OE 3.2 freezing upon startup

Thomas S. Manley
06/10/2004 12:46 am
I am a registered OE 2.9 user and just recently installed 3.2 on my laptop (which did not have an existing OE installed) to try it. It worked fine for about a week and I successfully downloaded a number of sites. Today I launched OE and it minized to the sys tray as it should but when I maximized the window, the program title bar remained faded out as if in the background and I could not select it. The window is maximized but unresponsive and remains so indefinitely. All I can do is exit OE without problem. OE is using 0% of the CPU. I tried reinstalling the application, but that didn`t fix it. At this point I`m out of ideas as to what is causing this.
Thomas S. Manley
06/10/2004 12:56 am
I found the registry branch that holds the OE settings. I exported it then deleated the entire MetaProducts branch. That seemed to fix my problem, suggesting that something in the settings was causing the problem.
Oleg Chernavin
06/10/2004 01:07 am
Can you please export the current Registry key with Offline Explorer settings and send me both files? I will try to see what can be the reason. This will help me to make a fix or a workaround.

Please send the files to support@metaproducts.com

Thank you!

Best regards,
Oleg Chernavin
MP Staff
Oleg Chernavin
06/11/2004 05:13 am
The problem is fixed. The updated version is located here:

http://www.metaproducts.com/download/betas/oep1723.zip

Oleg.
Bob Schmidt
07/10/2004 09:38 am
I have a similar problem.
Version 3.X
I don`t know what version because OE Pro does not even display a window when launched!!
It shows the Tips and the Welcome to New Project windows but if I cancel those, it disappears, except for a button in the task bar.
Just started today!! Have had NO problems like this in the past.


> The problem is fixed. The updated version is located here:
>
> http://www.metaproducts.com/download/betas/oep1723.zip
>
> Oleg.
Oleg Chernavin
07/10/2004 11:19 am
Do you have ZoneAlarm installed? We have multiple messages about the bug in ZoneAlarm which makes many software fail, including Offline Explorer. Is it so?

Oleg.
Bob Schmidt
07/10/2004 05:03 pm
No Zone Alarm.
I use a router instead.
I do have Norton Systemworks, but have always had that.
I also have WebTrends which runs Apache and Tomcat.
But OE has peacefully co existed with everything until today.

Just wondering, does OE depend on IE code in anyway?
That is, could a corruption in my IE install possibly affect OE?
Would OE be affected by IE issues with BHO`s and other IE trojans?
What about plug ins/toolbars, etc? Any of these IE add ons have an effect on OE?
Does OE have a fuse or other event trigger that would disable as of a certain date that might have expired?





> Do you have ZoneAlarm installed? We have multiple messages about the bug in ZoneAlarm which makes many software fail, including Offline Explorer. Is it so?
>
> Oleg.
Oleg Chernavin
07/10/2004 06:12 pm
Yes, Offline Explorer depends on MS IE - it has Internal browser, which is actually MS IE window. Anyway, you can turn it off this way:

Run regedit.exe, browse to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MetaProducts\Offline Explorer Pro\Parameters

Find the InternalBrowser value and change it to 0. Then start Offline Explorer and see if this helps.

Oleg.
Bob Schmidt
07/11/2004 01:48 pm
I reset the registry key you suggsted.
Symptoms are same. No change.
Product launches, but the main window in not visible, only the new project windows are displayed.
When those are canceled, no OE windows are visible, the program is shown in the Task Bar and right clicking the icon offers choices of Minimize and Close.

Running XP Pro SP1 and current with Windows Update on P4 2+ GHz, 1 Gig memory
IE Ver 6.0.2800.1106.xpsp2.030422-1633
Update versions
SP1, Q828750, Q824145, Q932894, Q837009, Q831167

Toolbars installed: Google, Yahoo, Alexa, eBay, Viewpoint, Thomas Register, HP Tookit, GoGraph, Altavista



> Yes, Offline Explorer depends on MS IE - it has Internal browser, which is actually MS IE window. Anyway, you can turn it off this way:
>
> Run regedit.exe, browse to:
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MetaProducts\Offline Explorer Pro\Parameters
>
> Find the InternalBrowser value and change it to 0. Then start Offline Explorer and see if this helps.
>
> Oleg.
Bob Schmidt
07/11/2004 02:18 pm
I should also mention that my /download directory contains:

9.27 GB
73,259 Files
11.382 Folders
Oleg Chernavin
07/12/2004 04:37 am
Can you start it this way from the command-line:

oe.exe /NoBookmarks

Would that work?

Oleg.
Bob Schmidt
07/13/2004 09:15 pm
No. Symptoms are the same.
The only difference is that now Restore is an option when right clicking on the button in the task bar.
However, when Restore is selected, the window is not made visible.

Could this have something to do with MS Windows updates (not the ones as of today, but the ones released last week)?


> Can you start it this way from the command-line:
>
> oe.exe /NoBookmarks
>
> Would that work?
>
> Oleg.
Oleg Chernavin
07/14/2004 01:31 am
It looks like Offline Explorer main window settings became corrupted somehow. Please start regedit.exe, go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Metaproducts\Offline Explorer Pro

and remove the Parameters key from it.

Then start Offline Explorer Pro. Does this help?

Oleg.
Bob Schmidt
07/14/2004 06:38 pm
At first, No.
When OE booted up, I could see the main screen in the background, covered by Tips, covered by About. I could access the tabs in About, but when I close that window, the program exits.

However, I noticed there is no key in the register window and after pasting my Ver 3 key, it now seems to work!

Thanks!!
Oleg Chernavin
07/15/2004 04:09 am
Yes, this works as expected. The registration key was in Registry and after you have erased the Registry key, the program became unregistered. It exits after About because the trial has expired long time ago. After registering it, Offline Explorer works normally.

Oleg.