FIX: SETUP.EXE Does Not Check for Available Disk Space

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows Distribution Kit, versions 2.5x, 2.6x

SYMPTOMS

SETUP.EXE in the FoxPro for Windows Distribution Kit, specifically the SETUP.APP Setup Wizard, does not successfully measure the amount of disk space on the destination system before beginning the actual installation of the application. This is despite the message SETUP displays saying that it will check for available disk space.

If the destination drive does not have enough free disk space, SETUP proceeds until it encounters a situation in which the available space is less than that required to expand and load the next file from the distribution disk. When this situation occurs, SETUP displays the error message "Cannot Write <filename>."

WORKAROUND

Use one of the following workarounds:

• 1. At an MS-DOS prompt, type the following:

           C:\FPW26\DKSETUP\DECOMP DISK1\SETUP.MS_ C:\SETUP.MST
           EDIT C:\SETUP.MST
  
     2. From the Search menu choose Find.
  
     3. In the Find dialog box, type "dialogs%" (without the quotation
        marks).
  
     4. Change the text "dialogs%" to "dialog%" (without the quotation
        marks).
  
     5. Save and close the file.
  
     6. At an MS-DOS prompt, type the following:
  
           C:\FPW26\DKSETUP\COMPRESS C:\SETUP.MST DISK1\SETUP.MS_
  
     The Setup Wizard will now work properly.
  
     -or-
  
  

• Developers using the Distribution Kit for FoxPro for Windows should include documentation with their distributed applications advising the end user of the amount of hard disk space required to install the application. This space requirement is in addition to the space required for the end user's tables and working storage.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Visual FoxPro 3.0 for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Copy the MS-DOS directory into the FoxPro directory.

2. Package this MS-DOS directory, specifying ATTRIB.EXE as the master program. Answer the Setup Wizard's questions by selecting the suggested default values. Specify the appropriate size of floppy disks for the destination machine (for example, 1.44 MB). Include in the distribution file set the appropriate .ESL library for the release of FoxPro on the source machine. (The wizard will request this.)

3. Copy the files within the disk images to the appropriate sized disks. The combined files will require approximately 6 MB of disk space.

4. Fill the hard disk of the destination machine with enough copies of FPW26 (or some other directory) to reduce the available space to less than the file requirements of the distributed application (MS-DOS).

5. From the Windows File menu, choose Run, and run SETUP from the floppy drive into which the distribution disks fit.