need a tool to debug a binary

Does this app speak to a server??

no. it's a desktop thing (www.tickquest.com)

While the vendor is probably right, his answer is of very little help. I am glad that you included who the vendor is. I know I will never bother them with my customership.

First check to make sure that the version of the software you have supports the Windows OS version you have. I wold also try installing it on a different computer as well. If it runs on the 2nd machine, then you might try reinstalling Windows.

I am guessing from what you said that the app started up and possibly displays a splash screen and then stops running leaving no trace as to what went wrong. If you had a development environment such as a Borland tool (C++ Builder or Delphi) or Microsoft's Visual Studio, you would have a debugger you could use to trap the error and try  trap the error and check the stack to see if you can spot some function names that could possibly suggest what it was doing at the time (opening a file - reading the registry).

If you have no debugger, then the best thing you can to is ask for a refund. Even with a debugger, you would have to know machine language and understand some of what compilers do to make any sense of it at all.

Good luck and share any details here.

Bill

I do have VS2005 on the same PC, but it isn't invoked by the error, which as you guessed is a splash screen. I have other PCs but they're all so different--drivers etc.--that it isn't much help to look for any diff between them. The main reason I chose this app was because it allowed me to hook in my own code and data. In other words, I wanted to use it as a GUI for data analysis.

What kind of data is it trying to "hook" into??

Economic and financial. Here's the main vendor's overview of the data: http://davf.com/databrochure.pdf

The database is installed on the same computer that has the application??  

I assume this is sql server?

Perhaps this is an MDAC issue.

I digressed which was probably misleading. The offending app—www.neoticker.com—is a standalone desktop app. It appealed to me because I could point it to a datastore and call my programs, and send the output to charts without me doing the rendering stuff. As an example and in repsonse to a question, I mentioned one of the sources of data I'm going to use. I've not got that far yet though.

I have absolutely no idea.  Sorry.  I know xp sp2 has many security enhancements and has caused me quite a headache with a distributed app.  I was able to fix that.  I also know there are many issues with sql server installed on a computer with sp2.  Other than that I'm not sure.

Keep us posted if you find anything out.

Thanks.

Can you find out from the vendor if their software is running on any SP2 systems? My guess is that is one of the SP2 'enhancments' that is causing your problems. The only real way to troubleshoot this without the vendor's help is trial and error. start with a standard XP system without SP2 and try it. Then add SP2 with as much turned off as you can turn off. If it runs, then add one thing at a time. I don't know the insides of SP2 updates enough to know exactly what can be turned off and what can't. Maybe others here can help you. You might also try this question in the operating systems area too.

Bill

Hi, just to let you know, I downloaded and installed demo version of neoticker and it was fine on XP Sp2, so as the vendor says it must be something else causing you a problem..

I know thats not much help, but at least it rules out SP2 being the cause :)

At least we are narrowing this down. We only have the Grand Canyon left to bridge. For the non US oriented in the audience, that's a huge (1 mile across and 1 mile deep) ditch in the western US.

Did you install and uninstall this at all? There might be some registry clutter confusing the program. Not all uninstalls to a good job at removing stuff. Typically, an uninstall program removes the stuff it puts in. A lot of programs add files and registry entries while they are running. The is the stuff that uninstalls do not remove. In a perfect world ( and with perfectly written software), an install would insure that the first startup is clean. There is the possibility that, upon finding a certain file, the program maks an assumption that things have been initiallized but actually haven't.

The way out of this would be to uninstall the program, then search the registry using (regedit) for the program name or the company name. If you find anything like that, contact the vendor and ask for a method to remove those entries. Also delete the folder under "c:\Program Files" that might remain there. After it is all clean, then try a reinstall.

These are the things I would try if it were my machine. The final thing to try is to do a clean reinstall of windows. make that the first program you install. It should work then.

Somewhere along the line, the effort you expend getting this to work will succeed or begin to exceed the actual value of having the program. That is when you move on.

Bill

I've uninstalled, manually cleaned the registry, removed the folder stub, reinstalled, etc. Can't seem to work around the problem. Without a dump or error, I'm stuck. Reinstalling XP is too drastic--besides it wouldn't find the problem.

Have you tried Dr Watson?

http://www.computerhope.com/software/drwatson.htm

Paul

This is the deifnitive answer to your actual question:

You need Olly Debuger.. This is a freeware tool designed for working with binarys.
http://webster.cs.ucr.edu/AsmTools/OllyDbg/odbg110.zip

There is all kinds of info on how to use this tool. If you take the time to learn it, it is VERY powerful.

Jim

I found Olly Debugger a tough tool to learn. I also came across another tool: http://www.dependencywalker.com, which seems easier and did the job. Thanks for tip. The problem ended up being with Visual Studio 2005 beta/.NET 2 beta.