Hi all,
I'm having some challenges using pywin32 to launch a 32-bit Windows
application, but the tricky thing is that I cannot reproduce the problem on
my machine or my coworkers (person B) machine, but only on some other
persons' (person C) machine, so my changes to debug this are very rare &
limited.
The code that is not able to launch the exe is on Person C's computer
("testscript.py"):
from pathlib import Path
import win32process
path_to_exe = Path(r"C:\path to some\folder\some.exe")
(h_process, _, dw_process_id, _) = win32process.CreateProcess(
None, # module name
str(path_to_exe), # command line
None, # Process handle not inheritable.
None, # Thread handle not inheritable.
0, # Set handle inheritance to FALSE.
0, # Creation flags.
None, # Use parent's environment block.
str(Path(path_to_exe).parent), # If None - use parent's starting
directory.
win32process.STARTUPINFO(),
) # STARTUPINFO structure.
You can see that there is only a simple call to
win32process.CreateProcess.
Here are the *combinations which do work*:
1) My machine & some.exe with win32process.CreateProcess
2) Person B & some.exe with win32process.CreateProcess
3) Person C & C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe with
win32process.CreateProcess
4) Person C & C:\Windows\SysWOW64\notepad.exe with
win32process.CreateProcess
5) Person C & some.exe, launching directly by double-clicking
So, for some reason Person C can launch some.exe without
win32process.CreateProcess, and can launch 32-bit and 64-bit versions of
notepad.exe with win32process.CreateProcess, *but launching some.exe with
win32process.CreateProcess throws the error. *The some.exe is an old 32-bit
app, which is not publicly available anywhere and of which source code I
don't have.
I've had time to debug with Person C to try to run the testscript.py with
different versions of pywin32 (few latest), with a fresh install of Python
3.8.6 32-bit and also on a portable (WinPython) 3.7.x 32-bit, and it kept
giving the same "%1 is not a valid Win32 application" error.
PROCESS MONITOR logs
=====================
I have also used the Process Monitor from Sysinternals to make a short
recording with my machine on Person C's machine while running
testscript.py. Here are the .dll/.pyd files (disregarding __init__ files)
that were in the logs with at least once with "Result == SUCCESS".
1) The following DLLs on *both* machines with same path (mine & Person C)
- "python.exe"
PGHook.dll C:\Program Files (x86)\Avecto\Privilege Guard
Client\PGHook.dll
KernelBase.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\KernelBase.dll
SHCore.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\SHCore.dll
advapi32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\advapi32.dll
bcrypt.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\bcrypt.dll
bcryptprimitives.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\bcryptprimitives.dll
cfgmgr32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cfgmgr32.dll
combase.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\combase.dll
cryptbase.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cryptbase.dll
cryptsp.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cryptsp.dll
gdi32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\gdi32.dll
gdi32full.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\gdi32full.dll
imm32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\imm32.dll
kernel.appcore.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\kernel.appcore.dll
kernel32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\kernel32.dll
msvcp_win.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcp_win.dll
msvcrt.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcrt.dll
ntdll.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll
ole32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ole32.dll
oleaut32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\oleaut32.dll
powrprof.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\powrprof.dll
profapi.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\profapi.dll
psapi.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\psapi.dll
rpcrt4.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rpcrt4.dll
rsaenh.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rsaenh.dll
sechost.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\sechost.dll
shell32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\shell32.dll
shlwapi.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\shlwapi.dll
sspicli.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\sspicli.dll
tzres.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\tzres.dll
ucrtbase.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ucrtbase.dll
umpdc.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\umpdc.dll
user32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\user32.dll
version.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\version.dll
win32u.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\win32u.dll
windows.storage.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\windows.storage.dll
ws2_32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ws2_32.dll
ntdll.dll C:\Windows\System32\ntdll.dll
wow64.dll C:\Windows\System32\wow64.dll
wow64cpu.dll C:\Windows\System32\wow64cpu.dll
wow64win.dll C:\Windows\System32\wow64win.dll
2) The following DLLs with *different paths* (mine & Person C) -
"python.exe"
On my machine
pywintypes37.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\pywintypes37.dll
win32process.pyd
C:\tmp\testfix\python\Lib\site-packages\win32\win32process.pyd
python3.dll C:\tmp\testfix\python\python3.dll
python37.dll C:\tmp\testfix\python\python37.dll
vcruntime140.dll C:\tmp\testfix\python\vcruntime140.dll
On Person C's machine
pywintypes38.dll
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\Lib\site-packages\pywin32_system32\pywintypes38.dll
win32process.pyd
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\Lib\site-packages\win32\win32process.pyd
python3.dll
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python3.dll
python38.dll
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python38.dll
vcruntime140.dll
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\vcruntime140.dll
Seems that the DLLs listed here are essentially the same (also tested with
the same Python 3.7 and actually the same dll's and wheels, too.)
3) The DLL's with that are loaded with "some.exe" (my PC only):
PGHook.dll C:\Program Files (x86)\Avecto\Privilege Guard
Client\PGHook.dll
mfc42.dll C:\Users\me\OneDrive -
Mycompany\Desktop\some\mfc42.dll
CoreMessaging.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CoreMessaging.dll
CoreUIComponents.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CoreUIComponents.dll
KernelBase.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\KernelBase.dll
SHCore.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\SHCore.dll
TextInputFramework.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\TextInputFramework.dll
WinTypes.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WinTypes.dll
advapi32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\advapi32.dll
bcrypt.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\bcrypt.dll
bcryptprimitives.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\bcryptprimitives.dll
cfgmgr32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cfgmgr32.dll
combase.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\combase.dll
cryptbase.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cryptbase.dll
cryptsp.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cryptsp.dll
gdi32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\gdi32.dll
gdi32full.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\gdi32full.dll
iertutil.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\iertutil.dll
imm32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\imm32.dll
kernel.appcore.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\kernel.appcore.dll
kernel32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\kernel32.dll
msctf.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msctf.dll
msvcp_win.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcp_win.dll
msvcrt.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcrt.dll
ntmarta.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntmarta.dll
ole32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ole32.dll
oleaut32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\oleaut32.dll
powrprof.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\powrprof.dll
profapi.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\profapi.dll
rpcrt4.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rpcrt4.dll
rsaenh.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rsaenh.dll
sechost.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\sechost.dll
shell32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\shell32.dll
shlwapi.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\shlwapi.dll
sspicli.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\sspicli.dll
tzres.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\tzres.dll
ucrtbase.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ucrtbase.dll
umpdc.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\umpdc.dll
user32.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\user32.dll
uxtheme.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\uxtheme.dll
win32u.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\win32u.dll
windows.storage.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\windows.storage.dll
wow64.dll C:\Windows\System32\wow64.dll
wow64cpu.dll C:\Windows\System32\wow64cpu.dll
wow64win.dll C:\Windows\System32\wow64win.dll
comctl32.dll
C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_5.82.18362.1198_none_bb60abf7ec91ff24\comctl32.dll
These were alse accessed by some.exe but not found (on my machine):
MFC42LOC.DLL C:\Windows\SysWOW64\MFC42LOC.DLL
rpcss.dll C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rpcss.dll
wow64log.dll C:\Windows\System32\wow64log.dll
On person C's machine, I the Process Monitor did not have any logs from
"some.exe", probably because it was not successfully launched
*Question:* Is this somehow known behaviour or related to some bug in
pywin32? How could I debug to find out what is the problem? As said, the
debugging is difficult and must be done in well organized manner, since
there are no problems on my computer, and I have to make appointments for
testing anything.
Regards,
Niko Pasanen
_______________________________________________
python-win32 mailing list
python-win32@python.org
https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-win32
