4.22 on Vista

I was just wondering if 4.22 is doing OK on Vista? I have to get a new project done but I will be using AEB again because it was so reliable and I could script in it.

I've tested 4.22 and the new 5 beta version and they both work with Vista (After a fashion)..

-april_thunder

There are two concerns with Activ E-Book and Vista

1) First concern (eBook customers)

I've tested Activ E-Book on Vista and distribution (customer) copies work just fine - even for the lowest ranking Guest user... - unless the eBook author is reading from or writing to "ini" or "txt" files. Vista is very restrictive about file access.

2) Second concern (authors)

eBook authors using Activ E-Book will probably need "administrative" access to compile and test their eBooks if they are using Microsoft Vista as a working platform.
You can check my web site for one method of setting up Vista to work with Activ E-Book/HYPrLock

As an author, I'm not really very worried about having to set up Vista to allow the compilation and testing of e-books. It's a one-time set-up, and that's hardly an inconvenience.  It's also very reassuring to hear that distribution copies work fine even for "Guest" users.

One thing, though:  Isn't the password-protection system of Active E-Book Compiler dependent on a tidbit of info written somewhere on the hard drive?  Once upon a time, I was forced to reformat my c: drive,  and the test e-books that I had previously compiled on that drive reverted to "unregistered" status.  I surmise then that these tidbits of info were deleted during the reformat.

Why then is the registration process (as a customer enters a password, and Activ E-book Compiler writes to the hard drive) not affected by Vista's access settings?  

The other thing is that some of the e-books I am presently creating will require the writing to and reading from text and "ini" files.  Is there any way to keep my customers from going through the hassle of having to make these changes?

-april_thunder

I do not know how Activ E-Book registers itself on a computer system. I know if you replace certain pieces of hardware you need to get a new password for the program.

All I can tell you is that Activ passwords do register correctly on a Vista system and they worked properly in my tests. How that happens and why it works is beyond me -- it just works.

Regarding reading and writing to txt or ini files. This can be done but you would need to do a little investigating to find out what Vista will allow.. For example you can not write to any of the system folders without "administrative" authorization. (and even then it can be difficult)

Probably the only areas you could write a file to would be some of the specific "user" areas like the "my Documents", my UserData", etc. For example, with a "Guest" user you might only be able to write a file in the "Guest" user area.

If you are interested in "hidden" ini files most programmers are recommending working with registry files instead -- and even then you must be careful to work within Vista guidelines.

BTW: For some reason, storing an "ini" file in a program (eBook) directory is strongly discouraged.

I'll try configuring my e-book so that it will write to the specific user areas you suggested.  Then I'll post the results to this thread.

-april_thunder