ProE Student, does not run.

[Trent Steel]

I am trying to get Pro Engineer 2001 (student edition) to work on my home computer (Win XP/Pro) and I just can't. I have search high and low to find out why it does not work but I cannot find anyone with the same problem that I am having. I have installed the program using both the Win95/NT support (this is how the various knowledge based help files have suggested), I have also removed the Winboot dir that is supposed to fix it. As to the exact problem I am having is that after I install the program I get this error message (included pic). I have exhausted all the resources that I know of to fix this problem and decided I would see if anyone here can help, I know that the problem is probably from incompatibility between ProE and WinXP but I have done all different combinations of what the fixes are to no avail.

[lil Jimmie]

Originally posted by Trent Steel I have installed the program using both the Win95/NT support (this is how the various knowledge based help files have suggested)

I assume this means you used the compatibility wizard? I have seen where this has worked with software that was said not to be compatible with XP.

[Trent Steel]

No, when installing it prompts you to select what os your using, it supposed to be autodetect but because the OS which is XP is not on the list you have the choice of picking NT or 98/me but in the help files on www.ptc.com it says to select both of these components. I have tried it doing all three ways. I have also tried the compatibility mode with all the combinations possible. Thanks for the quick reply.

[lil Jimmie]

What about removing the program then open the compatibility wizard and start the install from the compatibility wizard and select one of the known OS’s that the program is compatible with and when the program prompts you to pick the OS select the one that you selected with the wizard.

[Tuf]

It is telling you that is not valid path to start the program. I am not familiar enough with the program to know what the differences are compared to the retail version. But I would say something is wrong with your install. Does your machine meet its requirements? I haven't run it with XP, but under 2000 it needs close to a gig of RAM.
They may have some newer files that you need. You night try contacting their tech support. While I don't use their software they have a pretty decent reputation.
If I remember correctly it is certified to run under XP Pro. It may be a hardware compatibilty issue. Does it not have an exe file to start the program? It seems odd to fire up with a bat file.

[lil Jimmie]

This is from the Pro Engineer FAQ
You may have read this already if so I'm sorry.

I am having problems running the Pro/ENGINEER 2001 Student Edition on a Windows 2000/XP system. Are there any known problems or special installation procedures for Windows 2000 or XP systems?

1. The Pro/ENGINEER Student Edition requires an NTFS File System. In many cases Windows XP Home Edition is setup with a FAT File System out of the box. The file system may need to be converted to NTFS if not already done.

2. If your machine was recently upgraded from Windows 95/98 to Windows 2000/XP the environment variable "winbootdir" may be incorrectly set. Normally this variable only exists on Windows 95/98. However, it the user upgraded from Windows 95/98 to Windows 2000/XP the environment variable is preserved causing Pro/ENGINEER to pick up the wrong OS type; the software then fails to start. To address this issue the user must delete the "winbootdir" variable.

On XP machines, the user will not see this variable set in the environment settings. To verify if it is set or not, open a Dos Window and type "set". This will display all variables currently set. If winboot dir is set, it will need to be removed in the autoexec.bat file.

The following procedure can be used to unset the "winbootdir" variable:
1. Right click on my computer on your desktop.
2. Select properties.
3. Select the advanced tab at the top.
4. Select Environment Variables.
5. Highlight "winbootdir" Variable in the System variables window
6. Click the delete button.
7. Click OK
8. Click OK

Alternatively, users can change the Pro/ENGINEER startup command to ignore the "winbootdir" variable.

The following procedure can be used to modify the startup script to ignore the "winbootdir" variable:

1. Locate the startup script (loadpoint/bin/proe2001-stu.bat)
2. Open the script in a text editor
3. Replace the line:
if not "%winbootdir%" == "" set mc=i486_win95 With:
REM if not "%winbootdir%" == "" set mc=i486_win95
4. Save the file.
5. Restart Pro/ENGINEER

3. Windows XP users should also verify that they have write access to their startup directory. Installation of the Student Edition creates a batch file that sets the loadpoint directory. If Pro/ENGINEER can't create this file due to permissions, the software will not start.

4. If all else fails, try setting the config.pro option "graphics win32_gdi".

[Trent Steel]

Well I got it to work, I tried the filr that it installs into a folder from the start menu, that did not work, but if I executed the program from the root directory it worked, as well as adding a link on the desktop from the root directory. Thanks for the help guys. Now all I need to do is figure out how to properly configure the config.pro file and change the rendering device from within the program, I have done this before and its not critical that it be done right away. Anyways thanks again guys.