Money 98 problems reported

Users are reporting problems running Microsoft's (MSFT) Money 98 Financial Suite with the latest versions of Microsoft?s Windows NT 4.0 operating system and Internet Explorer 4.0 Web browser.

A number of users have posted messages in Usenet newsgroups complaining of problems they have experienced while trying to install Money 98 with the latest versions of NT and IE, as well as Windows 95. The problems range from difficulty creating new files with Money 98 to all-out crashes of the application.

Microsoft officials confirmed that there have been some complaints of Money 98 glitches by users since the software?s release last month, but only a handful.

"We're working with three users individually," said Margie Miller, product manager in Microsoft's desktop finance division. "We have not been able to reproduce the problems, and we don't see a trend. We do track our news server to watch for these things."

Microsoft has posted a workaround for the problem on the Money newsgroup and on its Money 98 support Web page, Miller said.

Scott Wigton, one of the developers of Money 98, said he knew of a problem regarding interruption of installation. Money 98 relies on cryptography services because of some of the financial services the product provides. "Money is sometimes having problems initializing these cryptography files on machines that have had an incomplete installation of an update to IE 4.0," he said.

One user, who goes just by David, said he experienced a problem with Money 98 on a system with IE 4.0 and a "freshly" installed version of Windows NT 4.0. He said Money 98 crashed while trying to create its own sample file.

After inquiring on the news server, he found that Money 98 depends on code specifically in version 3.02 of Internet Explorer, which ships with Money 98. Because he installed a fresh copy of NT 4.0--which includes Internet Explorer 2.0 as its default browser--then installed Microsoft?s Service Pack 3.0 and Internet Explorer 4.0, he never installed files, included with IE 3.02, needed by Money 98.

His solution came when he uninstalled Money 98 and IE 4.0. He then reinstalled the new financial suite with its IE 3.02. He followed that up with the latest version of the browser.

Michael Morris wasn't as lucky.

The U.S. Army second lieutenant said he downloaded IE 4.0 onto Windows NT 4.0, then a trial version of Money 98. "It ran fine for a few days. Then, as I was running it one day, it said my files had been corrupted."

Morris ordered and installed the retail version of Money 98, thinking it was probably a glitch in the beta version, and the same problem occurred. He's now trying to fix the problem.

"I've got to get Money 98 running because I lost everything I had on Money 97. I don't think I'll use IE 4.0. I'll just stay with the browser provided with Money 98," Morris said.

Microsoft and analysts say there may be problems when beta users download and install the retail version of Money 98 without deleting the beta code.

Miller recommends that beta users uninstall their beta software before installing the retail version.

Money 98, which debuted in the early part of September, integrates basic money management features with Internet access, product managers said.