MSI Installer Problem: can't install 2.4a2 on new install of Win2kSP2

[Richard Hanson]

Martin,

I had just found a workaround for my immediate problem and was
composing a post. Instead, I'll cut-and-paste as appropriate from that
draft, interleaved herein.

Martin v. Löwis wrote:

>Richard Hanson wrote:
>> (I have much to learn in writing concise posts, alas -- I appreciate
>> your patience.)
>
>That is indeed the problem. I stopped reading after the first paragraph.
>I'm still uncertain whether you are talking about the original problem
>(failure to install the Python msi file), or about the second problem
>(MSI file installs fine, but IDLE fails to work) in this message.

Sorry. I see now that I provided too much background detail getting to
the story -- and didn't write clearly enough, to boot. (As it were.)

The problem: The "python-2.4a2.msi" file appeared to install, but the
install was broken -- IDLE failed to work, and the console was mostly
broken.

Platform: Dual-booting Win98SE and Win2kSP2 on Fujitsu laptop --
primary OS is Win2k on the E: partition.

>>[...] Surely, something I had previously installed in
>> my own prior installation silently installed something needed for the
>> Python 2.4a2 install *other than the MSI Installer 2.0* and is
>> currently missing from my reinstall...?
>
>Why do you think so?

Well, I admit I was clutching at straws. And ignorance and frustration
were probably making me too reckless with unwarranted assertions. :-)

Now, however, I have some new data (which has me even more confused):

If I have a directory named "Python23" with *only* the immediate
contents of "Lib" in it (no other files or directories nor any of
Lib's sub-dirs) in a separate Win98 partition, then IDLE doesn't run.
However, if I rename or move that dir inside another dir, then IDLE
runs. I can move that subsetted Python23 dir back and forth between
being hidden inside another dir and being in the root, without
rebooting, and IDLE works or not, depending on the visibility of that
very limited subset of the normal Python23 install directory.

I've searched the registry for "Python23" and don't find any reference
there.

It's probably Just Another Windows Problem <wink>, but by now after
fighting Windows installation problems for days -- my brain is mush.
Further, I know virtually nothing about Python's guts.

Perhaps my testing will help you or others ascertain if there even
*is* a problem in general -- or, if there's just something wrong with
my individual machine.

For now, I will just uninstall Python from my Win98 partition. 

My apologies again, Martin, for my less-than-optimum posts. I do
appreciate the busyness of the modern era, and I'm very grateful that
folks like you are so willing to give of your valuable time.

You have indeed helped by eliminating many blind alleys I could have
gone down.

Anyway, thanks much -- again.

Best regards,
Richard

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