PDF-XChange Viewer will not install when off-line

[HAN]

I have a number of both paid and free installations of PDF-XChange installed both at work and at home. For various logistical reasons, some of these PCs are not connected to the internet. Beginning with version 2.0.47 (and continuing with 2.0.48), installations for the off-line PCs do not work correctly. They freeze after one acknowledges the installer language. There is no cancel button presented, no nothing. Just the installer icon on the taskbar.

After trying numerous things to find out what was going wrong, I learned that a process called AskInstallChecker.exe was running as part of the installation. As a test, I killed that process and then the installation progressed normally.

The purpose of this post is not to debate the presence of the Ask Toolbar installation. What I need is for this freezing installer bug to be addressed somehow. I wrote about this in a different thread but for reasons unknown to me, I was ignored. And as a paid customer, I feel I deserve better than to be ignored...

[ugradedeveloper]

It would be uncharacteristic for Tracker Support to ignore a bug report, even regardless of whether the customer has the paid version (something about this company which really impresses me).

However, that other thread was quite active and I suspect that your bug posts were simply overlooked, as the discussion covered different areas and some other posts were more lengthy than yours.

It does seem to be a serious design flaw that the installer with the Ask bar component won't install if the workstation is not connected to the Internet. A common assumption these days that all computers have an Internet connection at all times - the Firefox updater makes that assumption too, which always annoys me.

Lewis

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi guys,

I can wholeheartedly support ugradedeveloper's comments in that if your question was not responded to it was an oversight and not intentional.

I did some cursory testing to try to recreate this situation but when I tried the installer offline it functioned normally. I should have reported this fact here on the forums. I apologies for that. Han - I would like to nail this situation so I will describe what I did and see if between us can identify the difference. This is what I tried:

• Create a new PX X Virtual machine, updates etc.
• Download the current build of PDF-XChange Viewer exe installer (was build 47 at the time)
• disable the network connection in the Windows control panel
• run the PDF-XChange Viewer installer

I did this both with opting in and opting out of the Ask Tool bar and in both cases the install proceeded without hesitation.

Are you using perhaps a different version/OS something? Is there some firewall software intercepting your AskInstallChecker.exe and waiting for user input? I have no software firewall on my test PC. Perhaps you can tell me your PC setup/OS/Architecture and I will test the same with build 48 and specifically monitor AskInstallChecker.exe .

looking forward to hearing back from you,

[HAN]

Thank you Paul for responding!

I ran the 2.0.48 regular exe installer last night on an XP Pro SP3 laptop (this one has the paid license) and an XP Home SP3 laptop. Both have a regular dialup connection, and also have a lan connection and a wireless connection. Neither machine was connected to the web at the time of installation and both experienced the freeze. I also ran the exe installer on a netbook running Win 7 Starter and it also froze up. The netbook uses a USB modem for a dialup connection (not connected during the installation), and also has a wireless and lan connection.

In all cases, killing the AskInstallChecker.exe process allows the installation to proceed. If I don't kill it, the PC just sits there. I let one PC sit for 5 minutes last night before I decided it was time to move on.

I don't think it's a firewall issue as the 3 PCs are all different. One is running just Windows (XP), another is Comodo (XP) and the other is Norton NIS (Win 7.) From everything I can see, it's the lack of internet connectivity that's the issue.

I haven't tried any PCs beyond this group yet but I can easily do so at work. I will try a couple there and see what happens...

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

OK - that's very different from my experience. Perhaps the fact that this is a Virtual machine is a factor. I'll try it again on a physical PC with he Ethernet disconnected. This test will be on a Vista x64 machine and I will get back to you hopefully later today.

Has anyone else experienced this and if so can they provide details?

regards

[HAN]

Tried it on 3 PCs @ work. So far, they all install normally. Could it be the fact I have a dialup connection in the mix on the 3 @ home?

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Thanks for trying that HAN,

it may be that your dial up connection is set to connect automatically when an requests access to the Internet. This could explain what you are seeing. If so can you try changing that setting and test again?

thanks

[HAN]

Yes, I will test it when I get home this evening. It will be tomorrow before I can report back.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

[HAN]

The issue is related to using a dialup connection. If the internet connection setting is set to only dial a connection, or to dial when a network connection is not available, and it's not connected, the installation freezes. If the dialup connection is running or completely disabled, the installation completes normally.

I am no programmer but I know software can "request" a connection, which if you use dialup, means a dialup box appears asking to make a connection. Apparently the AskInstallChecker.exe process does NOT do this. It just tries to connect and when nothing happens under dialup, things grind to a halt.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

HAN,

i really appreciate your taking the time to test this. It looks like we have understood the issue if not resolved it. I will discuss this with the ASK team to see if this can be addressed.

thanks again for the hard work you put into getting to the bottom of this and making PDF-XChange the best Viewer out there...