When trying to run any Visual software, the software may immediately crash, fail to run, or display an error message. This is often due to insufficient user security permission settings. The software activation process attempts to verify activation status every time any Visual program is started. If it cannot read from and write to certain locations, the activation process fails and the software won't run.

Windows 95, 98, ME

These versions of Windows do not provide security, so any issues are likely a result of configuration problems (missing or incorrect file versions, for example).

Windows NT & 2000

The easiest solution is to give the user either PowerUser or Administrator permissions. By default, both of these accounts have the correct privileges for the activation process to complete.

You can see what groups the current user is a member of by running the free IfMember.exe utility from Microsoft. This should be available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/new/ifmember-o.asp. If the link does not work, try searching Microsoft.com for IfMember.exe. Run the program at a DOS prompt and use the /list flag. This has been tested on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

If a minimum permission set is desired, the activation process must be first completed by the Administrator. After the software has been successfully activated, the Administrator must give each desired user account the following minimum security permissions:

1. "Full Control" rights on the "c:\Program Files\Visual 2.0" directory (or wherever Visual 2.3 is installed) and all subdirectories.
• Right-click on the folder and select Properties, then the Security tab.
• In Windows NT, click the "Permissions" button, and add the user if necessary. Select the correct user and give them "Full Control". IMPORTANT - check the "Replace Permissions on Subdirectories" checkbox. Then click "OK".
• In Windows 2000, make sure the correct user is added and selected and then give them "Full Control". If the permissions boxes are grayed out, uncheck the "Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object" checkbox. Click "OK".
2. "Read" rights on the windows directory, usually "c:\Winnt". No subdirectories need elevated privileges. It is possible, though unlikely, that the "Winnt" directory does not exist or is not the windows directory. In this case, the correct directory may be found by typing set windir and pressing Enter at a DOS prompt.

Windows XP

Windows XP is the same as Windows 2000, excpet the windows directory is usually called "Windows" instead of "Winnt".