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I am using XP Unlimited to allow users do Remote Desktop on a Windows 7 machine.

The users run on remote desktop a native win32 exe Application (built with Delphi).

When I need to update the exe file and all users log off from remote desktop everything works fine, but when I have to update the exe file "live" when some users are using it I have a bad behaviour:

somehow the exe is cached and I have Access Violation errors.

To replace live I rename the old exe and I copy the new one in the folder.

Does this problem tell you something? Can it be that the problem I am facing is because I am using a non server OS (Windows 7 instead of win 2k8)? Could you suggest a solution or explain me the problem.

Thanks.

user193655
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  • That XP Unlimited software looks illegal; the Windows EULA pretty specifically states that you can't have more than one active users session. – Chris S Oct 04 '10 at 14:46
  • it is a commercial software, they state it is legal here http://www.xpunlimited.com/faq/index.php?action=artikel&cat=6&id=19 – user193655 Oct 04 '10 at 15:41
  • I didn't even notice the "xp unlimited" was an add-on from outside the US. If there's a question of legality, if this is used in a company, I'd probably contact Microsoft to ask (commercial or not), but all I can say about it is, "Um..."- You can also buy services from spammers and bot-herders, doesn't make it legal. – Bart Silverstrim Oct 04 '10 at 17:28
  • It's kind of sticky though...it sounds like you can use remote access as long as you're running from a licensed installation of Windows, and the only time you don't need additional licensing is if you are the primary user of that workstation you're accessing (my computer at home, accessing from a Linux workstation at work). It also hints that you need to consult other licenses for things like Office (so you'd need to buy licenses for each user on that computer to use Office with Remote Desktop) – Bart Silverstrim Oct 04 '10 at 17:29
  • To quote: "You may use the Software’s Remote Desktop feature (or other software which provides similar functionality for a similar purpose) to access a Workstation Computer Session from any Device provided you acquire a separate Software license for that Device. As an exception to this rule, the person who is the single primary user of the Workstation Computer may access a Workstation Computer Session from any Device without acquiring an additional Software license for that Device." – Bart Silverstrim Oct 04 '10 at 17:31
  • The only unlimited connection clause I see is "When you are using Remote Assistance or NetMeeting (or other software which provides similar functionality for a similar purpose) you may share a Session with other users without any limit on the number of Device connections and without acquiring additional licenses for the Software." – Bart Silverstrim Oct 04 '10 at 17:32
  • And of course it disclaims getting around installing a single-seat of software accessed by many by saying you have to consult with Microsoft or the software vendor for licensing on specific applications and their terms for running on a single workstation accessed via RDP... – Bart Silverstrim Oct 04 '10 at 17:33
  • Might also need to check the terms for Win7, as the licensing the vendor refers to is WinXP Pro SP2. MS may have changed their RDP terms for the newer OS. – Bart Silverstrim Oct 04 '10 at 17:42

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Short answer: DON'T CHANGE FILES THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN USE OR RUNNING IN ACTIVE MEMORY.

If the file is open and in use, you're going to have problems. Pulling a file out from under the operating system/application while there are open file handles is a big no-no. I'm surprised it would even let you rename the file.

It's not necessarily caching something, you have active applications running that don't assume the files will be changing without notification.

This is why often Windows forces you to restart for certain updates, many updaters for software force you to close your browser or other "related" programs (Java comes to mind) to finish updating, or other updaters "restart" the program they're updating (like Adobe installers).

Bart Silverstrim
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