I wrote a Visual Basic (5.0) program about 10 years ago and compiled an .exe file when I was done. At the time, the database file it used was on a server and written into the code was this path: "//server/data/systemhistory.mdb".

I'm now trying to run the same previously compiled program on a stand-alone computer (i.e. no server). Is there some way I can make a local drive, partition, or whatever "appear" as "//server/data/"? If it was compiled using "Q:/data/" or something similar, I could just rename a drive partition "Q:", and stick the database file there... but "//server"?

I used to be very familiar with what the "//server" meant, but like I said... it was 10 years ago!

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

I used to be very familiar with what the "//server" meant

No access to the original source code?

A UNC path takes the form //ComputerHostName/Folders/Data.

Workarounds:

Rename your current machine "server" and create a shared folder "data" to plop the database in.
Setup and network another machine (physical or virtual) named "server" to place the database on.
It might also be possible to edit the EXE with a hex editor to change the hardcoded path to another one with the same length.

Hardcoding paths is always a bad idea.

Thanks Scleros! Renaming the machine and sharing a folder worked perfectly (and jogged my memory of what was going on)!

I'm actually trying to locate all of the correct versions of forms, modules, etc. that were used when I compiled the .exe (I haven't even looked at it for 10 years, the hard drives that contained the files is long gone, and I have multiple floppy backups with different versions).

I'm trying to run the .exe and compare to the project I'm REbuilding with those forms, etc. to compare it's functionality (it's a fairly complex program).

(and yes, I knew hardcoding the path would EVENTUALLY come back to bite me in the a**!)