[Sep 2009 Update!] We've tested Paradox 9, 10, and 11 on Windows 7 and so far Paradox runs well -- just like on XP. So, our advice is skip Vista and either stay on XP or move to Windows 7.

[Feb 2009 Update!] Corel has released a patch for Paradox 11 and they will send you the patch if you own Paradox X4 (Paradox 11 with patch and sold with WordPerfect Office Suite Pro X4).

• More Info: Paradox X4 and Vista

The short answer is some users, including me, have it running fine, or at least okay, but there are problems. Bottom line is you should skip Vista and either stick with Windows XP or move to Windows 7 (Paradox for Windows runs well on XP and Win 7). If you have to use Vista, we recommend using Paradox 9 instead.

• Install Paradox 9 on Vista

About Paradox 10 and 11
Paradox 11 with service pack 2 applied is the latest version. There is no Paradox 12, nor Paradox 13, nor Paradox 14. In other words, if you apply Paradox SP2 to Paradox 11 which is version 11.0.0.302, it upgrades it to 11.0.0.411 which is the EXACT same version that ships with WPO X2 Pro, WPO X3 Pro, and and now WPO X4 Pro. If and when Corel adds new features is when the version number for Paradox will change. If they simply kept changing the version number with no new features, then you would have to re-save and/or re-deliver your Paradox app with each new version. This, of course, doesn't make sense if there are no new features.

• Click Here for screen shots
• Paradox 9/10/11 Versions

Note: There are lots of rumors that Corel will release a patch for Paradox 11 soon that will address the Vista problems many users are struggling with. It is just a rumor but if Corel is shipping Paradox as part of the very popular WPO Pro edition, they MUST make it compatible with Vista; otherwise, they just look very foolish and inept. If Corel wishes to compete with their WPO Pro Edition against MS Office Pro Edition, then they have NO CHOICE but to release a patch that addresses the Vista issues. Otherwise, WordPerfect itself will become a big joke and WP is Corel's bread and butter. In my opinion, the future of Corel depends at least partially on fixing the Paradox Vista issues. The only other choice is to drop Paradox and give up the WordPerfect Office versus Microsoft Office competition (something neither Corel nor Microsoft want).

Getting Started with Paradox 10/11 on Vista

To get started working around the Paradox 10 issues, read on.

 
Step 1: Install Paradox/Configure BDE

The first step is to install Paradox and set the Net Dir. For more information, follow our Install Paradox 9 on Vista KB post. 

 
Step 2: Possible Show Stopper - Exiting Paradox

When exiting Paradox 10, you may get the following error:

Paradox for Windows Desktop has stopped working

A problem caused the program to stop working correctly.

Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

When I clicked debug on my computer, I got the following:

Paradox 10 - An unhandled Win32 exception occurred in pdxwin32.exe [5472].

Which leads to the following...

Unhandled exception at 0x77b6294f in pdxwin32.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation writing location 0x00030fbc.

3 Options:

OPTION 1: Ignore error. There doesn't seem to be any problem with just ignoring the error. The .LCK files in your private directory hang around but that's generally not a problem so long as you stick with one version of Paradox. If you start and exit Paradox 10 or 11, then start Paradox 9, you'll get an error.

Note: The funny thing is Paradox does delete the temporary files in the private directory but not the .LCK lock files. Upon exit, Paradox deletes ALL files in the private directory that start with two underscores "__". In addition, Paradox does properly delete the table lock files even when Paradox 10/11 are the last to exit in an environment where both Paradox 9 and Paradox 10/11 are accessing the same tables.

Whether the lock files are created in your private folder when Paradox starts is guided by the Local Share setting in your BDE. Local Share allows multiple installations of Paradox on the same computer to share files. The lock files in your private directory keep other instances from using that private folder. If you turn off Local Share, Paradox will not create the lock files in your private directory.

About LOCAL SHARE: The ability to share access to local data between an active BDE application and an active non-BDE application. Set to TRUE if you need to work with the same files through both a BDE and a non-BDE application at the same time. (It is not necessary to set LOCAL SHARE to TRUE if you do not need to have both applications open at the same time.)
 
Specify separate private directories.
To get around retained lock files in the private directory, you can use the -p command-line option to specify separate private directories for each version of Paradox you use.
 
Or, turn off Local Share in the BDE Administrator:
This gets you around lock files in your private directory but your shared net folder is still an issue but only when switching between multiple versions of Paradox.
 
Workbench Note: Our Workbench for Paradox add-on utility requires that you set Local Share to true. It uses the fact that .LCK files are created in your private folder to determine if it's busy. Although Workbench installs and runs when Local Share is set to False, if you use a feature that requires it, you get a message asking you to set Local Share to True. This is needed to use certain features like The Launcher which helps you manage running, listing, and exiting multiple instances of Paradox with various working and private directories.
 
General Note: You should understand what this setting does. Many believe setting Local Share to True will prevent table corruption even when ONLY BDE applications are used. Although I do not believe it does, as a precaution, I have all my customers set Local Share to True because of the tremendous problems with table corruption with Paradox over the years. Here are the rules I use. If you are using a non-BDE application such as Paradox for DOS at the same time as Paradox for Windows, then Local Share MUST be set to True (this is the intended usage of Local Share). If the lock files in the private folder do not bother you, then set Local Share to True as a precaution. If you use ONLY a single version of Paradox on your computer, set Local Share to True because the lock files only cause problems when you switch from one version of Paradox to another. However, if you only use Paradox for Windows and you use more than one version (i.e. Paradox 9 and Paradox 11), and you don't wish to delete your lock files every time you switch Paradox versions, then set Local Share to False. This a valid compromise for Paradox for Windows users until Corel fixes the Vista issues. After all, the default for the BDE was False for quite a few years. There is some mis-leading information on the Internet regarding Local Share and MANY BDE users recommend setting Local Share to True as a precaution. In fact, I normally have it set to true myself.
 
On a personal note, as a developer working on Vista and constantly switching between Paradox 9, 10, and 11, for me it's more convenient to set Local Share to False. This works for me because my NetDir is also set locally. For all of my clients, I have them set Local Share to True as a precaution. However, as a developer I only work with test data so even if corruption ever occurs, it's just test data. I've been using Vista with Paradox and the BDE set to False now for almost a year without incident. However, a developer box is NOT a production environment.


 

OPTION 2: Kill pdxwin32.exe process. Several developers have contacted me and said they are having luck killing the Paradox process itself when they exit their Paradox application. I like this better than killing the Task Scheduler (discussed below) but it's still an incomplete and odd work-around but it is something I can get behind. One problem I have with it is that it kills all instances of pdxwin32.exe and not just the current one. I do have code in Workbench that kills just a specific instance of Paradox so I'll dig that out and update this article within the next week or so.

Here's a complete example.

method pushButton(var eventInfo Event)
Var
 dynSysInfo  dynarray[] String
 sWinVer   string
Endvar

  
sysinfo(dynSysInfo)   
  
;dynSysInfo.view()

sWinVer=dynSysInfo["WindowsVersion"]
sWinVer=sWinVer.substr(1,1)      
  
;sWinVer.view()

if sWinVer="6" then  ;Vista
  Execute("TaskKill.exe /F /IM pdxwin32.exe", No, ExeHidden)
endif
endMethod

OPTION 3: Kill taskeng.exe process. The interesting thing about this error is that if you kill the taskeng.exe process, the error does not show up! Some users are killing the process prior to exiting Paradox in an attempt to get around this error. I don't recommend this approach because it is not uncommon for Vista to launch multiple copies of TaskEng.exe for various reasons. 

About TaskEng.exe
TaskEng.exe is the Vista Task Scheduler Engine which is an integral part of Vista and you should not kill this core process. Unlike previous versions of Windows, the Vista Task Scheduler does more than just launch applications you schedule on a timer basis. It also works on a trigger basis, such as the following:

• boot up
• shut down
• remote user connection
• program launch
• program shut down
• program completes a task
• ...and more.

This enhanced Task Scheduler allows network administrators to do advanced things but the problem is that Vista uses the Task Scheduler for a variety of system tasks such as:

• the starting of vital background processes
• many specific tasks upon boot up
• start sound once core kernel and drivers are fully loaded

Vista Task Scheduler Overview - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa906020.aspx (Microsoft TechNet document)

Where to go from here. 

Check back for more info. Once we learn more, we'll post it here.

Q&A:

Q. Does this have anything to do with rights?

A. Not sure, but I don't think so. Vista limits your rights to the working and private folders so I tried granting the Everyone user and Authenticated Users full rights. No luck.

Q. Does this have anything to do with application virtualization?

A. I don't think so. I did a quick test where I disabled application virtualization for Paradox and the BDE. No luck. I also tried installing to my second drive (drive D), but no luck regarding the above issue. However, Vista's virtualization has ramifications for Paradox users and I've documented them in the Install Paradox 9 on Vista article.

Q. Is this a Corel or Microsoft issue? If it's a Microsoft issue, won't they fix it in a future patch?

A. This is CLEARLY a Microsoft issue in my opinion. Yes, Corel probably did something wrong by Vista standards when they developed Paradox 10, but because both Paradox 10 and 11 don't exhibit this issue on previous versions of Windows, what they did was "legal" and Microsoft does indeed need to fix this Vista issue (and many other Vista issues too). I've seen this exact Vista error on other Windows applications that were developed prior to Vista so my opinion is that it's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when". However, Corel could and should fix this and the other minor issues too.

I have more tests to do and if I figure out a work-around or hear of a work-around, I'll post it here.
 

 
Step 3: Test

Start Paradox to make sure it's working correctly. Change working directories and perhaps a few other settings, exit, and start Paradox again. If the working directory (and other settings you changed) reverted to the default working directory, you may have a problem with Paradox's Registry Cleaner (PdxRegCl.exe). The solution is to delete it's files and registry settings. Refer to our  PdxRegCl.exe and PdxRegCl.ini FAQ for more information.