W7 Professional and WriteLog by Tom, WX4TM

I received my new Dell W7 Professional 64 bit PC  last Saturday morning (ordered on 04 Mar) and, of course, dropped what I was doing, and began the effort to set it up and install MMTTY and Writelog asap.

My W7 comes with two program directories:  C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86). There's also a ProgramData directory which, I later determined, has no apparent files associated with MMTTY or WL.  

A default install of MMTTY and Writelog put both programs in the ..(x86) directory. (Earlier, I mistakenly reported that MMTTY originally defaulted to the normal C:\Programs Files\).

During the install, an instance of  the infamous Writelog.ini file was put in C:\Windows and C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows.  I found that changing anything in the latter had no affect on Writelog and that the system would not let me change/save anything to the C: Windows\Writelog.ini File and that the MMTTY plug-in would not work at all.

I queried the Writelog email reflector with my problem and got half a dozen responses and a telephone call, all with simular suggestions: Install both MMTTY and Writelog directly in the C: drive.  So I did that and the MMTTY Plug-in worked perfectly however I was still unable to make any change to the Windows\Writelog.ini file. Though I could still make changes to the C:\Users ..WL file,  it continued to have no affect on Writelog that I could distinguish! This was contrary to what everyone was telling me. So I began looking very hard at the C:\Windows\Writelog.ini file. 

In order to this, one has to have Administrator privileges.  I had made sure of that during initial set-up of the PC.  So I right clicked on the 'Writelog.ini' file;
clicked on' properties'; then the 'Security' Tab.  This displayed a list of  Group or user names in the top screen and a list of permissions in the bottom screen.

Clicking on a group or user name displayed the associated permissions in the bottom screen.  I noted that only the "system" user had 'write' permission in the bottom screen. So I set about setting both Administrator and Users (me, also listed as administrator) with all permissions.  There is a 'to change permissions, click Edit' tap with which to do this. This took several tries and it wasn't until I did a full system hard reboot that the changes took effect. Then, wa, la, I could edit and save changes to the c:\windows\writelog.ini file.  I was now happy with my Writelog/MMTTY set up.

I've always liked to do 'default' installs of programs. That's the way they're 'supposed to work'.  Today, I got to thinking. "If I'd had 'write' privileges to the WL ini file from the beginning, would the MMTTY plug-in have worked with the default install?".  I found the answer to be YES!   

After uninstalling MMTTY and Writelog, deleting all associated files and folders including both .ini files that were not deleted during the uninstall process,  I began a re-install of each program.  I first installed MMTTY. It automatically went to the ..x86 Program Files directory.   I then  set up MMTTY with all settings and ran  it 'standalone'. 

Once I was satisfied that MMTTY was working properly, I began the install of WL.  It too installed in the ..x86 Program Files Directory.  I started WL;  browsed for,  and opened an existing RTTY log (BARTG).  At this point, I had not opened a RTTYrite window.  I saved the log, then saved configuration, and checked the status of the WL ini files.  There was one in C:\Windows but there WAS NOT one in the C:\Users..... path!  Back at the C:\Windows\Writelog.ini file, I opened it and deleted the only contest entry under the '[Recent File List].  Saved it and, wa la, it took it. The system remembered that I had 'write' privileges!  To check, I opened WL and it was not showing any 'recently used contest' files. 

For some reason I suspected it would be better to move a copy of the MMTTY Plug-in file to the Writelog\Programs\ directory (I had done this earlier too).  Then I attempted the install.  It seemed to go just fine.   I opened Writelog; opened the 'recently used' program file (BARTG); then opened a RTTYrite Window, clicked on 'TU Type' and, there it was.  MMTTY was listed. Clicked on it and the MMTTY Control panel came up and worked just fine.  Saved the file. Saved the configuration with RTTY checked. Closed everything and brought it back up.

WRITELOG AND MMTTY are now  working, on my W7 Professional PC, just fine with DEFAULT installs.

It was time, now, to install all the contest modules that's not included with the basic WL install.  Again, I suspected (no verifiable reason) that these files needed to be activated (installed) from within the Writelog program directory.  So I moved a copy of WLCM_DL1EFD and SM6SRW install files to Writelog where I then 'clicked on' them to install.  Each went just fine, as best I can tell.  I did not compare, individually, to confirm if ALL of the contest modules were installed.

Next, it was time to address the reported problem with making a Cabrillo File.  I went through the normal process and experienced absolutely no problem.  It worked normally, just fine.

Summary:   Lots of wierd things here.  I know I had successfully set myself up as 'administrator' when I set up the new PC.  Then, why, on default installs, did the system establish two INI files as many have experienced and not let the plug-in work correctly?  And why, only after changing security settings on just ONE file in windows, did the next default install work correctly with only one INI file in the proper place and the Plug-in work correctly?.  Obviously there's lots of quirks with W7 and obviously there's much to be learned.  Further, there appears to be perhaps considerable differences between W7 Home and Professional OS systems. 

Though I hope my experience might be helpful to others, one must consider that because of the newness of W7 and my lack of experience with it, you'll need to just chalk this up to one person's experience;  and remember that 'your mileage' will vary - maybe alot?

Tom  WX4TM