_SZ, C:\Progra~1\Symantec\S32EVNT1.DLL" presumably a Symantec NAV dll. Symantec's support system is of course no real help.

Not being a registry wizard. can anyone else offer any insight as to what is wrong here?

 

[~Candy~]

Hi Albert, may I ask what the device and application are?

 

[~Candy~]

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/Q254/9/14.ASP&NoWebContent=1

If I remember correctly, you are running 2K, right?

 

[AlbertB]

Yup AC, Win2KPro.

The app isn't one that you would know, it's called AvoCAD. There is a website if it helps at http://www.avocad.ru/eng/index.htm . It's a new dog's danglies IC design and simulation suite which I am getting involved in setting up and marketing in the UK.

Don't tell any of the Republicans here but it comes from a Russian software house where everybody seems to have worked for the KGB, and it's the first of a lot of software and hardware which the company intends to sell in the West. You would be amazed if you saw the efficiency they write into software to get it to perform on minimum spec machines! Very different to over here where we constantly try to force users into buying the latest faster models.

I think the problem is with the setup on the machine rather than with the software, (Russian or not ). It might even be simply some sort of non-catastrophic registry corruption as that file isn't a VDD as far as I know so why is there a reference to it there?

I have just installed a new Hercules Prophet 2 Ultra graphics card and had the same thing occur then, but I just chose Ignore and went ahead anyway. I could afford to do that then but I can't now. If the machine is screwed up for the next week I can't do anything with it and I have to be able to play with this toy for a few days. I did make sure to remove the old graphics drivers with a special tool I downloaded specifically for my old ATI setup so there should not be any junk hanging around from that.

At the same time since that graphics card change my ONLY game, (F/A-18 fighter flight simulation, PaveFE eat your heart out ), now keeps crashing on me in my Win98SE half as well.

I guess I could either turn off NAV, or at worst uninstall it temporarily, as I suspected that somehow that was where the conflict lay. Installing dongle protected software is a new one on me and I wasn't sure if there could be any conflict caused through that one. The dongle is a USB one and gets recognised by Windows but it cannot find drivers for it at the moment. I am assuming, somewhat hopefully, that that will change once the software is installed!

Anything else that would help?

 

[~Candy~]

Don't you have 2K restore points that you can make? All roads seem to lead to the reg edit in the MS article I attached.

Give a whirl to shutting down the Norton anyway as anytime you install new software, you should disable anti virus from running to begin with, and anything else for that matter

 

[~Candy~]

Another example:

http://card-scanner.com/31060.html

 

[AlbertB]

Is there anything you can't do Wonder Woman?

According to M$ that registry entry is plain corrupt due to an incorrect 16bit installation and they just suggest deleting it and replacing it with a new empty copy. From the data type this can only be done from regedt32, not regedit, (as I found out to my old fashioned cost).

The driver for the dongle was also installed at the same time. So no problemo, I have it licked and the app is now installed and fully dongled up!

Anyone want to order their own custom chip Large Scale Integrations?

Thanks for once again pulling my plums out of the fire!

 

[~Candy~]

Lol, so I guess I'm assuming you deleted the reg key?

Will mark solved in any event batman

 

[AlbertB]

Yeah, just deleted the key and re-entered it as:

VDD : REG_MULTI_SZ : ...

Problem solved. I suspect this might be a one worth keeping up our sleeves as it is probably going to be a more common problem than we might think.

Any way, hang on a mo, wasn't Batman the creaky paunchy one who came up with the corny dialogue? You really meant to say Robin didn't you?

 

[~Candy~]

Lol, you are too funny Albert. Have a good day!

*off to post some conspiracy theory in civilized debate *