Windows downgrade to 2.2.9 failure to start

[James Wilde]

On Jan 12, 2010, at 00:37 , Jason Dunham wrote:

> I have used Gnucash 2.2.9 for about 18 months, running on Windows 7 since
> July.  Recently  I tested 2.3.8, installed to a different Program Files
> folder, and loaded my file and it showed the splash screen and progress, and
> then quit silently at or near the end of loading.
> 
> I then uninstalled 2.3.8, and 2.2.9 failed the same way.  I reinstalled
> 2.2.9 and it still won't load.  What should I try next?

Reinstall Windows!

Seriously, this indicates to me that, notwithstanding whatever you have done to remove 2.3.8 from your computer, some change it made to Windows 7 is still there and affecting 2.2.9.  It could, of course, be some vestige of GC in a directory that was not removed in the uninstall process, but I suspect that GC does not use more than one directory tree.  BTW, have you removed your GC data directory?  It could be something obscure in the registry.  I don't know whether GC changes the registry in Windows.

This type of problem is definitely not unheard of in the Windows world.  I have a program that I have had extreme problems re-installing on an old XP instance.  When I reinstalled XP (the machine in question is too old/weak to be able to run Windows 7) I could install the program again without problem.  There are other programs which have been affected in the same way.

How you will find what it is that is affecting your 2.2.9 installation if it is in the registry, I don't know.  One possibility would be to search the entire registry for 'gnu' and/or 'cash' and see if the hits have anything to do with GC and, if so, remove them.  But be careful playing with the registry.  You could end up with an unusable machine.  At least take a backup of the registry before you start to play.

//James