Some notes about Vista installation (also may apply to 64bit XP and Windows 7/8.x,10 and server versions 2003-2012 and later).

Click here for instructions to share a folder with Vista if you want to network the Stratford program.

Please note that our old instructions about installing on Vista are no longer needed. You should be able to install now with no problems. We have rewritten our installer to handle all the 'strange/unwanted' and offensive problems caused by Vista and Win7/8.x/10 including the 64bit versions. If you have trouble with our current installer, please contact Stratford support: support@stratfordsoftware.com

For users of the old (but still supported) Stratford dos version, click here for additional instructions that you need for Vista.

If you have problems using a network printer that works on non-Vista and non-XP computers, click here for a possible solution.

We would appreciate hearing from you if the procedure above does not work or if you had to do any additional steps.

Microsoft, by default, enables a new type of protocol called SMB. This causes trouble with a lot of multi-user programs like Stratford. We advise you to disable this software change that Microsoft forces into all new computers with Win7. It does nothing of value and only causes trouble (at least that is our finding).

Below is a quote from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028965

To work around this issue, disable or reduce the time-out threshold for the local cache update by modifying the registry. To do this, follow these steps:
Click Start, click Run, type Regedit, and then press ENTER.
Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters
Under this registry subkey, right-click FileInfoCacheLifetime, and then click Modify.
Under Base, click Decimal, and then type a number that is smaller than the number that appears in the Value date box.

Notes
Type 0 to disable the time-out threshold for the local cache update.   << *** recommended ***
The number that you type indicates the length in second of the time-out threshold for local cache update.
Note If you use this method, the network traffic will increase.

OLE errors. This indicates that OLE components were not registered in the 'registry' as is necessary. We have no idea why Microsoft insists on supporting the registry. Its only purpose seems to be to make things difficult for developers. We believe that all necessary components for a program should be kept with that program, but unfortunately, we are stuck with what we are forced to use as long as we all use the windows operating system.

If you cannot register the OLE components with the Stratford installer, which happens, especially with some versions of Win10, here is a solution:

(Try to Google: how to manually register some OLE components in the windows registry) Many people have trouble with OLE errors as you can imagine so there are multiple solutions.

All the OLE components necessary for scheduling, calendars and some other functions in Stratford are in the \ssiwin\0 folder and can be seen using the windows explorer. Look in the 'Type' column labeled ActiveX control (for ocx files) and Application extension (for dll files). Note that for regular data entry, no OLE components are used and do not need to be registered.

Let's register the ctcalendar.ocx file. One of the several ocx files used with the scheduler and calendars:

1. Select Start -> Run

2. In the dialog box type Regsvr32 and the full address of the ole component on your 'server' computer. Example:

Regsvr32 \\Win7\c-drive\Stratford\ssiwin\0\ctcalendar.ocx

You may need to do this with every ocx and dll file. Sorry for that. Don't blame Stratford. We don't like it either. This works whether you are using a network or not. This is not necessary on any cloud server that we have set up: 2003, 2007 and 2012.

Note that with Win10, there are actually 2 levels of Administrator for some reason. 1 that works and 1 that does not work. Tricky design, right? There must be a reason for this. Don't ask us. Anyway we have found that our installer works on some Win10 systems using the lowest level Administrator login and there is no need to manually register the files.

In most cases you will only need to register the files with the 'OCX' extension, but some installations do require all the components to be registered as stated above.

If you find a better solution/workaround, please let us know.

Note: We know of a small utility that will 'semi-automate' the process of registering the components. You may want to use this utility since there are many OLE components. The name of this utility is RegDllView. Use google to find it on the Internet. The file is located on the developer's web site, here: www.nirsoft.net. There is a 32bit and a 64bit version depending on what your operating system is on the workstation with the OLE error. You will download a 'zip' file. Save it somewhere like C:\Temp and then unzip it and run the EXE file. It will give you 2 'windows'. The top window will show you all the OLE components that are now registered on your computer. The bottom window may or may not have any files listed that are NOT registered on your computer. Do not make any changes to those files (if any). Now open the windows file explorer as stated above to get a list of the Stratford OCX and DLL files in \ssiwin\0. Drag those filenames into this lower window. The utility will allow you to register all the files quickly. We would appreciate your feedback regarding the use of this utility. It is distributed by the developer (not related in any way to Stratford) as 'freeware'. Be sure to read the instructions that are included in the zip file before you use the utility.

The changes above were recommended by our clients and their hardware support persons. We would like to hear from you if you have found workarounds for any problems that you have had with Windows.

Send mail to webmaster@stratfordsoftware.com with questions or comments about this web site.
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Last modified: 09/04/13