Monday, January 12, 2009

NetScanTools (TM) Pro 10.80 on Windows 7 Beta

Installation of the full version of NetScanTools Pro on the new Windows 7 Beta went smoothly. The main files installed OK and since the Visual C++ 2005 runtimes are not included in the operating system, our installer launches the runtime installer. Then it launches the WinPcap 4.02 installer. WinPcap also installs OK. Whew!

One thing I was very concerned about was the operation of WinPcap on this operating system. So the first thing I tried was the ARP scan of our subnet because it uses WinPcap to create the ARP packets. It worked! another BIG sigh of relief!

So I went ahead started testing all the other functions. Everything worked fine until I got to the Network Statistics tool. Just like when we first tested on Vista -- it FROZE -- obviously Microsoft changed something. I'll find it. I have to install the 2005 compiler and source on the beta, then step through it to find the offending function call. Not too hard -- usually. If you run into this, you have to open up the registry editor and clear the currentView key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\NWPS\NetScanTools Pro 10\CommonDataEntry. Then you can restart the program without it locking up again. Just don't try to use the Network Statistics tool.

All the other functions worked fine. I saw no other problems whatsoever. So the transition from Vista to Windows 7 should be fairly quick for NetScanTools Pro.

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