Suddenly Mathcad 14 won't launch

[#1]

I have been running Mathcad 14.0 M020 on Windows Vista for some time without problems. Now suddenly I get this when I try to launch mathcad: Miscrosoft Vistual C++ Runtime Library Runtime Error! Program C:\ProgramFiles\Mathcad\Mathcad 14\mathcad.exe abnormal program termination Does anyone have any idea what has caused this? Thanks.

[RichardJ]

"Victor Roberts" wrote:

Two more questions. First, the list of system requirements posted by PTC state that .Net Framework 2.0 is required, yet people here seem to believe that 3.5 is required. It's one thing for a tech support person to tell me that the issue may be 2.0 and quite another for the official system requirements to list 2.0. Can we get any official feedback from PTC about this issue?

[vroberts]

If I assume that the PTC product specification is correct, and MC14 needs .NET Framework 2.0, then I think I understand my problem. I had .NET Framework 2.0, 2.0 SP1 and 2.0 SP2 installed. Microsoft states that each service pack is supposed to uninstall the previous version. They also state that sometimes the 2.0 installation gets messed up and cannot be uninstalled in the normal manner, and when that happens, the next service pack is not properly installed and applications that need 2.0 will not run properly. I was unable to install 2.0, but fixed that with a tool from Microsoft. I have not yet cleaned up 2.0 SP1, but after that is done and I uninstall and reinstall 2.0 SP2 I expect I will be OK. Other people with problems running MC14 can help me out by posting if they have only one SP of 2.0, or more than one as I do. In addition, I would like to know if people are using MC14 on XP Pro with only 3.5, as that would tend to blow holes in the "requirement" from PTC that MC14 needs .NET Framework 2.0. I know of one colleague running MC14 on Vista with only .NET Framework 3.5, and don't yet understand how to reconcile that with PTC's claim that 2.0 is required, but I don't have the same confirmation on XP. Vic Roberts

[vroberts]

I missed your comment that M020 uses 3.5 (instead of 2.0 I presume.) That's interesting. I had tested M020 before I pulled MC14 off this machine. Perhaps I will do that again, since I believe that 3.5 is OK. Vic Roberts

[vroberts]

Based on the assumption that M020 needs only .NET Framework 3.5 and does not use 2.0, and the installation of .NET Frarework 3.5 on this machine is OK, I tried to install M020 on this machine, but that installation also failed with the same Visual C++ error. So, until I can repair .NET Framework 2.0 on this computer I installed M020 on another laptop that runs XP Home. That installation works fine, but I now see that M020 cannot save files in Mathcad 2001 Professional format. I thought that the original MC14.0 could save files that could be read by 2001 Professional, but perhaps I am wrong. Can anyone confirm whether or not Mathcad 11 or 12 use .NET Framework? They could be interim solutions until I fix .NET Framework on this machine. Vic

[RichardJ]

Version 11 does not use .NET, version 12 does. Version 11 is the last version that could save back to 2001 format. Richard

[vroberts]

Thank you! Vic

[vroberts]

Well, my problem with MC14 has BEEN FIXED, but I'm not sure exactly how. I signed up for a Mathcad Maintenance Agreement during the web conference earlier this week. After I upgraded my web account I checked the Knowledge Base, which may have been available to me before, but I'm not sure. I searched for issues related to the Visual C++ Runtime Error. They suggest installing both dotnetfx and msxml from the PreReq installation folder. (The same suggestions were given here, but I never followed them.) dotnetfx would not install (perhaps because I have a later version) but msxml did and then MC14 worked! The strange part is that I had MSXML in Add/Remove Programs and I don't see anything new or changed, but MC14 works again. Vic

[RichardJ]

I would guess that although MSXML was there it was corrupted somehow, and the reinstallation fixed it. Glad you got it working finally. Richard