Microstudio 4.006 problem: inaccessible

[EclecticProf]

In July, I loaded Microstudio 4.006, Keywrite 2.012, KHPro 4.107 and Vogone 2.001 on my new Dell XPS running XP. After the initial shake-down, all was well. I used Microstudio and Keywrite successfully. I then upgraded to Keywrite 2.10 on 9/16 and problems appeared. Sometimes, when I clicked on Microstudio, the hourglass would stay on for 5-10 seconds and then disappear. The program never presented a window on the screen and did not appear in the task bar at the bottom. Yet, using the task manager, I can see Microstudio.exe occupying about 7,696K with CPU=00. My overall CPU usage is 0%, but when I try to open Windows Explorer, I can wait forever since the Task Manager shows Explorer as "Not running. It starts running when I go in with Task manager and End Process the Microstudio.exe.
I have un-installed Microstudio (which eliminated the MTU folder), reinstalled and re-registered Microstudio with no luck. I then uninstalled all four of the MTU programs and reinstalled them. All four were successfully re-registered. Keywrite, KHPro and Vogone come up fine; Microstudio is totally inaccessible. Oh yes, I ran Norton WinDoctor after the uninstall to check the registry and clean up any loose ends on my system.
Any ideas for what else I might try? Suggestions appreciated.

[ddouglass]

Have you done the Custom Updates from Microsoft? You should install them all, but particularly .net Framework.

[EclecticProf]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Have you done the Custom Updates from Microsoft? You should install them all, but particularly .net Framework.

Thanks. I am on automatic Update so I presumed I was up to date.
I checked with MS and found a recommendation to download/install this:
> Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (KB110806) (x86)
I did so, rebooted and tried opening Microstudio (I had removed all the other MTU software previously), but got the same result. Microstudio.exe appears in the list of tasks, but is not consuming any CPU and doesn't have an open window. It is as though there is some task that is blocking Microstudio from opening. I tried opening Excel and it behaved similarly to Microstudio (appeared in task list but didn't open into a window) until I did an EndTask to microstudio.exe at which time Excel opened normally.
PS. I am loading Microstudio from my downloaded microstudiosetup.exe.

[ddouglass]

To get all the .net Framework updates you have to go back several times. I would also recommend that you install all of the updates listed, not just the .net Framework ones.
The Auto Update that is set-up on your computer and the Express Updates on their web site only install what they deem as "critical security updates". This obviously is not all of the updates they put out.

[EclecticProf]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

To get all the .net Framework updates you have to go back several times. I would also recommend that you install all of the updates listed, not just the .net Framework ones.
The Auto Update that is set-up on your computer and the Express Updates on their web site only install what they deem as "critical security updates". This obviously is not all of the updates they put out.

=========================
I did download all those deemed critical. I went back to the MS security/update site. The MS program said I had all the "critical" updates, but said there were two optional choices for XP.
> Update for Root Certificates
> Windows Search 4.0 for Windows XP (KB940157)
Neither of these seems relevant to MTU. The MS upgrade analyzer never gave me an option for downloading any of the other .net frameworks (such as 3.0 or 3.5 shown below). Is that because they are incompatible with XP? Should I get those separately? It looks like Service Pack 2 is the latest release for 2.0. I wish MTU offered for-pay support. I'd pay $500 for a tech to use Remote Assistance and fix my problem.
------------------------------------------------------------
There are currently five released versions of the .NET Framework:

•	The .NET Framework 3.5
•	The .NET Framework 3.0 Service pack 1 (SP1) is the latest service pack.
•	The .NET Framework 2.0 Service pack 1 (SP1) is the latest service pack.
•	The .NET Framework 1.1
•	Service Pack 1 (SP1) is the latest service pack.
•	The .NET Framework 1.0
•	Service Pack 3 (SP3) is the latest service pack.

[ddouglass]

I am not talking about updating the "Critical" items, but updating all the rest. The critical updates are taken care of by the Auto Update.
On your Start menu you will see an entry for Microsoft Update. When the page opens click on the Custom button. After is searches it will find any and all updates (Windows, Software, and Hardware) for your computer including the .net Framework (only do these one per trip instead of all at once because it will bog down and have a hard time loading them all). DO NOT install .net Framework 3.5 as there have been problems found when using this one.