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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LinfieldPA

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**!)