A+: Application Troubleshooting

Application troubleshooting involves dealing with applications that cannot be installed or cannot start.

If you can’t install an application, here are some reasons why—and some solutions:

• Not enough disk space on C: drive— Use the Custom Installation option, if available, to choose another drive, delete old files in the default Temp folder, or free up space by deleting .chk files created by ScanDisk or Chkdsk in the root folder. Even if you choose another drive rather than the default system drive (usually C:) for the application, a severe shortage of space on the system drive can still prevent a successful installation. That’s because shared files are often installed on various areas of the default system drive. 

• Computer doesn’t meet minimum requirements for RAM or CPU speed— Check for installation program switches to turn off speed and RAM checks, or, better still, upgrade the system to meet or exceed minimums.

• No more space available in root folder— A FAT16 drive with 256 entries in the root folder cannot create any more folders or files in the root. Install to another folder, or convert the drive to FAT32 or NTFS to eliminate this limitation. Keep in mind that a long file name (LFN) can use up multiple entries in the root folder.

• Application incompatible with version of Windows in use— Although most recent commercial applications are designed to be installed on several different Windows versions, some older commercial applications and some custom applications might not support a particular Windows version. If an update to a compatible version is available, update the application and try the installation again with an updated version. If no updated version is available, you can either use a different program or install a virtualization environment such as Microsoft’s Virtual PC, install an operating system supported by the application, and install the application itself. The virtualized operating system and application run in a window on the host PC.

To learn more about virtualization and Virtual PC, visit the Virtual PC website at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx. Newer versions of Virtual PC are in the process of coming out, and the latest version is available as a free download from www.microsoft.com.