EXP Compatibility with Windows Vista

Compatibility of EXP with Windows Vista

Versions of EXP prior to EXP 5.1 have not been tested with Windows Vista and are not supported.

EXP 6.2

EXP 6.2 is not compatible with Windows Vista.

EXP 6.1

EXP 6.1 is not compatible with Windows Vista.

EXP 6.0

All shipments of EXP 6.0 on USB flash drive are fully compatible with Windows Vista, both the 32-bit edition and the 64-bit edition.
(If you purchased EXP 6.0 prior to July 13, 2009, please read this note.)
Service packs for EXP 6.0 are not supported on Windows Vista because the operating system does not support SHA-256 digital signatures. Microsoft recommends that software developers switch from the older less secure SHA-1 signatures to the newer more secure SHA-256 signatures.

EXP 5.1

EXP 5.1 with Service Pack 4 is compatible with Windows Vista with the one caveat that the EXP help system is not available unless the WinHelp extension to Windows Vista is installed (see below for details). All other areas of EXP 5.1 function normally, but there are some issues you should be aware of. Please read all the information below.

EXP 5.1 Help System

The EXP 5.1 help system uses a subsystem within Windows known as WinHelp. Microsoft made the decision not to include WinHelp as part of the standard distribution of Windows Vista. Microsoft has created a Knowledge Base article discussing this subject:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917607

If you want to use the EXP help system with Windows Vista, you will need to download, install, and configure WinHelp. For more information, click here.

Location of EXP 5.1 Keyboard Macro File

EXP stores keyboard macros in a file called "Keyboard Macros.ekm". The location of this file is different with Windows Vista. It is important that you are aware of the location of the file so you can back it up as necessary. The following table summarizes the location of the file "Keyboard Macros.ekm" on different versions of Windows:

Windows 98	C:\Windows\Application Data\Symbol Dynamics\EXP\5.1
Windows NT 4.0	C:\WINNT\Profiles\userid\Application Data\Symbol Dynamics\EXP\5.1
Windows 2000/XP	C:\Documents and Settings\userid\Application Data\Symbol Dynamics\EXP\5.1
Windows Vista/7/8/10	C:\Users\userid\AppData\Roaming\Symbol Dynamics\EXP\5.1

Location of EXP 5.1 User Dictionary Files

The location of user dictionary files is different with Windows Vista. It is important that you are aware of the location of these files so you can back them up as necessary. The following table summarizes the location of user dictionary files on different versions of Windows:

Windows 98	C:\My Documents
Windows NT 4.0	C:\WINNT\Profiles\userid\Personal
Windows 2000/XP	C:\Documents and Settings\userid\My Documents
Windows Vista/7/8/10	C:\Users\userid\Documents

Location of EXP 5.1 Document Templates, Insert Files, and Style Sheets

EXP 5.1 stores document templates, insert files, and style sheets in subfolders of the root EXP 5.1 installation folder. Typically, the location of these folders is as follows:

C:\Program Files\Symbol Dynamics\EXP\5.1\Document Templates

C:\Program Files\Symbol Dynamics\EXP\5.1\Insert

C:\Program Files\Symbol Dynamics\EXP\5.1\Styles

If you create a new document template, insert file, or style sheet, the new file must be stored in the appropriate folder. Likewise, if you edit an existing document template, insert file, or style sheet, the revised file must be stored back to the appropriate folder. This behavior continues unchanged with Windows Vista. However, there is a very important issue you must be aware of.

Windows Vista does not allow normal users to create or modify files stored in the "Program Files" folder hierarchy. If a user does attempt to create or modify a file in the "Program Files" folder hierarchy, Windows internally redirects the file to a new folder hierarchy called VirtualStore. The user is not aware of this "secret" file redirection and the user's program behaves as with earlier versions of Windows. However, for file backup purposes, it is very important for users to know that this process is occurring. If you use EXP to create or modify document templates, insert files, or style sheets, your edited files are actually stored in the following folders:

C:\Users\userid\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Symbol Dynamics\EXP 5.1\Document Templates

C:\Users\userid\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Symbol Dynamics\EXP 5.1\Insert

C:\Users\userid\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Symbol Dynamics\EXP 5.1\Styles

You should also be aware that Windows Vista maintains a separate VirtualStore folder hierarchy for each user. Thus, changes you make to document templates, insert files, and style sheets will only affect EXP when EXP is running under your user account. When other users log into Windows, they will not see any of your changes to document templates, insert files, or style sheets.

Asian Fonts Installed by Default

With Windows XP, the English language edition of Windows did not install fonts for Asian languages by default. With Windows Vista, the English language edition of Windows does install fonts for Asian languages by default. The consequence of this change for EXP 5.1 users is that you will see many additional fonts with names beginning with "@".