cmdTotal not working on v1.6

Hi,

I am testing Universal Extractor with lots of files but it fails everytime it has to invoke cmdtotal. the error message is always the same: cannot load InstExpl.dll library. I have tested it on both Server 2008 x64 and Vista SP2 x86 and i get the same error.

am I the only one experiencing the problem?

btw: even cmdFar instexpl.dll [etc] does not work.

thanks,

Marco

I don't have access to either of the OSes you mentioned. I guess it's possible that the InstExpl plugin just doesn't work right on that OS, but to be honest I wouldn't think that's the problem. Have you verified that InstExpl.dll and InstExpl.wcx both exist in the same directory as cmdTotal.exe? They should all be in the .\bin\ subdirectory. Also, I know this is a rather lame suggestion, but have you tried reinstalling UniExtract to verify that none of those files are corrupt?

--
http://www.legroom.net/

Joe (not verified)

Tue, 01/20/2009 - 16:58

I have the same problem, whenever UniExtract is "Testing InstallExplorer installer". Have tried it on both a Vista SP1 box and on Windows 7 build 7000. I had this same error on the 1.6 beta too. Until I saw this post, I've just gotten used to hitting the OK button on the error when extracting something. Running the program with Admin credentials, as well as under XP compatibility mode, made no difference.

Here is the exact Ctrl-C of the error dialog:

---------------------------
Install Explorer Plugin
---------------------------
Could not load library: InstExpl.dll
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

Then I tried the same file (the executable inside http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/files/b4all130.zip) on a XP SP3 box also with UniExtract 1.6 release, and it extracted fine without throwing one library error. This same file would not extract on Win7, along with throwing three errors identical to the copy and paste above. Seems like this is a problem with running UniExtract under Vista and later?

Hope this helps. Love your app and use it daily, thank you.

Thanks for the info. Your "Vista or later" suggestion seems at least plausible, though I don't know why that'd be the case. I mean, I did have to change up a few things for the sake of Vista compatibility, but whether it can or cannot load any given library shouldn't be one of those issues. Of course, with no other leads at this point, it's worth looking into... :-)

I'll see if I can get hold of a Vista system to test this out.

--
http://www.legroom.net/

I had a friend of mine test this on a fresh Vista install, and everything worked perfectly. He couldn't replicate this problem either.

As for the permission issue, I'm not sure why you'd be seeing any differences there. UniExtract should install all files with the same set of permissions. I can't think of any reason why the installer, or even Vista itself, would change that just for a subset of files in a particular subfolder. But, it's at least another lead. I'll try looking into this angle as well.

Thanks for following up on this.

--
http://www.legroom.net/

"I had a friend of mine test this on a fresh Vista install, and everything worked perfectly. He couldn't replicate this problem either."
The problem exists only for specific files that are unpacked using cmdTotal and InstExpl.dll.
An example of such file:
http://www.svet-soft.com/capsetup.exe

"As for the permission issue"
It's not a permission issue (if you are talking about file attributes, etc.).
Of course the files are installed with equal permissions.
The problem is PE-format-specific.
Vista handles executable files a bit different comparing to XP. XP could run code that is readable but not executable, Vista won't.

Also, I think it also won't work on XP with DEP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Execution_Prevention) on.
I don't have XP so I cannot check it, but if that's so, the patched files I've uploaded would fix that as well.

I've always had the problem with InstExpl.dll not loading, and can confirm that the files above fixed the problem. Using Windows 2003 server.
Thanks for the fix & you might consider including the patched files in the installer.

KESitter (not verified)

Sat, 02/07/2009 - 22:53

I've been using 1.6 for a bit on XPPro with SP3 and almost all patches up to date. But just a few minutes ago I tried 2 different files and received the same error message. Searching brought me here. Some patches and a couple of small apps were installed since my last using 1.6 successfully. I'll try to determine which change might be causing this behaviour.

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