FFLOGIN Error Codes

Forensic Filer Login Error Codes and meanings¶

FFLogin - Basic Description of Operation

The purpose of FFLogin is to do the following:

1. . Determine where Forensic Filer is installed
2. . Verify that the Forensic Filer main database file exists
3. . Determine the path to the correct MSACCESS.exe file
4. . Check the "server" for updates to Forensic Filer
5. . If an update exists, install it on the local machine
6. . Start Forensic Filer by launching Microsoft Access with all appropriate command line parameters needed.
   

FFLogin performs these tasks by looking in the Windows Registry for some information and by looking in the FFiler.ini file for some of the information.

PLEASE NOTE- DO NOT ATTEMPT THESE CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM REGISTRY, FFILER.INI FILE OR RE-INSTALLING FORENSIC FILER UNLESS YOU ARE FULLY AWARE OF HOW TO CHANGE THE REGISTRY SETTINGS AND HAVE THE APPROPRIATE PERMISSIONS. IF YOU ARE NOT SURE HOW TO DO THESE TASKS PLEASE Contact Us

If FFLogin is unable to obtain all of the necessary information it needs, it will display an error message and then exit.

FFLogin Error Message Numbers & Causes/Solutions¶

• 100 - Description: FFLogin has just started, it has already failed an attempt to open the HKLM\Software registry key in read/write and failed an attempt to open it in read only mode, so it then tried to open the HKCU\Software registry key in read/write mode.
  
  This error occurs because it has failed to open HKCU and we can't proceed without that.
  

100 - Solution: This error should basically never occur. While it is possible that a user would not be able to open the HKLM registry key, they should always be able to open the HKeyCurrentUser key because that is their private key even with only User privelages to the computer. So, I would recommend checking the rights of the user. Maybe promoting them to Power User or Admin on a temporary basis to see if the program starts or not.

• 110 - Description: FFLogin has successfully opened the registry and is now looking in the FFiler.ini file for the path to the main
  Forensic Filer database file (FFiler.mde). Inside FFiler.ini we are looking for a value called "ProgramFilePath" in the section called "Startup". FFLogin was able to find the section and value needed, but the error occurs because the path specified in "ProgramFilePath" is invalid and we couldn't locate FFiler.mde.
  

110 - Solution: Determine the Forensic Filer install directory by looking at the properties of the icon used to start FFLogin. The typical install location is: C:\Program Files\Douglas & Associates Inc\Forensic Filer You should find FFiler.mde and FFiler.ini in this folder. If you do, double-click on FFiler.ini to edit it and check that the "ProgramFilePath" value in the "Startup" section lists the correct full path to FFiler.mde. For example: C:\Program Files\Douglas & Associates Inc\Forensic Filer\FFiler.mde Then, try starting FF again.

If that doesn't work, try re-installing Forensic Filer on this PC (WORKSTATION) ONLY.Please see the note above.

• 120 - Description: FFLogin was unable to either locate FFiler.ini or the information in FFiler.ini for "ProgramFilePath" was invalid.
  

120 - Solution: Read the information for error 110 above for background on what FFLogin was looking for. You can try to create the missing file and or ini contents yourself, or try re-installing Forensic Filer on this PC (WORKSTATION) ONLY.Please see the note above.

• 130 - Description: FFLogin has successfully opened the registry and has successfully retrieved the path to FFiler.mde from the FFiler.ini file. It is now trying to get the path to the security workgroup file (FFWkgp.mdw). Inside FFiler.ini we are looking for a value called "SecurityFilePath" in the "Startup" section. FFLogin was able to find the section and value needed, but the error occurs because the path specified in "SecurityFilePath" is invalid and we couldn't locate FFWkgp.mdw.
  

130 - Solution: Determine the Forensic Filer install directory by looking at the properties of the icon used to start FFLogin. The typical install location is: C:\Program Files\Douglas & Associates Inc\Forensic Filer You should find FFWkgp.mdw and FFiler.ini in this folder. If you do, double-click on FFiler.ini to edit it and check that the "SecurityFilePath" value in the "Startup" section lists the correct full path to FFWkgp.mdw. For example: C:\Program Files\Douglas & Associates Inc\Forensic Filer\FFWkgp.mdw Then, try starting FF again. If that doesn't work, try re-installing Forensic Filer on this PC (WORKSTATION) ONLY.Please see the note above.

• 140 - Description: FFLogin was able to locate and read from FFiler.ini, but the "SecurityFilePath" value was missing or blank.
  

140 - Solution: Read the information for error 130 above for background on what FFLogin was looking for. You can try to create the missing file and or ini contents yourself, or try re-installing Forensic Filer on this PC (WORKSTATION) ONLY.Please see the note above.

• 150 - Description: FFLogin has successfully verified the location of the main Forensic Filer database and workgroup files. It is now
  trying to determine what version of Microsoft Access we are running on the system and the path to the msaccess.exe. This error occurs because while we did find information in the registry giving the version and path, that information was invalid or the msaccess.exe file no longer exists in that location.
  

150 - Solution: Manually locate the msaccess.exe file. Our installer install the Access 2002 Runtime into the following location: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Access Runtime\Office10

If you find it, you can try verifying and updating the registry with the correct information. Please refer to the registry values discussed in errors 160 and 170 for what to update.

• 160 - Description: FFLogin is looking for a value in the registry called "AccessVersion". This will be a string value of "2000",
  "2002", or "2003" indicating which version of Microsoft Access is installed on the machine. FFLogin is looking for this value in one of two possible locations:
  

HKLM\Software\Douglas & Associates\Database Applications or HKCU\Software\Douglas & Associates\Database Applications

160 - Solution: Check the registry to see if the "AccessVersion" value exists with a value corresponding to the version of Access installed on the machine. If it doesn't, or if it does but is incorrect, create or update the value. Re-installing Forensic Filer on this PC (WORKSTATION) ONLY.Please see the note above. should also fix this.

• 170 - Description: FFLogin has found the "AccessVersion" registry value but now is unable to find the next registry value that will tell us the path to the msaccess.exe file on the machine. The value it is looking for depends on the version number stored in
  "AccessVersion" For example, if "AccessVersion" is "2000", then we are looking for "Access2000RuntimeDir" which will list the full path to msaccess.exe. If "AccessVersion" is "2002", then we are looking for "Access2002RuntimeDir", etc.
  

FFLogin is looking for this value in one of two locations: HKLM\Software\Douglas & Associates\Database Applications or HKCU\Software\Douglas & Associates\Database Applications

170 - Solution: Check the registry to see if the appropriate value is there and if it points to the correct path to the msaccess.exe file. If it doesn't, try creating or updating the value. Re-installing Forensic Filer on this PC (WORKSTATION) ONLY.Please see the note above. should also fix this error message.

• 180 - Description: FFLogin has found everything that it needs, except for one last item which is new to the Vista compatible launcher.
  This item is the StartAccess_2002.exe file that should be located in the same folder as Forensic Filer,
  i.e. C:\Program Files\Douglas & Associates Inc\Forensic Filer
  

This error means that the StartAccess_2002.exe file can't be found.

180 - Solution: Search the machine for StartAccess_2002.exe and if you find it, move it to the Forensic Filer install folder. If you don't find it, then Re-installing Forensic Filer on this PC (WORKSTATION) ONLY.Please see the note above. should fix this problem.

• 210 - Description: Startup Error 210 should be fairly self-explanatory. The back end database can’t be found, and the filename is listed in the text of the error.
  

210 - Solution: Make sure you are connected to your network and open Forensic Filer again. A simple test is to use Windows Explorer or MY Computer to navigate to the server folder location for the Forensic Filer database. If you can open that folder, then you have a connection to the database on the server and FF should open.