[RESOLVED] Strange .exe file

[falcon2000]

I apologize if this is the wrong forum but I cannot decide which forum is more appropriate.

I downloaded a patch from Seagate for its DiscWard (the Seagate version of Acronis TrueImage). It's a very small .exe file. It's saved in my laptop's hard drive. It' will run fine there.
Now, I copy this file to a usb drive and try to run it in one of my workstation. Double click on it. Nothing happens.
Try "Run" and put in the path of the file. Nothing happens.
Copy the file from the laptop to the workstation's hard drive via remote access software. Nothing happens.
Bring the usb drive back to the laptop, and try running it from there. Nothing happens.
Try the all the above in another workstation. Same result.
So, thus far, the .exe will only run from the hard drive in the laptop where I originally downloaded it to.

I have thought about admin right issue but it's not it - I log into both workstation as the System Admin but still the result is the same.

Have anyone seen this kind of behavior before? What gives?

[Steve R Jones]

Does the desktop also have a Seagate hard drive?

[falcon2000]

No. It has 2 Samsung drives. Here is the thing. Samsung drives are now supported by Seagate. And, this patch is exactly for the purpose of unlocking DiscWizard's limitation to Seagate drives so it will work for the Samsung drives. Besides, the hard drive in the laptop where the patch can run from is a Western Digital. So, I don't think that the fact that there is not a Seagate drive in the workstation matters.

[SpywareDr]

Wouldn't a "patch" for DiskWizard require DiskWizard?

[falcon2000]

Yes, DiscWizard is installed in the workstation in question.

According to the installation instructions for this patch, if it is installed successfully, DiscWizaed will still say no Seagate drive found, but after you "OK" the message, DiscWard will continue on instead of closing itself down. Thinking that even though nothing is observed happening after double clicking the .exe it might have indeed installed, I tried to use DiscWizard but it just closed after the "no Seagate drive" message. So the patch definitely didn't get installed.

[SpywareDr]

Hmmm...

Is the patch in the same folder as the DiscWizard program?

If that still doesn't work, how about copying the already patched version of DiscWizard from the laptop onto the workstation?

[falcon2000]

If that still doesn't work, how about copying the already patched version of DiscWizard from the laptop onto the workstation?

Don't think that is going to work. From my research, it seems that the patch modify the registry and may add some dll files to the system.

[SpywareDr]

Sounds like it may require someone with a fairly intimate knowledge of the patch routine . . . which I do not have. Hopefully someone with some other ideas will be along soon.

[falcon2000]

DiscWizard finally works but I am not sure what exactly the problem was. Let me explain.

According to Seagate’s Tech Suppor, this is what supposed to happen :
Install the latest (Seagate emphasizes this) DiscWizard
Install the patch / update
Launch DiscWard
The message saying there is no Seagate drive will appear
Click OK and DiscWard will continue as normal (if the patch / update hasn’t been installed, DiscWard will close itself at this point and you can’t use it.)

Problems:
The latest DiscWard installation checks for the presence of Seagate drives at the beginning and terminate itself when it doesn’t detect any Seagate drive.
Hence the Catch 22 - You need to install the patch / update for DiscWizard to work with Samsung drives but you need to install DsicWard first but it won’t install without a Seagate drive in system already.
I have an older version DiscWard I downloaded a year or so ago. I remember that it didn’t check the drive during installation. It only checks the check when you actually use it.
So I installed the old version. It went w/o any problem.
Then I double clicked the patch / update to install it but absolutely nothing happened.
Thinking that the patch / update might have indeed been installed even nothing was observed when running it, I launched DiscWard anyway. But it closed itself after telling me that there was no Seagate drive.

Solution:
Uninstall the old version of DiscWard
Hook up a spare Seagate drive I have lying around
Install the latest version of DiscWard
Double click to run the patch / update
Still nothing happens
Launch DiscWard anyway.
It works! No message, no error. It sails along completely without problem. I make a disc image, boot from CD, and check the integrity of the image. Everything is fine.

Conclusion:
Seagate sucks.
I am quite sure the patch / update didn’t get executed at all. I have Windows’ Security Warning enabled for .exe files. Windows will ask me whether I want to run it or not. But the Security Warning never came up. I looked into the Event Viewer and it only showed the DiscWizard installation but nothing after that.
So I am thinking that the latest version of DiscWizard is actually made to work on Samsung drives already w/o the patch / update but when they wrote the program they forgot to make it installable also with Samsung drives only in the system. So, same conclusion: Seagate sucks big time.

[falcon2000]

Forgot to mention that before I launched DsicWizard, I did unplug the spare Seagate drive. So, DiscWizard definitely works w/ only the Samsung drives in the system.

[SpywareDr]

Good to hear you finally got it to work.