# Cant run setup files.



## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

Hi folks, need your help once again.
Recently I formatted my computer, beforehand I backed up all the things I wanted to keep and install later, everything went well, until now.
I put in my cd with all the backed up prgrams, music, pictures, etc. Then I try to copy a setup file of one of the programs onto my hard drive, when I go to open it, it says 'not a valid win32 application', these are all programs I've used before, and were working perfectly before I formatted, I have hundreds of pictures also, I try to copy/paste them from the cd to the hard drive and when I try to open them I get 'Cannot read from the source file or disk'
I really need these pictures back, I dont know whats happened, is there anyway to resolve this?
Thanks in Advance.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

What setup file are you trying to copy? On the pictures, are you sure you just didn't copy shortcuts to the cd? Can you try the cd in another computer to see if the files can be seen?


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## NiteHawk (Mar 9, 2003)

What you have to remember is the way in which windows programs install themselves. In the old days of DOS if you were to install a new program 100% of that program would be installed in C:\New Program. (Actually more like C:\NewProg since DOS file and directory names were 8 characters) 

With Windows 90 to 95% is installed in C:\Program Files\New Program and the rest, the support .dll's and drivers et al, are installed in C:\Windows or C:\Windows\System and a few other places. My guess is that those parts of the program that were installed in \Windows were never backed up.

The programs that you can't get to install or run right will have to be installed either from original media or the original install files that were downloaded from the net.

As a tip for the future I would suggest that any programs that you download from the net, you keep the original install file in a folder named 'downloads' or 'installs' or something like that. That way if you have to re-install you always have the original.

Second tip is to create a folder named 'Drivers' and place a COPY of every driver you can find in that folder. That way if you have to re-install something you will never have to hunt down the original CD or floppies again.

It should go without saying to keep each folder updated when you add new programs or hardware and back them up to CD every 90 days.


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## jackha (Nov 3, 2002)

Will it read other cd's??What burn program did you use??Have you reinstalled the burn program??Did you back them up with the windows backup program or did you do it manually??


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

Thanks for replying people, All other cds work, I used nero to burn,it said after burning that it burnt successfully.
Its not really the internet programs I'm concered about, Its the hundreds of Family pictures I backed up, and now cant view. Its really starting to upset me a little I hope I havent lost these for good, as they are of my newborn baby girl. The only copy I have of these are on that cd, Why cant I view them?
Not to mention I have alot of mp3 files I cant play either, This is very confusing, any help would be very much appreciated.


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## NiteHawk (Mar 9, 2003)

Does the CD with the photos work on another pc?
Also look at the file names and the SIZES on the CD. That would be a tip if you copied the pic or just the shortcut.


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

All the pictures have file sizes everything appears to be normal, and I know for sure I didnt just copy the shortcut. I dont have another pc I can use the cd on either.
This is really strange..


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## NiteHawk (Mar 9, 2003)

I'm hoping it's just a missing file association.
What program did you use for viewing photos before the format and re-install?


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## jackha (Nov 3, 2002)

Ok you have Nero so go here and download updates for Nero/Incd and also download Easywritereader.
http://www.nero.com/en/index.html#download
Also I am assumming that you have reinstalled Nero.
Don't give up, if you put them on with nero then nero can read them..


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

Before the format, I was just using I.E to view my pictures.
Wht do I do after installing the updates for nero?


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

I also just noticed in My Computer under folder options/file types/application Its got Extension exe, which is the format the setup files are, but its got 'opens with [EXECUTABLE], and I guess that means there is no program associated with my exe's
Could this be the problem?
What program do I need to open exe files?


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## NiteHawk (Mar 9, 2003)

If you were using IE to view your photos and wish to continue using it as your default viewer do this:

Select any photo (highlight) hold down the shift key and right click on it. 

You will see an item on the list that says Open With. 

Click on Open With and it will open a window with all your programs listed. 

Scroll down and select IE and highlight it. 

Check the box that says Always use this program to open this file type. 

Click on OK 

You should now be able to view your photo.


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

It wont work, I try to copy the picture from the cd and it says 'cant copy cannot read from the source file or disk'


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

In Windows Explorer, can you see a preview of the pictures?


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

No, it doesnt generate a preview, all the pictures have file sizes, 227kb, 706kb etc so they have been saved correctly I assume.


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## NiteHawk (Mar 9, 2003)

Try to open it, using the prodedure above, directly from the CD. Don't try to copy it first. If this works we can address the copy idea as a second issue.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Well, I'd take the cd somewhere, to a friends, to Kinkos, to the library and see if you can see anything on it from there.


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

NightHawk, It wont open directly from the cd it just comes up with an internet explorer page saying ' action cancelled'
and I cant copy it from cd to hard drive.

Could it be my cd drivers should I install the latest ones?


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## jackha (Nov 3, 2002)

Are these items copied onto a cd/r disk or are they on a cd/rw disk??Can you burn programs now??
If you're burner dosen't work now the program is either not installed or it is currupted. If this is the case first try going to control panel>system>device mgr. tab and scroll down to cdrom and highlite and delete you're cdrom and then reboot this will make win reinstall the system and if nero is installed and not currupted hopefully it will install correctly if not then you will probably have to reinstall Nero. cd/roms will not read cd/rw's without the proper system installed and that's what I think you're system thinks you have,a regular cd/rom, so see if it will burn and go from there..


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

Yes, I did copy it onto a cd-rw, nero appears to be fine though, is it safe to just go ahead and delete the cdrom? I'm kinda nervous about doing something like that.


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## NiteHawk (Mar 9, 2003)

I would suggest that you keep the photos on the CD until we are sure everything is working. Both viewing and copying the photos.

BACKUPS never hurt


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

I have no choice but to keep them on the cd, I cant move the damn things anywhere anyway lol.
Wow, this is really stressing me out....


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Howdy there MercuryGaze... 

Just a few questions...

What file extension's do the pic's have ?

And...

In Nero when you burned the files did you finalize the CD burn ?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Sorry disregard the last question, didn't see that you burned it on a CD-RW...

Go here and download and install the UDF reader and see if it works...


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

Ok, I installed UDF reader and now Im having more problems, I cant even get into 'my computer' everytime I click on it, it just freezes up and I have to ctr alt del to end task.
Seems I cant access my cd-rom now, Should I do a scanreg restore?
and if so, I cant remember the exact way to do it lol
Any help would be awesome, thanks in advance.


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Try uninstalling the UDF reader first ( although it's worked for me )...

Also what operating system are you using W98 or ME ?

When using scanreg /restore boot to DOS mode then type it in...


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

I cant find an option to uninstall the UDF Reader, neither in add/remove programs or from start/programs, I might go ahead and try a restore, by the way I'm using Windows 98


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## giskard (Jun 27, 2003)

The directory structure of the CD RW may have been corrupted. I'm not familiar with Nero though. See if they have a utility that fixes corrupt CD's, maybe some of the pics can be saved that way.

No scratches or damage on the CDRW is there?


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## Dick Lewis (Jun 18, 2003)

man, run-on forever
not a valid win32 etc means the file is corrupt, or not made for windows, %99.9 of the time its corrupt. Your cd didnt burn well thats all there is to it. it was a bad cd or it just went wrong. the best thing you can do is try reading it on as many computers as you can find, and when you find one that will read it, copy them over to that system and look for a way to get them back, I've seen this 1000000 times, if you try and fix the cd it may kill it completely.

every now and then I find a real good cd player and it will read these bad cd's but its kind of a luck thing, you may never get it to read. but all in all, cd players are junk, and can barely read well on a good day. you just gotta find that one that will read it.

a second try would be super read programs, or a diffrent OS, some times they can read better then M$

A super reader can be found here, http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_utils_1.shtml

they read real hard, with force, and rip and so on, but like i said, the harder you try the worse the disk may get.


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## Dick Lewis (Jun 18, 2003)

http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_utils_1.shtml

blind read 3


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## MercuryGaze (Jul 30, 2002)

Thanks for the suggestion Dick I downloaded the program and made an image of the cd (took hours!) lol, but I'm unsure of how to burn it, blindread saved it in a .bwi file, I'm using nero so how should I burn this?
as a data cd?
Any help would be appreciated. 
Cheers.


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## jackha (Nov 3, 2002)

I use Nero and have a burner and a dvd player and have formated my system several times and I think that you're problem is that when you reinstalled windows installs the Generic drivers that are on the boot disk so that you're cd will operate good enough to install the os but it will not work as a burner without the information [.inf extension] file that is on the Nero program to tell it what driver to install so it will act as a burner, the reasion it says that it's not a win32 file is because it isn't it's a Nero file and untill you get Nero properly installed it won't read it. It will read regular cd'r's because there differant than cd/rw's my new dvd won't read them either without EasywriteReader installed, but if you only have the burner you don't need it, now if you don't have a legal Nero and can't update you's I guess you'll probably have to find someone with a burner that can read it...


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