Has anyone found an answer to the problem of Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008 stopping after 5 or 6 weeks of successful operation. Will no longer open even after many uninstalls, reinstalls and repairs. It successfully installs but will not open. I even bought a new copy and the same thing happened. I returned it.
When I reinstall it I try to register it and it opens a form that asks for the "product ID", not the product key. It tells you open the program, go to the help - about -. Hello, I can't open the program.
I have new HP9000 laptop, Vista Ultimate, nVIDIA Go 7600.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike Flannigan

[Edited on August 26, 2008] Microsoft Technical Support is now able to fix the issue. Make the phone call if you experience symptoms described on the first couple of pages of this thread. Users have been helped, read more on pages 9 and 10 of this discussion.

This issue has been fixed in newer Streets & Trips versions

It sounds like there's something "stuck" in the Registry if the same behaviour continues into a new install.

(Purchasing a new copy does nothing useful with most Microsoft products. The copy on disk is identical. The only differences are the product keys, and they are not on the distribution disk. They are only on the stickers. This applies even to Windows.)

Get yourself a really good registry cleaner, like Advanced Windows Care Personal (Free and no annoying ads). Run it after the uninstall, then reboot. Then reinstall. If there's anything stuck in the Registry related to S&T, Advanced Windows Care should offer to remove it now that it's no longer installed.

Oh yeah, if you've never run a good registry cleaner on your PC don't be surprised if Advanced Windows Care offers to clean out 15,000-20,000 garbage entries. Yes, you read that number correctly. The first time I ran it on my primary desktop system it cleaned out over 15,000 entries. Windows and most applications use the Registry as a sort of scratchpad and don't do a very good job of cleaning up after themselves. So running it will be a good thing even if it doesn't help with your problem.

Caveat: I have no connection with the makers of Advanced Windows Care Personal. I just really like it. It's the best registry checker/cleaner I've ever tried, and I've tried a few.

...ken...

Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply with a possible fix. I'll try it and let you know.
Mike

I tried your fix and had the experience you described regarding the amount of junk removed.
Ran scan, restarted, installed Streets, restarted, no problem Advanced, tried to register Streets, couldn't, tried to open couldn't, reinstalled no good. I finally uninstalled.

I still want to thank you for your suggestion and taking the trouble to reply.

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

Mike, try this: right-click the desktop Streets & Trips icon, go to Properties, Compatibility tab, place a check-mark in front of Run as admin, click Apply, click OK.

It may or may not help, but it's just another thing to try.

There seem to be some known issue(s) regarding to starting S&T 2008, and also regarding to activating S&T 2008.

Thanks for the reply.

I tried what you suggested. When you get to the "Advanced Properties" the "Run in separate memory space" is checked. The entire window is grayed out and I can NOT check the "Run as administator" box.

The shortcut is another issure I noticed; it's the first time I've never seen a shortcut pinned to the desktop when I installed from all these years with Streets ????

Thanks alot for the suggestion.

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

Mike, you could open Windows Explorer, find Streets.exe, right-click it, and I think there should be the option to run as admin. See if that does anything good.

Tried advanced search and everything else available. No Streets.exe. I did find a "shadow" copy of 2007 and clickon on "run as administer" and tried to open, no go.

It's as if it is not there even though it shows up in control panel programs and has a value of 1.6gb which I think is the full amount.

Thanks a lot for the tip and your time. I did read a forum where a guy said he talked to M.S. and was told by a tech M.S. knew about it and had people working on it but wouldn't give him a time for a fix.

Thanks again !

Mike Flannigan

I don't know if this is related, but I just purchased S&T2008 and noticed in the registry that the produdt ID was all zeros in two places.

00000-000-0000000-00000

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Automap\15.0\USA\productID
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Automap\15.0\USA\Registration\productID


When starting S&T, the product ID is visible and also in the Help, about MS Streets and Trips screen.

I haven't activated yet, but did enter the product ID in the registry just in case.

Thanks for that info. I can't even get it to run so that I can register. I have tried everything I can including reinstalling, which is all I'm offered from the control panel. I'll keep the all 0's product ID in case I get a chance to use it.

I appreciate your time & tip.

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

Browse to

Thanks. Tried it and got nothing.

I appreciate you trying.

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

Do you mean the Streets.exe file is not there, or it doesn't start the program when you run it as admin?

The Streets file is NOT THERE

Try to install Streets & Trips, and then check if Streets.exe is there (before you attempt to start Streets & Trips).

Thanks.

I will uninstall and reinstall as you suggest.

I'ts past my bedtime, so I'll try in the morning and let you know.

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

Did complete Explorer search Streets folder had well over 1gb in it. NO exe. file !!
Uninstalled and restarted.
Reinstalled and restarted. No offer to register. No desktop Icon.
Searched with Explorer before trying to start. 1.08gb in folders. NO exe. !!
Data File - 989mb, no exe. Data File (356) 989mb, no exe. Licenses File, Samples File, Template File.
Created shortcut on desktop, right clicked, clicked on Shortcut tab, clicked on advanced properties Run as administrator box is grayed out as well as Run in separate memory space box which is checked. I cannot change.
Spent the last two hours on search in M.S. found nothing.
Tried to register, asked for Product ID NOT Product Key, can't get product ID without opening program and going to help. Given no option to register with Product Key, which I have. Back to square one.
I guess I'm going to have to uninstall and do without Streets aaarrgh !
Thank God I have Map Source although it's no replacement for Streets. We are on a 6000 mile trip to the west coast for 3 months !!!!
I think I'm going to try to find a 2007 copy (mine is at home 1600 miles from here) and see if it works.
I really appreciate the time you have spent on this. Thanks doesn't cover it.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

I spent some time finding this as well. On the back of your GPS locator is where the product ID number is. Enter this number when you are asked for product ID.
I haven't read all these reply's carefully so maybe you knew this.
Perhaps you have reinstalled the program so many times that it mistakenly thinks you are trying to add the program to another computer.

Ed

Thanks a lot for responding. I can use all the help I can get. I do not have the version with GPS. After trying this several times the professional I had; at the store, got a new disc from his shelf and tried to install it. The same thing happened !!!!!!!!
Thanks again for your help.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

There is a help address can be found on the control panel//Add or remove programs. Click on the Streets and trips in the add//remove and then click on the help or info that you find there instead of the remove tab when Streets and Trips is highlighted..

There seems to be quite a bit of info there. I didn't look for your problem but I seem to always have some kind of problem with my computer so I found this area helpfull on other programs.

Maybe this will help.

There is no Streets.exe file after an install? That is odd! Instead of "searching", would you please try to use Windows Explorer to browse to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Streets & Trips\folder? What folders and files do you see? Isn't Streets.exe file there??? (If not, I will e-mail you the one file to see what will happen when you place it there (if you want to test it).

In Explorer, Streets is listed in; c/Program Files (x86)Microsoft Streets & Trips
That's where I have done all my searches from Explorer.

I opened all 5 folders and there is no exe. file anywhere.

There are 5 folders in Microsoft Streets & Trips;
Data has 15 items - MDB-HTML-DAT-DCT-NDX-VLF-PSI-MAD-ITS files no exe.
Data(356)-has 14 items-MDB-HTML-PSI-MAD-ITS-DAT-VLF files no exe.
Licenses-has 27 items-all XrML no exe.
Samples-has 2 items-color sample & color table.pal
Templates-has 1 item-New North American Map 7kb

That's all that is listed.

I have nothing to lose by trying anything.

Thanks a lot for your help.
Regards,
Mike

Streets.exe is actually not located in any of the sub-folders, but rather it is located right inside C:\Program Files\Microsoft Streets & Trips\ folder. Can you see it there?

Looks like I have found it.

Streets Icon - It is 7,070kb

Type: Application

I tried to open it and the same thing happens as before, nothing. I right clicked it and in properties I clicked on "Run as Administrator". Tried to open, it attempts to and then Nothing happens.
Regards,
Mike

I failed to mention it is just the IconStreets NO extension

You need to change your VIEW setting so that you get a "DETAILS" view. Then go back to the VIEW menu and click "Choose Details...". Choose everything except Comments and File System.

I'm going by the View menu in XP but it should be similar enough in Vista for you to figure it out.

Your problem is that you have a view in the Windows Explorer that won't show you what you are looking for. The display of the file type (eg. .exe, .doc etc) is suppressed so you will never see STREETS.EXE even though it is there (the icon names "STREETS").

...ken...

Ken: I have the details view open. All of the items have their extensions shown except the Streets Icon ??? When I try to open it tries to for about 2-3 seconds and then stops. When I right click and click on open, same thing; when I right click and click on "run as administrator" same thing. When I right click and open properties it shows it as a Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008 <exe> ????

Thanks for your help.
Mike Flannigan

Not seeing the EXE extension is not a problem. By default you will not see it, but some users like to see all extensions. That can easily be accomplished by going to any folder in Windows XP, and then clicking Tools => Folder Options => View => remove check-mark in front of "Hide extensions of known types".

However, as much as I wish we could help you solve the main problem at hand, it seems that we may not be able to. Microsoft is apparently aware of starting related issues several customers with the 2008 version reported. I wish I could reproduce the problem on one of my computers, but "unfortunately" every installation of S&T 2008 I've done worked just fine.

I'm afraid that unless some user offers some solution, we may need to wait till MSFT solves the problem.

P.S. Do you by any chance have Streets & Trips 2007 as well? If yes, and if you just want one year newer map data, I could try to tell you, step-by-step, how you could try to update your S&T 07 with the map data of your S&T 08 (since your S&T 08 is at this point useless to you otherwise).

Marvin:

At the risk of sounding corny, I can only say you guys go out of your way to help someone who doesn't know near as much as you.

Thanks for all of your time and efforts.

I won't get back to home until about March 6th and I will definitely miss being able to use M.S. Streets. At that time I'll reinstall my 2007 and be happy.

I'm grateful I have Map Source to fall back on.

I hope I see a fix from M.S.

Thanks again.

Mike Flannigan

the issue is occuring becoz there is some issue in the registry.

Right Registry entries


Incorrect registry entries

in some case the aplication does not start afater installing and in some case the application is working for few days then stops working.

the issue is occuring in vista as well as xp os.

what causes this issue in the registry is still unknown.

is it an issue with the software or
is it an issue with corrupt user account.
or is it an issue of caused becoz of some update
or becoz of security software or may be unknown virus

there is no clue.

Thank you for your info. I did try Advanced Windows Care to see if it would correct any errors in the registry. It didn't.

I sure hope M.S. comes up with a fix. I still have about 3000 miles to go on our trip and I'm hurting by not having Streets. I can make do with Map Source but it doesn't replace it.

Thanks again for your post. I guess I'll just have to wait to get home in about two months and re-install 2007.

Mike Flannigan

Bijal, thanks for providing some insight into this issue. I don't envy you having to identify this problem. Streets & Trips 2008 works just fine for most of us, yet several users have reported the application doesn't start for them. Is there any way users can be of help to you (other than by sending you their affected laptops )?

Due to my ignorance, I do not feel comfortable fooling with the registry.

I guess I'll just have to wait for M.S. to fix, if they ever do.

Do you have a guess as to whether a new disc might work or not ?

When I brought my laptop and the purchased Streets software back to Offlice Max, the tech there tried everything to fix it and was very puzzled as to what was wrong. He uninstalled and used Windows Explorer to be sure all of it was gone.


The same thing happened and he refunded my money.
Thanks,
Mike

Hi Flannigan

Just a useless thought from this computer noobee, have you tried a restore to a time when Streets and trips worked? Or, with the disk in the computer tried copying the disk in the drive it's sitting in and then pasting it into c drive?

Probably won't help, but what the he..!

Ed:

I did restore to an earlier point. When that didn't work I chose an even earlier point, didn't work.

Excuse my ignorance, but will copying the disc have any problems ? Every time we re-installed, Windows Explorer showed all the files in c.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Mike

Like I said before, I'm not a computer oriented kind of guy, perhaps someone more familiar with computers should advise you whether or not to try it. I only asked if you had tried it.
I had to do it on my computer to get iGuidance installed properly so that I did not have to have the iGuidance disk in the drive to get the maps. I did it on the advice of iGuidance customer service. I don't know if this would help with your problem or not.
If you google "copy files" the first file in the search list is what I did.
Ed

Does it only impact laptops, or is it all XP and vista installations? And is there any rough estimate of what percentage of installations are impacted? I mean, if we are talking 5% or less that is one thing... but it we are talking something like 50% or better that is quite another.

Any idea?

I have this problem on my laptop. I first called Microsoft S&T Support on 11/16/07 and after several sessions of trying many things, including setting up a new user account, I still have the same problem. On 12/4 I was advised to return S&T for a refund. The following day one of the support guys called and said he wanted to continue working with me and would call back in a few days. 20 days later and I haven't heard from him. During all this it was mentioned that there were 50 or 60 people with this problem, I have no idea how accurate this is.
I have used S&T for many years and would like to continue. I would like to help but so far I have gotten the run around.
BTW, S&T 2008 works fine (so far) on my Vista desktop but not on my XP laptop. 2006 works fine on both.

For what its worth, I've had two (main) installations of Streets & Trips 2008: one on a home desktop running Windows XP, and the other on my mobile desktop running Windows Vista. I've also made a couple of short-term installations (just for testing purposes) on laptops and other desktops. I haven't experienced the above mentioned issue myself, but I've heard others experiencing it.

bijal:

Thanks for your trouble of finding this problem. The photos of the "Correct" and "Incorrect" registry entries are so small I cannot be sure of the letter and number. Is the "correct" entry S7 ? Is the "incorrect" entry SZ ?
Thanks,
Mike Flannigan

Mike, it is not easy to see the small icons, but look at the left side, under Automap/15.0 there are many folders in the correct installation. However, in the bad installation there are only few.

No fix available, but I'm sure Bijal will let us know of any developments.

Thanks for pointing that out. I only have 4 items under Auto Map in my registry. Now I see what bijal was talking about.
Thanks,
Mike Flannigan

Even system restore does not create these registry entries, this isssue is only happening on some computers and its does not seem to be an issue streets and trips in general.

my suggestion on this issue as of now wud be

1> reformat the computer becoz many were able to resolve the issue by formatting the computer

or

2> downgrade to 2007

or

3> refund

Thanks again for your input. I'm 1600 miles from home and do not have my 2007 copy available until we get back home in 2 & 1/2 months.

I tried to find a copy yesterday and could not. It seems like all the stores have 2008 but NOT 2007.
I'm not going to reformat for Streets & Trips, but I appreciate your suggestion.

Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Correct me if I am wrong.

You are saying that we don't know what is causing the problem but we can't find anything wrong with S&T so it is not our fault. We don't intend to change anything so you can expect that if you reformat and it works the problem could come back at any time. Since it is not S&T you can probably expect that S&T 2009 will have the same problem.

That doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy.

He is not here to make us "feel warm and fuzzy". That's usually a function reserved for PR departments .

Bijal is stating the technical facts as he knows them as of the time of writing (regardless of whether we like the facts or not ).

I'm looking forward to any and all future updates on this issue. Keep up the good work, Bijal.

It seems to me our frustration shoud be aimed at the people at fault - MICROSOFT - I have to believe M.S knows about this and just doesn't think enough about it's customers to resolve an issue they created. They should at the very least offer a new version for the people that cannot use their product.
I hope you hear from the tech people and will post it on here.
Thanks,
Mike Flannigan

Thanks for teaching me not to be afraid to go to the registry. Since Marvin gave me the comment about there being just a few folders/files in the wrong one vs. many more folders in the correct one I was able to confirm I have the wrong one.
I'm extremely dissappointed that M.S. doesn't fix this or at least send out some information on it.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Mike, Bijal is one of the people at MSFT trying to ID the cause of the issue.

Thanks for keeping me from making a bigger --- of myself than I already have.
Mike

There isn't anything someone can do worse than "biting the hand that feeds them".
I apologize to you and your company.
Mike Flannigan

I was not suggesting that bijal should sugarcoat the facts, or that bijal was at fault. It is great to hear an insider's view of the problem. I was merely expressing my dissapointment in the options that were offered, at this time, by Microsoft as stated by bijal. I appologise to anyone who took my post the wrong way.

It seems to me that the root cause of the problem must be found or we will have this ticking time bomb with us in any short term fix or in future versions of S&T.

I agree with you regarding the options available. In my case no options other than to give up on Streets while on this trip of 3 months + and 6000 + miles.
I'm making do with Google Earth, Map Source and occassionally Google Maps. I really miss Streets and didn't realize how much I relied on it. This sucks !
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Mike, might i suggest you buy S&T 2007. At least you'll have something that works and you are familiar with.

I just bought 2008 and I'm seriously thinking of returning it and buying 2007. But i think i'll just return it and wait to see how Trailer Life Campground Navigator works when it comes out in mid Jan. If the navigator doesn't work well, i'll decide what to do then.

hth, ron

Thanks for the suggestion. I enjoyed shopping the Semsons site and will keep it for the future.
I have decided to make do with the other programs I have (Map Source) and of course Google Maps & Earth.
I'm going to wait and see if M.S. comes up with a solution for 2008 and if not I may try Street Atlas.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Hi Flannigan,
I just installed STreets and Trips on this laptop and noticed that it asked for the product ID. It asked the question when I was going through a registration into the microsoft streets and trips website which occures as part of the registration process of Streets and trips.
AT FIRST I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM THAT FLANNIGAN HAD.
I minimized the page that requested the Product ID and there was the request pane for my licence Key. So I filled in the licence key and continued untill I was told I was successfull. Then I opened Streets and trips and went to the tools and opened About streets and trips and there was the product ID which I copied and then pasted on the streets and trips webpage and continued...etc etc...

Ed:
Thanks for the input.
When I originally installed, I registered with no problem.
I used it probably 3 or 4 days a week planning our trip to the west coast. While we were traveling out here it just stopped working. I uninstalled & reinstalled and never got the "registation" window. I went into the control panel and uninstall/repair. I chose repair and a large form (already filled in wiith my personal info, name, address etc.) appeared. I scrolled down to the bottom of the full page form and it asked for the "Product ID". The explanation to get the product ID was there, open program, "help, about". Remember, I already registered and used the program for about 6 weeks. I couldn't open the program. Therefore I couldn't click on Help in order to get the ID.
Hello !!!! That's when I started to go around in circles. I tried a registry cleaner, System Restore, etc., etc. Every time I uninstalled and reinstalled, I got this full page form asking for the product ID !!!!!!!!
I understand what you said about minimizing, but I was not given that chance. There was not anything behind the form.
I'm glad yours worked for you and I certainly hope it continues to and doesn't stop like mine did.
Thanks again for trying to help.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Ed:
I forgot to include that I went to Staples bought a new copy of Streets, uninstalled the old one, used Windows Explorer to remove any remnants of the old one.
I installed the new one and the same thing happened. It said the "installation was successful". I tried to open the program and it would not open. After going through the "round robin" again, I took the new one back to Staples and got my money back.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

As one who has trouble wrapping his old worn out grey matter around the in's and outs of computers and their programs, I'm probably oversensitive to problems like yours.

Anyhow, I got Streets and Trips and iGuidance successfully installed on this laptop and they both appear to be working fine. I'll keep both for a while untill I'm sure I won't have a problem.

Anyhow, now I'm looking forward to seeing them work on short trips!

Ed

I suspect, from what you have said, you haven't used Streets before. I think you will find out it is one of the most useful mapping programs around. I personally think it is great and really miss it.
Thanks for your concern. If I could help with any tips, let me know. The administrator of this site (Marvin Hlavac) probably knows more about Streets than anyone else.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Thanks for the link to Semsons. I bought and just received and installed 2007. It's running great and it is a big help to me on our current trip.
Thanks again.
Mike Flannigan

Hi, I had one in my cart along with the iGuidance trial disk, but when i went to checkout 2 days ago, the Streets & Trips was gone--Mike you must have taken it-- . I called Semsons yesterday and they were out of stock and no more are coming in. I had to resort to buying a used one on Ebay. I returned my 2008 junker to Costco yesterday--too many problems--crashes with S&T Keys 2008 too.

hth, ron

Ron, I'd be interested in hearing details about the crashes related to S&T Keys . If you don't mind starting a new thread in S&T Keys forum.

Ok, i'll start a new thread when i get an error. Since i returned the DVD, i was going to remove it from my putr, but i'll keep trying. I can not reproduce it now--i've been trying for 5 minutes.. The error i was getting was only when i closed S&T. I got the error popup after 5 seconds of hitting the X. I sent the report to MS a number of times. I had tried starting Keys 2.53 with and without S&T already running. My S&T is not yet registered--

ron

I have been reading about the M&S failure while doing some reseach on the problem. I just picked up my computer from a local computer repair shop for the same problem with the program stopped running and won't reinstall. I hope MS comes up with a solution soon as I miss using the program as I recently started driving for a living. I did notice that in one of the posts you mention a way to upgrade a 2007 version to 2008 maps. Since I am going to have to find a 2007 version until 08 gets fixed, I would like to make sure I am running a current map. I would appreciate the update instructions if possible. I have enjoyed reading the information on this site and your posts.
Thanks, ThaBear

ThaBear, yes, let's hope a fix becomes available soon. You are already the third or the fourth person who mentioned here he was going to buy the old 2007 version, because of the issue with version 2008.

Well, I'm not 100% sure if this is in line with MSFT EULA, so you may want to read the licencing agreement before doing anything. Also, this is in no way supported by MSFT, or me, or anyone else, so you are pretty much on you own should anything bad happen to your computer. But if you still wish to proceed with an experiment, you may do the following:

* Install both: Streets & Trips version 2007 and version 2008

* In Windows Explorer navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008

* Right-click the Data folder, and select "Copy"

* In Windows Explorer go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Streets & Trips 2007

* Right-click and "Paste"

* Agree to overwrite any and all files, when ever asked

Warning: I have not done this myself, because I have not experienced any issue with the new 2008 version. But it may work. Since you already own the 2008 version, you may as well try to use the map data at least in the older program, which will hopefully work without issues.

Good luck, and let us know if it works for you.

EDIT: Alternatively, if you wish, you may just rename the 2007 version Data folder to something else, for example Data_OLD, and then paste the new Data to the Microsoft Streets & Trips 2007 directory.

It is possible that the Construction Update feature will no longer work after this procedure. But it may still be possible to update construction data manually - if anyone cares about this feature.

ThaBear, I would suggest that you rename the 2007 data folder and then copy the 2008 data folder into the same place as the 2007 file was. You can drag and drop into the Microsoft Streets and Trips folder while holding Ctrl down (a plus sign will be displayed indicating that the folder is being copied, not moved.) If things don't work out and your computer still works you can delete the Data folder you copied into the 2007 S&T and change the name of the folder you renamed back to Data. I have NOT tried this.

Good luck

Marvin, do you know if this would work for the 2006 S&T?

Thanks for the info on using 2008 Data in 2007. I had already decided to copy and rename the files in case it doesn't work so I will have a backup. Will make a post after I can find a copy of 2007 and give this a try.

If this is a repeat, I apologize.

I bought the 2007 from Semens as Rondi suggested. I uninstalled 2008 and installed the "new" 2007 disc. It is working fine. I just used it on our trip on the Pacific Coast Highway for about 1500 miles roundtrip from Phoenix and back. I have Map Source and of course Google Earth & Google Maps to help.
I don't think I will buy a new copy of 2008 even if they come up with a fix. I'll probably just do with 2007 and wait till next summer for 2009. I have spent a lot of money, and just as important a lot of time, on 2008 and 2007 (now 4 new copies) and I'm pretty disgusted.
I wish you luck.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Bijal, How about an update on this problem? I, for one, would like to hear what progress is being made, not only for S&T 2008 but for the possible impact on S&T 2009. If you don't know the cause can you design around it for future versions?

tenbear:

Thanks for asking the question I should have though about asking. I'll be glad to hear about a fix, if there is ever going to be one.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

I just thought I would let you know that my refund from Microsoft arrived today. They refunded the purchase price plus the postage required to return the disk to them.

Thanks for letting me know about that. I admit my ignorance about contacting Microsoft to accomplish what you have done. I have kept my disc on 2008 but I expect to just have to throw it away. Apparently M.S. has admitted they have a problem with Streets 2008, but they certaintly haven't posted that anywhere that I have seen.
I'm glad you got your refund.
At least I have the new 2007 disc that keeps me going.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Mike, you might try returning it to Microsoft. You will have to send the sales slip with it. Call them at 888-673-8624. I don't know if you have to have gone thru tech support or not. Good luck.

tenbear:

Thanks for the tip and the info. I'm afraid I won't be able to take advantage of it right now. We are on a three month trip and won't be home until the middle of March (where the receipt and box is).

I'll keep the info and give it a try then.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

I've been reading all the problems that people are having. I too have the same problem. Not only with 2008 but I still had 2005 and it did the same thing after working fine for 6 months (registry not copied correctly). This happened about mid November. Did microsoft do something at that time that messed up some of us?

The early part of December is when I experienced the problem with 2008.

I bought 2007 and installed a little over a month ago and it is still working !!!

I'm just hoping it keeps going until we get home the first week in March.

I personally don't think it's near as good as Streets but you might want to try

Microsoft "Live Search Maps" as a temporary help. It's free.

Wish you luck.

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

I used S&T 2006 last year and the year before, and it worked fine. For a while I had 2006 and 2008 both installed and 2006 worked and 2008 didn't. It looks as if I will be using 2006 this year too, unless I get Delorme.

I have not heard anything from Microsoft since Bijal's post in late December. It would be interesting to know if Microsoft is still working on the problem or is just ignoring us.

I have to assume they are not working on it or they just don't think they need to answer us people who are having a hard time with their software, that we paid for ????

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

tenbear: Did you call into tech support and try to follow up on your earlier dialog? Technical support is not done through forums, but one-on-one over email and phone. When individual employees post on forums, as bijal did, this sometimes creates unrealistic expectations that all further support will be done on the forum. I do not expect that bijal or anyone else from Microsoft tech support is reading this thread currently. You should contact tech support directly to follow up. If you don't have a case number, they might still be able to look it up given the appropriate details.

(Now, this is not to say that tech support people shouldn't monitor forums. Marvin mentioned PR a while ago in this thread. Actually, the line between PR and tech support is a thin one. An ostentatious show of public tech support can provide lots of good PR.)

Same comments to Mike Flannigan, plus the additional comment that you seem to have unrealistic expectations. To a certain extent, your inexperience with computers adds to this. Configuration/setup issues are the thorniest problems with user-installed software. Software is usually tested on clean computers: no viruses, no spyware, no junk. This is not a realistic simulation of the environment to which software is subjected in the real world. Recall the most recent post from bijal:

Translation: "Streets and Trips doesn't seem to be causing the problem. We can't find any apparent cause."

Now, I personally am not convinced that you can't find out the problem. It is really difficult to catch external problems, but not impossible. You can drop a monitoring program onto affected PCs. If you can then get S&T working again, you can check to see when these keys go away, and try to correlate that to some other activity. Typically, however, tech support does not have the expertise to do so, but the development team must get involved.

This is why I encourage anyone having problems to go to tech support. Mouthing off on forums may feel good, but it doesn't get the problem any closer to being solved.

I appreciate your comments and your criticism of my experience.

It seems to me that if it is not a problem with Streets & Trips 2008, instead of my computer, logic would dictate I would have NOT been able to install 2007 and have it run very well, as it is doing now.

I have installed Streets on at least 2 computers for the last eight to ten years and have NEVER had a problem.

If this is due to my negligence, why are there so many other users complaining about the same problem, about ONLY 2008 ??

Oh, by the way, why would I pay $35 for tech support for an item I only paid $37 for ????

TenBear did that and he has gotten nowhere ! He has the right to complain much more bitterly than I do.

I have "Advanced Windows Care V2" that I use frequently. At least once a week.

P.S. My computer has NEVER had a virus. I have been computing since my first Gateway in the early 90's, at least 5 to 8 hours daily.

I apologize for my ignorance.

Sincerely,

Mike Flannigan

S&T2008 has also died unexpectedly for me, and while I'm travelling, making it hard to try the old uninstall/reinstall tactic. Unlike most people, though, mine offers no error message at all, it just refuses to run. If I watch Task Manager closely it'll briefly appear and then disappear.

This started after the recent critical updates from Microsoft. Nothing else has changed on my system. Windows XP Professional.

I have tried using FileMon and RegMon to see if it was failing to find a file or registry key but found no real clues other than to suggest the problem might have to do with the software activation system in S&T 2008. If I delete the Automap registry key in HKCU/Software/Microsoft, S&T 2008 will run long enough to ask me to agree to the license agreement, ask if I want to register now or later, and then exits quietly as usual.

Nothing appears in the Event Viewer when I try to run it.

I have S&T 2007 at home, so when I get home in a few days I can try using 2008 data with 2007 software as others have done, but that doesn't help me right now, on the road, where I need S&T the most.

The timing of this problem, coinciding with Microsoft's recent updates, makes me wonder if a lot more people are in a similar situation (and maybe haven't even had a chance to notice yet). I sent M$ a bug report for what little good that is, but for now I am having to muddle through with Google Maps I can't even print out.

I had what I would consider the exact same problem. I also am traveling, for 3 months, I purchased Steets 2007 and installed it successfully and it is working fine, so far.

I'm not suggesting this is even close to Streets but it might be of help to you temporarily. Of course it is a web based program. You can print from it. It's free.

Luck,

Mike Flannigan

Can't print from here, no printer in the hotel room. For now I just get text directions from Google Maps and put them into my cell phone, and live without GPS. Feel a bit of a fool to have lugged all this stuff with me only to have it all stop working unexpectedly mid-trip, though, like so much dead weight. I probably won't get S&T working by Tuesday afternoon (my drive back to the airport), but it'd sure be nice.

I don't know how much time you want to spend on this. However, if you're interested you might want to look back at - bijal - and his first post where he said it is most likely a registry problem. With Marvin's help I found out that was the problem in my case.

Then if you'll look back four posts from here to - taoyue - his post says bifal says it doesn't look like a problem with Streets 2008.

Since I continually see more and more posts on this forum and on newsgroups regarding this same problem with 2008, I have to conclude Microsoft has decided to blame it on something other than their software ?????? You can draw your own conclusion.

I'm going to stay with 2007 and just write off the expenses and time I have spent on this.

Wish you luck.

Regards,

Mike Flannigan

I already put a lot of time into it, but clearing out the registry entirely didn't help. By default my registry looks like what bijal says is "right", and if I remove that and run S&T, it asks for the license agreement, leaves the registry like what he says is "wrong", and then behaves precisely the same as if it's "right". I think this is a new cause, related to software activation and the recent system update.

I'm not sure who suggested this - turn off UAC and insall. I did this and installed 2005. It worked. However when I turned UAC back on - it gave the registry copied.... I also was able to install 2008 and it works as long as I do not turn UAC on. Let me know if it works for anyone else. Bijal, would you be able to find out why this is happening? Thanks.

taoyue
I have not contacted tech support since the problem was escalated to the development team. I will try it tomorrow and see what they say. As far as I know my computer is clean, no virus, no spyware and no junk. Certainly something is different between S&T 2006 and 2008 since 2006 runs fine and 2008 doesn't, even when both were installed at the same time.

I agree that everyone with this problem should contact Microsoft tech support. That is the only way they will know the real extent of the problem.

Hunter Green
I received no error message when S&T died, it just refused to run. when I reinstalled it it got as far as the registration screen and no further. On subsequent attempts to run it, it just didn't run.

lynperry
S&T 2008 failed on my laptop running Win XP with no UAC. It ran fine on my desktop with Vista, UAC & all.

This morning I thought I would need to add into this already 6 page long thread that I just joined the growing group of people who own Streets & Trips 2008, but cannot use it.

Long story short: a few days ago I had a problem with my Windows Vista installation on my mobile computer, which necessitated me to reformat my hard drive and do a clean installation of Vista. I installed Vista last night. This morning I installed all recommended Windows updates. After that, the very first program I decided to install was Streets & Trips 2008. I inserted the Streets & Trips DVD into the PC, and proceeded with installation "the usual way". Installation completed, I then restarted my PC (just to be on the safe side), and then I attempted to start my newly installed S&T 08 on a new Vista. The program did NOT start(!). I went to the registry to check if it appeared to be the same issue talked about in this thread. Hmm, the registry looked OK(!), yet my S&T 08 does not want to start.

I managed to solve my starting problem rather quickly, and I will share here the simple step I took to do it. Perhaps it may help some readers (but I'm sure it will not help everyone).

I uninstalled S&T 08, restarted PC, and inserted DVD into PC. When I was prompted to start installation, I canceled and I didn't proceed with installation. Instead I opened Windows Explorer and navigated to my DVD drive D:\. I then right-clicked the file named DVDRun and from the menu that opened up I selected "Run as administrator". (I think I could have done the same with the Setup_ST application file to achieve the same.) MS Streets & Trips 2008 installed, and to my pleasant surprise it even started and it seems to work just fine.

I hope this may help at least a small percentage of people for whom S&T 2008 doesn't want to start after a seemingly successful installation.

Interesting clue. I'm logged on as an admin and my S&T has run fine for months before the recent Windows update turfed it, plus I don't have the DVD with me to do a reinstall, so I doubt it will help me. But I bet that when the coders look at the program they'll find it bailing out at the same point for both of us.

Thanks for the clue. I'm not going to try it while on the road, but I'll give it a try when I get back home in 3 weeks. I'll let you know if it works.
Mike Flannigan

You have probably already figured out that under Vista being logged in as someone with administrator priviledges does not mean that anything you run will run as if it had administrator privs. If you want to be certain that something runs with administrator priviledges you must do as Marvin did and force the application itself to run as administrator. This is especially critical when doing software installation.

Another alternative to what Marvin did is to make a shortcut on the Desktop of the Setup file on the DVD/CD, right-click on the shortcut and set it to run as administrator.

...ken...

My curiosity got the better of me and I tried to install, following all of your directions exactly.
I tried it twice and it did not work.
I'm just grateful 2007 does work.
Thanks to you and Ken for your suggestions.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Well, I called Microsoft Tech Support this morning. The story I got was that the development team is continually improving the product, Streets and Trips, and that I should buy a new copy from Microsoft and see if it works. If not they will help me trouble shoot the problem, but since I returned my S&T (as advised by Microsoft) they can't help me until I buy a new copy. He didn't tell me anything that gives me confidence that a new S&T would work, or that 2009 would be any better.

My interpretation is that Tech Support does not know whether S&T has been fixed, but it could be I am wrong. Maybe they don't tell if there is a patch for fear that I kept a copy and will reinstall it with the patch (if there is one) and Microsoft will be out the cost of S&T. The time I spent working with them is worth much more than the cost of a new S&T. He did suggest that I buy it direct from Microsoft so I would get the latest version, not one that sat in a store for 6 months.

Thanks for the input. You have helped me to decide to stay with the 2007 and not spend more money and time on this.

Regard,

Mike Flannigan

So, let me get this straight, if my registry is the same as the incorrect registry in an earlier posters message, my installation of Streets & Trips 2008 will fail sometime in the future, and S&T will fail to start?

Has any new information been discovered on this failure?

I don't believe I have the qualifications for answering your question. I can tell you that I have read a LOT of those type of problems on many forums. I have had to give up on 2008 after seeking professional help, uninstalling and reinstalling many times, following ALL of the suggestions that I could find including the one from Marvin, buying a second 2008 and went through the same problems, using "Advanced Windows Care" cleaning the registry and on and on and on. I never had a problem with any of the installations I have made with at least 8-10 years of Streets.
I went back to 2007 and it works perfectly.
I wish you luck and hope you don't have if fail in the future. Apparently, there are many more people without this problem.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

We just got back home and I tried your fix to uninstall, restart, reinstall, stop it, right click on DVD Run, run as administrator and install. It installed "Successfully". I restarted tried to open an the same thing happened. I did check the registry and it looked like it had all the files as I checked it against 2007. I tried to fix it twice from the control panel with no luck. I finally uninstalled and again I'm happy I have 2007. Interestingly enough 2008 is still working on my other computer here at home.
Thanks for the try. I'm really surprised that Microsoft hasn't come up with a fix as I have seen MANY similar complaints from MANY people in a whole bunch of forums.
I'm just going to throw it away.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

On 18 Feb I got this back from Microsoft:
"The next week or so" is long past and no sign of it, but maybe we can still hope.