[Virtualacorn-list] Triple or quadruple click on Windows7

Thu Jun 23 22:25:42 BST 2011

Paul Sprangers <p.sprangers at sprie.nl> wrote:

> Op 20-6-2011 23:20, Jeremy Nicoll - ml virtualacorn schreef:
> >> No, it makes no difference at all.
> > Sloppy terms, Paul.
> >
> > "No"... you mean that right-click&  run... to start the program does not
> > work properly?  That's an important discovery because it means all the
> > n-click mouse stuff is irrelevant.
> >
> > Or did you mean that the program started via right-click&  run starts
> > properly but then fails to end properly?

> I mean that it makes no difference at all.

Yes... but the point I was making was that that statement was ambiguous.

> When I right-click & run on the exe file, nothing happens (that is, 
> nothing visible).

> I have to do it twice without delay, in order to get the program started 
> - which is the equivalent of quadruple left clicking, isn't it?

> It also makes no difference for the false shut down.

> What do you mean, by the way, when you say that this discovery means 
> that all the n-click mouse stuff is irrelevant?

If the program won't start properly when told to do so via the menu system,
it means that the issue is nothing to do with any mouse selection process,
or having the OS/GUI recognise that double-click on a shortcut or program
icon means 'run the selected program'.

I wonder what happens if you try to start VA from the commandline.   In XP
I'd do that by Start -> Run -> cmd.exe

which opens a window with what looks like the old DOS prompt:

   C:\Documents and Settings\Laptop>

Now I need to type a command at that prompt.

In my case VA is installed in "C:\Program
Files\VirtualAcorn\VirtualRPC-AdjustSA"  - I'm not sure if that's the
standard place.  If you navigate to wherever you have it installed, then
copy the path into the clipboard.

Go back to the command window and type at the prompt: cd and a following
space then right-click the mouse.  If command window in W7 is the same as XP
then the right-click will paste into the command window the contents of the
clipboard, so you'll end up with 

   C:\Documents and Settings\Laptop>cd C:\Program Files\Virt ...

Press enter and the command (change directory) should cause the prompt to
change to:

   C:\Program Files\VirtualAcorn\VirtualRPC-AdjustSA>

then - just to check this is ok - type in the command: dir

You should get a list of the contents of the directory, eg:

   C:\Program Files\VirtualAcorn\VirtualRPC-AdjustSA>dir
    Volume in drive C has no label.
    Volume Serial Number is AC12-E87D

    Directory of C:\Program Files\VirtualAcorn\VirtualRPC-AdjustSA

   29/06/2007  10:53    <DIR>          .
   29/06/2007  10:53    <DIR>          ..
   15/12/2009  03:54    <DIR>          HardDisc4
   18/12/2006  02:38    <DIR>          HTML
   18/12/2006  13:28            13,461 License.rtf
   18/03/2003  21:20         1,060,864 mfc71.dll
   02/01/2007  19:11    <DIR>          Models
   12/01/2004  00:00           348,160 msvcr71.dll
   18/12/2006  02:38    <DIR>          Plugins
   10/05/2006  15:34             2,300 ReadMe.rtf
   18/12/2006  02:38    <DIR>          RomSets
   22/04/2004  11:39               834 The Manual.HTM
   18/12/2006  02:38           630,031 Uninstal.exe
   21/06/2011  18:59               679 VA.cfg
   14/01/2007  09:36           467,968 VAclipboard.dll
   10/05/2006  10:42           872,448 VirtualRPC-AdjustSA.exe
   18/06/2011  17:11               167 ~JN-changes .txt
                 10 File(s)      3,396,912 bytes
                  7 Dir(s)  46,660,468,736 bytes free

Now we can try to start VA.  The program in that directory which is VA is
the thing called: VirtualRPC-AdjustSA.exe

Type all of that after the command prompt, ie:

   C:\Program Files\VirtualAcorn\VirtualRPC-AdjustSA>VirtualRPC-AdjustSA.exe

Here when I do that there's no output in the command window (and possibly
that will be true for you too).  A few seconds later VA starts up in another
window.  Does the same happen for you?

> > I have no idea how the event logs in W7 are organised.  However before
> > you try to turn any extra logging on, you need to look at the System and
> > Application logs (if they exist) for both the times of the failed starts
> > and the failed shutdowns to see if any events are recorded.
> 
> All right, I've found it. Now it is running for half an hour and still 
> 'reading data...'

I wonder why?  Under XP the logs just open.  

> Probably, it is reconstructing the entire history of my poor laptop since
> I bought it.

It doesn't (at least in XP) work like that.  The data in the log files is
just there.   Later... via Google I see that MS have changed the way
eventlogs work.   Lots of info at: 
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2006.11.eventmanagement.aspx 
(I've mainly posted that so /I/ can find it again...) 

-- 
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.