PC Tools 7.1 May Incorrectly Add Group to Program Manager

ID: Q82392

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows versions 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

PC Tools version 7.1 uses an MS-DOS-based Setup program that parses and modifies the PROGMAN.INI file included with Microsoft Windows. This Setup program makes some invalid assumptions about the format of this file that can cause some of the PC Tools programs to set up improperly. The common result of this problem is that either a group now fails to appear or two identical groups appear instead.

MORE INFORMATION

PC Tools's Setup program assumes that the [Groups] section comes last in the PROGMAN.INI file and that it contains lines only of the form GroupX= (where "X" is an integer).

However, it is possible for other information to be located in the [Groups] section or for a [Restrictions] section to be located at the end of the PROGMAN.INI file.

After PC Tools is installed, the corrupted PROGMAN.INI file usually resembles the following:


[Settings]
Window=4 5 639 395 1
display.drv=vga.drv
Order= 5 3 4 4 2 1  <--- Two 4's
AutoArrange=1

[Groups]
Group1=C:\WINDOWS\MAIN.GRP
Group2=C:\WINDOWS\ACCESSOR.GRP
Group4=C:\WINDOWS\STARTUP.GRP   <---  | Two Group4 lines
Group5=C:\WINDOWS\APPLICAT.GRP        |
Group3=C:\WINDOWS\GAMES.GRP           |
Group4=C:\WINDOWS\CPSDOS.GRP    <---  |
Order=3 5 4 2 1                 <---    Potential text that may
                                        confuse the PC Tools Setup
                                        program

If the above problem occurs, you must modify your PROGMAN.INI file using a text editor (such MS-DOS Editor). Make your modifications at the MS-DOS level, then restart Windows. Program Manager should then load all the groups correctly and rebuild the Order= line so that it works correctly. To restore PROGMAN.INI, make the following changes:

Remove the Order= line from the [Settings] section.

Remove any lines not of the form GroupX= from the [Groups] section.

List the group numbers sequentially.

A PROGMAN.INI file that has been corrected should look similar to the following:


[Settings]
Window=4 5 639 395 1
display.drv=vga.drv
AutoArrange=1

[Groups]
Group1=C:\WINDOWS\MAIN.GRP
Group2=C:\WINDOWS\ACCESSOR.GRP
Group3=C:\WINDOWS\STARTUP.GRP
Group4=C:\WINDOWS\APPLICAT.GRP
Group5=C:\WINDOWS\GAMES.GRP
Group6=C:\WINDOWS\CPSDOS.GRP

PC Tools is manufactured by a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

Additional query words: 3.10 3.1 pctools 3.11

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:3.1,3.11
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :