mlapworth

I thought at first that the common thread was RMCC4 on win7, but I've had it reported on non-RM and non win7 setups, so there's no common thread that I can see. Many thanks for your replies and suggestions Arthur. I'll look into them over the weekend / next week and see if I can get to the bottom of it.

I don't think I'd do that within the msi. But it might be an idea to offer people the option to place the registration file somewhere else. I could do this via the configuration file, maybe. Still don't know why it stopped working properly though...

I don't think it's related to versioning, as it's not to do with replacing existing files. (Which answers you 2nd question :0) This is for initial installs... The problem might be to do with the program that creates the msi package (digitalweb installwizard) - but what confuses me is that it was working fine for over a year. It's as if the installer doesn't recognize the modified file as being the same one listed in the msi - even though it has the same name, same attributes etc. The only difference is the extra 3 bytes - maybe I should make the original file 3 bytes longer and see if that fixes it.

I've tried installing it on my computer after copying the modified file to the installation folder first. It worked fine. Is there any reason why it wouldn't work across a network if it works on one computer? BTW the computer I tried it on was XP. Also, the number of bytes in the modified file is 3 more than the original. Would this make a difference?

Thanks for your reply. A couple of schools have contacted me to say they couldn't register as they were behind a proxy server. I just emailed them a copy of the licence file. The issue is not with sending out the licence file that's already in the installation folder. This always installs no problem. But if you modify it (or rather, replace this one with a modified one) some people are saying it isn't copied acroos by the installer...

I've just tried installing it on my computer after copying the modified file to the installation folder first. It worked fine. Is there any reason why it wouldn't work across a network if it works on one computer? BTW the computer I just tried it on was XP. Also, the number of bytes in the modified file is 3 more than the original. Would this make a difference?

I'm not sure. I guess a good starting point for me would be to see if it installs on one of my computers if I replace the file. Thanks for your reply.

Thanks for your reply Pete. That's what I thought at first, but there have been several similar reports now over the last month or two. I haven't asked them to provide the log file. I'll maybe do that, and try to replicate it on my computers here.

OK, here I am 18 months on. I used the model as suggested by several people on here, and it worked a treat. In the last couple of months, however, there have been several reports of the process not working as it should. What's happening is that, after registering on one machine and copying the modified file into the installation directory, when this is installed to the network, the modified file isn't installed (ie. it isn't copied across). I haven't changed anything, as far as I can see, so I'm completely puzzled as to why this should be happening now, when it worked fine for the first year or so (with ZERO reports of it not copying the file across). Any ideas?

This is not for the TaskMagic program, but a separate standalone program based on TaskMagicPlay but with content included. Thanks for your comments. Thanks for the positives about teacher and student use of TaskMagic. I agree that it's worth updating, and this will happen. But for now, I just had this question about whether or not to use the self-extractor for this finished standalone program (NOT - I get the message), and then it got nasty...

So you're basically against it because it's a Windows program... That's it. Thank you for your constructive advice.

Hmm... well, I'd like to say "thank you", but... Version3 files are not text files. They have text, audio and images embedded into one binary file. Your script wouldn't convert them to hotpot files. If you seriously see TM and hotpot as offering something similar to language teachers, then I think you are really missing the point. I know what you mean about Mac compatibility. That is a BIG shame. Perhaps the answer would be for students not to set the exercises as compulsary homework. It is much better used in class either with an IWB or in IT rooms. That said, students who DO install TM at home (which is completely free) will get a far better learning experience, much more games, much more language repetition than they would with hotpots. BUT there are lots of other tools out there, many of them free, that will create web-based or flash exercises that can be used along with a VLE. As I said, TaskMagic is primarily intended to be used in school.

Thanks for having a look. It works beautifully on my xp and win7 computers. It looks like I'll have to go back to leaving the content unpacked. Here's an example of how it looks when left unpacked. Again, no installer for this sample. (There will be for the main program.) You can run the exe from anywhere as long as you (a) have unzipped it and (b) maintain the file/folder structure TaskMagic3 Spanish Sample Unit - En la cafetería - Free download - taskmagic's posterous

Thanks for having a look. It works beautifully on my xp and win7 computers. It looks like I'll have to go back to leaving the content unpacked. Here's an example of how it looks when left unpacked. Again, no installer for this sample. (There will be for the main program.) You can run the exe from anywhere as long as you (a) have unzipped it and (b) maintain the file/folder structure TaskMagic3 Spanish Sample Unit - En la cafetería - Free download - taskmagic's posterous

Thanks for your reply. There are already resources embedded in the main exe. What I was trying to do here was to include about 50MB of mainly audio files (but lots of other smaller ones as well) in a self-extractor of about 20MB. It all works fine if I leave them as separate from the main exe. But I wanted to make the exe smaller and simpler to distribute, as well as making it harder to copy and distribute the extra files. I presumed that using the iexpress tool which is part of Windows (type iexpress in the run or search box of the start menu if you're not familiar with it) would create a self-extractor that would work in most (Windows) environments without complications... The link on this page downloads an exe that has been packaged in this way (by me). It's a free sample program. It doesn't have an installer - the downloaded file is a self-extracting exe that should run from anywhere. Would this really be a problem on school computers?: ¡Es posible! - Michel Thomas Spanish course for schools - free sample download - taskmagic's posterous