Emulator does not start in Win 7

[yogi-am]

Dear All,

I was peacefully using the Series 60 3Ed Fp1 SDK on win 7 for the past 1 year. Then I started making windows update and one bad day, the emulator stopped working.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the SDK several times. Each time the emulator runs for a while(several times in a day or one or two restarts) and then stops. The task manager does not even show it when I click on the Emulator shortcut.

I tried changing epoc.ini and enabling logging, still no help, epocwind.out file is not created anywhere in the system.

One thing I have noticed is that in all the uninstall/install/test process done so far, it never asked me for the S60 serial key. It had asked only once during which time it was working smooth.

I reinstalled Win 7(without formatting though) and installed it yesterday again. The same thing happens, it runs after installation. Did a few restarts and tested, emulator runs. Today morning I start the laptop and the same problem arises agian. Emulator does not start nor gives any error message nor log.

I am totally pissed off, any help/pointers will be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[wizard_hu_]

The emulator asks for the registration key 2 weeks after its installation, so that part is not a problem.
If you have some powerful antivirus software, you may want to consider checking its activity log, if it has classified the emulator as some kind of malware, etc.
If you have no antivirus software at all, you may want to consider getting one, since malwares can destabilize everything, including the emulator.

[yogi-am]

The emulator asks for the registration key 2 weeks after its installation, so that part is not a problem.
If you have some powerful antivirus software, you may want to consider checking its activity log, if it has classified the emulator as some kind of malware, etc.
If you have no antivirus software at all, you may want to consider getting one, since malwares can destabilize everything, including the emulator.

No, there is no antivirus installed. I use firefox and the softwares installed on my pc are mostly the drivers, Visual Studio and Java, so I guess malwares may not be the problem. The only solution left for me is to format my C drive and do a clean install.

I guess its mostly some settings/registry issues. Any other idea?

[wizard_hu_]

It is not a solution, but you can try creating a backup of the freshly installed SDK (the epoc32 folder is enough), and restore it after the emulator stops working.

[yogi-am]

It is not a solution, but you can try creating a backup of the freshly installed SDK (the epoc32 folder is enough), and restore it after the emulator stops working.

Will try it tonight.

[yogi-am]

No luck, did not work by restoring the epoc32 folder either :( Any other idea?

[wizard_hu_]

Sorry, I have no other idea. However if restoring the files does not help, it means that something in the OS-side gets removed/disabled (in the registry, in your user account, etc.). Do you use some kind of optimization tool for the registry, for modifying prefetch data, etc.? Readyboost?

[yogi-am]

Sorry, I have no other idea. However if restoring the files does not help, it means that something in the OS-side gets removed/disabled (in the registry, in your user account, etc.). Do you use some kind of optimization tool for the registry, for modifying prefetch data, etc.? Readyboost?

No, I am not using any optimization tools. I had a doubt of superfetch service. I have disabled it too. In fact, I formatted my machine and installed Windows 7 again. Installed a fresh SDK and tried, same problem. I am now taking a fresh download of the SDK(may be mine is currupt or virus affected, no idea). Will install and get back.

[rahul.kulshreshtha]

I was also having similar type of problems, I don't remember what was exact solution. But you can try the folowing..

1. First run emulator as Administrator from "Program file". It that starts emulator that means it's installed correctly.
2. You can also try switching between "Partial" start and "Full Start" mode. Partial Start will start only required services while "Full mode" will start all services.
3. Try a fresh installation inside any VM. You will get rid of changes in you OS.

[yogi-am]

I was also having similar type of problems, I don't remember what was exact solution. But you can try the folowing..

1. First run emulator as Administrator from "Program file". It that starts emulator that means it's installed correctly.
2. You can also try switching between "Partial" start and "Full Start" mode. Partial Start will start only required services while "Full mode" will start all services.
3. Try a fresh installation inside any VM. You will get rid of changes in you OS.

I tried point 1. It works, but only for a few runs, then it stops working. How do I do a "Partial" or a "Full Start"? Any specific VM sftware you have tried or are aware of?

[wizard_hu_]

The partial startup mode is a feature introduced in S60 3rd FP2. The VM workaround is a good one, I also used it for teaching - however in that case it was a workaround for limited user rights. However it may have some problems with On Device Debugging (USB support of VM-s vary).
In case of Windows 7, an obvious first choice can be its official Virtual XP Mode, http://www.microsoft.com/windows/vir.../download.aspx

[yogi-am]

The partial startup mode is a feature introduced in S60 3rd FP2. The VM workaround is a good one, I also used it for teaching - however in that case it was a workaround for limited user rights. However it may have some problems with On Device Debugging (USB support of VM-s vary).
In case of Windows 7, an obvious first choice can be its official Virtual XP Mode, http://www.microsoft.com/windows/vir.../download.aspx

Thanks! I was just looking at the download page :) Will try the VM option and get back.

[yogi-am]

Installed VirtualBox and XP. Running smoothly as of now. For some reason, Carbide++ does not install. Task manager shows the setup is utulizing the CPU but nothing seems to happen. Will post it in Carbide forum n check.

Thanks for the support guys. :)