I have been unable to install some of the recent giveaways. Here is what happens
I download and extract the zip file to a new folder. the GCD.setup file is there. When I run the setup it starts the activation window then i get a window that says program failed to launch. I have cleaned out my cache, and I have tried it with my antiVirus and firewall turned off. I use Vipre. I was able to download DP animation maker, but not todays giveaway or the last couple of game giveaways. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Thanks
Karali
Unable to install recent giveaways
(15 posts) (11 voices)-
Karali
MemberPosted 12 years ago # -
Whiterabbit-uk
Games GuruIf you are using firefox make sure I.E. is not set to work offline
edit:
oops, yes you are right Chris..... my mind works in mysterious ways sometimes, lol
Posted 12 years ago # -
Anonymous
Unregisteredhttp://nsis.sourceforge.net/NSIS_ERROR
What does this message mean?
The installer has failed a self-check. This means that for some actions, the installer file has been altered from its original form. If the install were to continue, the software install would not be complete and will be broken. To prevent further problems, the installer refused to continue.
How do I fix the problem?Windows Security Error “These files can’t be opened” Solved
Posted 12 years ago # -
oblivion
MemberI'm seeing setup failures on GOTD and GGOTD downloads too. On my netbook (Win7starter, 32bit) after trying to contact the activation server setup just fails. Everything I've tried since the release of the new wrapper has just not worked.
On my desktop (32bit Vista) the setup works as it should.
They're both defaulted to Firefox for the browser. The netbook uses MSE for antivirus and Windows Firewall (ought to be pretty common, right?) where the desktop's using Nod32 and Outpost.
The desktop gives me lots of Outpost warnings about suspicious files and the like, but if I allow them the setup works as it should. I'm not seeing any in-process errors on the netbook; it just waits a while, then fails. I've run scans on setup.exe to see if MSE was blocking it but it passes as clean.
I didn't have problems with the old wrapper, on either machine. I've reported this in comments on the site but either nobody's reading it or you don't think a computer techie of 25-years' standing knows what the hell he's talking about.
Other things both systems have in common so I discount as being relevant: WinPatrol and Process Lasso.
Please sort it out.
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorI've run every GOTD in a win7 XPMode VM, many in a Vbox VM with a win7 32 guest -- both have Microsoft Security Essentials beta installed, & I haven't had any problems, so I wouldn't think that SE has anything to do with it.
As Chris mentioned, Internet Explorer has to be capable of working, whether you use Firefox or not.
The new wrapper does use more memory -- where the old wrapper wrote the setup file to the Temp folder & ran it, the new wrapper skips that writing to disk step, so you've got the larger footprint from the more complicated, new wrapper + the setup file in memory -- perhaps your netbook doesn't have enough available? Windows' Task Mgr. might show what's going on with memory if you look at the Performance tab, or you could click the button in that window for Resource Monitor. Could also try stopping/closing other apps/services, or perhaps temporarily sharing less RAM with your netbook's graphics hardware might help.
Posted 12 years ago # -
oblivion
Member@mikiem2: The only issue that I thought might be relevant -- IE being capable of working -- I checked, because I don't use it. It certainly wasn't set to work offline, but I went through its first use stuff -- which addons do you want to use -- and made sure that it could see the net. It could. I even left it running.
The machine's not exactly over-endowed with RAM, but 2Gb hasn't failed to be enough for anything I've tried to do with it outside of this.
There's no sign of anything crashing, or memory running out. I do have some bits set to run on demand instead of being permanently enabled, but nothing critical -- the only thing I thought might be relevant (dotnet 4 framework) I set to permanently enabled before trying again today.
The process still consists of: extract zip to folder, then run setup.exe. The activation component appears, checks that the giveaway's available then, after a time, the window offering software informer appears and, when that's closed, the "successfully activated" webpage opens. The decryption and running of setup.gcd just doesn't happen.
Presumably setup.gcd is decrypted to a tempfile somewhere, and that tempfile is then executed? Is there somewhere I can watch to see if there's something going wrong at that stage? Or is that process constrained to happen entirely in RAM so a determined hacker can't grab and distribute the decrypted setup? (Or is it more complex than that?)
@hotdoge3: on occasions where I've been able to install to my desktop and copy the installed game across to the netbook (games that install to c:\games will generally be movable) I've seen no issue with a lack of graphics capability. I don't tend to try very graphically-intense games anyway: FPS things and the like just don't appeal.
Posted 12 years ago # -
oblivion
MemberAddendum: I've just discovered (mostly as a result of me writing the last bit of the previous message) that just because a program has installed in c:\program files doesn't mean it can't be zipped up and copied to \program files on my netbook. And spotting the executable amd making a shortcut to it is hardly rocket science.
So I have (potentially just an occasional) fix, and if my complaints that the new wrapper doesn't work properly for me don't do what I hoped (ie get the developers to investigate their code) then I shall probably stop banging this particular drum. However, if anyone wants me to test alternatives on here with a view to pinning down the problem with the code of the current wrapper, I might be prepared to help.
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
Moderator"...just because a program has installed in c:\program files doesn't mean it can't be zipped up and copied to \program files on my netbook."
FWIW, I judge any app by purpose, execution, & impact -- does it do something I want/need, how well does it do that, & how much will it potentially mess up everything if it goes wrong? To get a handle on impact I setup most every app in a VM 1st, using InstallWatch Pro to monitor the installation -- when that's impractical, e.g. in my regular win7 64 install, I at least use Regshot2 to record registry changes. Here's what I've come to expect from software installations, both in case it interests anyone & for those times when copying just the program's folder won't work. [That's not to imply you can always copy an app from one system to another -- sometimes the installation is just too complicated &/or individualized for your hardware.] [Note: All of the following is generic -- I haven't included anything GOTD specific]
__________For any app, installation copies the files into place, usually adds at least a few registry entries, & sets up desktop &/or Start Menu shortcuts. The program's folder usually goes in Program Files [or often Program Files (x86) for 64 bit Windows], & 2nd most common are folders added to Documents and Settings [XP] or Users [Vista/win7/win8]. In XP those folders usually show up in All Users\ Application Data, Username\ Application Data, Username\ Local Settings\ Application Data, &/or My Documents. In Vista/7/8 All Users\ Application Data equals the ProgramData folder with a duplicate in Users\ All Users -- the next 2 equal Users\ Username\ AppData\ Roaming or Local.
Third most common are Microsoft C/C++ runtimes, which are normally added to Windows\ WinSxS -- *very often* these can be ignored... Microsoft had/has a problem with Visual Basic [VB] apps because there are different versions of the shared runtime files that are not completely compatible, & if you used win98 you might remember dll he** [as it was commonly known] where software installs could add older versions of shared files to Windows. Nowadays apps are supposed to add required C/C++ runtimes etc. to separate folders in WinSxS so if app "X" uses version 9 & app "Y" uses version 7 no harm, no foul. You only need one copy of whatever version, & there aren't that many, so chances are whatever an app adds to winSxS is already installed & working. Add in that many [most?] apps use the latest, Windows default version(s), regardless what they came pre-packaged with.
The fourth most common file/folder additions are in Program Files\ Common Files, &/or Program Files (x86)\ Common Files for 64 bit Windows. Adding files to these folders has actually become a bit rare -- apps that install an *old* version of the C/C++ runtimes might add a folder, & Englemann apps usually add their 3rd party files there, but by and large it's used nowadays by apps with **Really** complicated installs like Roxio, Nero, & McAfee.
Tied for 4th place I think are files added to Windows or Windows\ System32, which for the most part shouldn't happen IMHO. The advantage of adding files to Windows' system folder is that any app can find it, can access it, but in reality there are very few files you want every app to use, & you run the risk that whatever file's been stuck there by whatever app is going to be an older or otherwise incompatible version. Usually you can move files an app adds to the system folder into that app's folder. Last place belongs to drivers, which personally I try to avoid if/when at all possible -- unlike most other, added files, drivers can [& too often do] break Windows.
As far as the registry goes, there are very generally 5 or 6 types of entries, not counting the cache sort of keys/values that can & should be ignored [e.g. HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache]... Software entries [keys & values] are the most common, & again very generally, are used to store stuff like preferences you've set in whatever app. Often software will add this type of entry the 1st time it's run, so there's no need to include it in the setup routine. Another type of common registry entry is to associate whatever app with whatever file name extensions, so if you double click a file in Windows' Explorer that app will start with that file open in it. Often most onerous IMO are registry keys/values for install & uninstall, which can sometimes dwarf everything else an app adds to the registry -- .msi setup files are in my experience the worst. And often they have little value -- it's not uncommon for an app that adds/uses 1 or 2 folders & 1 [or possibly no] registry keys to add a dozen keys or entries for uninstall that uninstall will not remove. Long story short, fairly often I'll come across an app with just these 3 types of keys/entries, & especially if it adds files to WinSxS, I'll copy it from the VM to my regular win7 &/or XP installs just to avoid all that unneeded installation baggage.
Keys/values for drivers &/or services are not to be taken lightly -- these can mess up Windows -- though I won't say more for now as I'm already writing [rambling] too much. Registry keys/values also are where license keys are often stored... as a part of DRM developers can & do sometimes go overboard trying to bury or hide or spread out that info, hoping to make it harder for someone to use their stuff without paying for it. It's worth it IMO to record where that license is stored, not for copying but for your own good. Not long ago there was a thread where someone upgraded to the paid version of a GOTD app, only to spend days trying to get rid of the GOTD key so the paid key would be accepted. I changed my drives to AHCI, & spent hours upon hours [days] getting my Sony apps working because that changed the hardware ID, & I couldn't find the license info to delete it so I could re-register.
Finally Windows' registry includes a type of key called CLSID... CLSID keys & their names may be worthless garbage, may be used to store something [like a license key], or they may be used to store information about installed files. Usually you don't/won't mess with these, but there are 3 reasons to tell you a bit about them. The 1st is if you run registry cleaning or Windows optimization software chances are it'll point out some CLSID keys or values that need to be removed -- they're not always used as intended, cleaning software can't know if that's the case or not, so be aware removing CLSID related key/values can break something. The 2nd reason is that if you monitor registry changes during an app install, & you see CLSID related changes, Watch Out... that install might have just told Windows & your installed software to use whatever files, & those files might A) be older & B) incompatible. It might or might not cause you problems but now is the time to figure that out, rather than days, weeks, even months later when a Restore Point will likely be useless & a backup probably too old. [This sort of thing causing problems is unfortunately common with VB apps or anything video related.] The 3rd reason is because you can often [un]register files with Windows yourself, adding, changing, or turning CLSID related entries off. There are many tools/methods, it's not too complicated [Google/Bing for details], it can be needed to make an app work after copying from one system to another, & it can be a way [sometimes the only way] to fix something.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Isa Kinkon
MemberI have been using your site for years now to download some great soft.Thanks!!!
But since you have introduced .gcd files,it has becomed a nightmare!
Please,Please Try to be transparent and tell us what to do and how to manage to
take advantage of your offers from now on!!!! PLEASE! THANKS!Posted 11 years ago # -
mikemtn55
MemberGOOD NEWS ! After a nightmare of problems since about 12-01-2012 trying to install any GOTD programs with the latest Software Key Wrapper 2.0, I've found a combination that works for me.
Download .zip file and extract files > Exit firewall completely > Keep IE browser open > Double click "SetUp" > Installation/Registration then proceeds normally ! ( on my system at least).
Hope this helps anyone else. Good Luck.Posted 11 years ago # -
Sakir Avci
MemberTry this, make your antivirus "not start with windows" than restart your computer.Download from giveaway then set up it and than run antivirus and make it "start with windows"
Posted 10 years ago #
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