Rules for “Legacy” Applications

Because Microsoft introduced radical changes to the traditional Windows® security paradigm with Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008) the concept of what Microsoft defines as a “legacy” application has become significant.  Since a “legacy” application is any program that will install and run on a Windows version prior to Windows 7 this Microsoft definition applies to all Syscob applications.

To a lesser extent the “legacy” concept was introduced with Windows Vista, but few informed IT organizations made the mistake of deploying Vista (and the changes were less drastic) so the impact was minimal.  But in recent years the uptake of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 require that the “legacy” application requirements be observed.  And the “Win 7” topics in the group at the right apply to all of these new environments (i.e. Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2).

Fundamental “Legacy” Rule

Regardless of the application, if it can be successfully installed on versions of Windows before Windows 7 then there is a basic rule that must be followed for successful use under Windows 7:  all Windows® “installers” (which make Registry and/or “INI” file changes or install OS libraries) must be “Run as Administrator” and run in “Compatibility mode” (typically for Windows XP SP2 or SP3).  For Syscob this includes the following components:

  • Application “installers” (like CMRINSTAL.EXE for Export-It or EPP_R4.EXE for Export-It Plus).
  • Application “updaters” (Export-It or Export-It Plus version updates).
  • The application “Icon & Rego” utilities (i.e. EXPORT_IT_REGO_CMR.EXE for Export-It or EXPORT_IT_PLUS_REGO.EXE for Export-It Plus).
  • ActiveX server registrations (i.e. the RegChilkat.bat batch command used to register a “SEDI machine”).
  • The Export-It Certificate Manager (i.e. ExpCertM.exe) for Digital Certificate registration (only required for direct SEDI exchange of traffic with Customs ICS).

Since Windows 7 only permits setting the “Run as Administrator” and “Compatibility mode” for executables under the control of the Windows 7 installation (i.e. only on physically “local” disks, not on mapped network drives) the components above should never be run from a “network” drive.  So it may be necessary to copy a program to a “local” disk, or even create a “shortcut” for it, to be able to “Run as Administrator” in “Compatibility mode” for Windows XP (either SP2 or SP3).

Other “Legacy” Considerations

The remaining topics in this section discuss the other implications of using a “legacy” application under Windows 7 (or Windows Server 2008):

The final link, FAQs, is not specific to the Windows 7 environment, but connects to a group of topics with answers to Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs] related to Syscob applications..

Paradigm Shift

Ever since introduction of “server” editions of the Windows® OS with Windows NT the distinction between a “server” and a “workstation” has been that a “workstation” had a single user while a “server” was licensed to support multiple users.  On a workstation that single user “administered” the computer (this is still the default for Windows® software installation which makes the first user defined a member of the Administrators security group).  For a “server” only one of the multiple users needed administrative capability and other users were usually not given that power.

After Windows XP the power of the local Administrators group has been increasingly restricted; as a result of restrictions to limit the potential damage from vulnerabilities concomitant to Microsoft desire for unfettered remote access to any computer running Windows®.  This has progressively taken power from workstation users in conjunction with the increasingly complex and opaque “security” subsystem.