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Internal: IDL 7.x (& later) for Windows startup error: "An unhandled win32 exception occured in idlde.exe..."

Help Article Update 2

Anonym
Topic:
When starting IDL Workbench 7.x (and later) for Windows an error like the following is displayed:

    An unhandled win32 exception occured in idlde.exe...

and IDL fails to start.

Below are some suggestions to try to fix the problem.Discussion:

  1. Reboot
    See if a machine reboot will fix the problem.
  2. User environment problems
    If, after rebooting, the problem remains, perhaps the problem may be a problem with the user's Windows session or enviroment. To test this idea, log in as a different user and then try launching IDL. If IDL launches successfully as the different user, check the following for problems:

    1. Log in with your regular username.
    2. Check your Windows system/user environment variable settings for conflicts as follows:

      1. Open a Windows command prompt (enter "cmd" at the Windows Run... dialog)
      2. At the command prompt, enter the command: SET
      3. In the output, check the "PATH" variable setting for a conflicting directory reference to an old or unexpected IDL directory location. If necessary, change your PATH variable definition (via the Advanced tab of your My Computer properties dialog). For example, if the Windows PATH variable points to "C:\ITT\Program Files\idl70\bin\bin.x86", this could cause problems if you try to run IDL 7.1.
      4. Also check the environment variable settings for any "IDL_*" variables (like IDL_PATH, IDL_DIR, etc.) that might be defined to point to an old or unexpected IDL installation. If any bad references are found, delete or redefine these environment variable settings.

       

  3. Corrupted workspace
    If the above does not help, perhaps the IDL workspace that is in use is corrupted. To see if this might be the problem:

    1. Close all IDL sessions.
    2. Rename (to preserve the folder contents) or delete the workspace folder that is being used. For example, rename:

        C:\Documents and Settings\[myusername]\IDLWorkspace71
      to:
        C:\Documents and Settings\[myusername]\IDLWorkspace71.old

      --where you would access the actual directory path, workspace folder name, and your username in the example above.

  4. Corrupted preferences or workbench configuration
    If renaming or deleting the IDL workspace folder does not help, perhaps the IDL preferences or Workbench configuration are corrupted.

    IDL Preferences
    1. Close all IDL sessions
    2. Rename or delete the IDL 7.1 preference folder. For example, rename:

        C:\Documents and Settings\[myusername]\.idl\itt\pref-10-idl_7_1-windows
      to:
        C:\Documents and Settings\[myusername]\.idl\itt\pref-10-idl_7_1-windows.old

       


    IDL Workbench Configuration
    1. Close all IDL sessions
    2. Rename or delete the IDL 7.1 preference folder. For example, rename:

        C:\Documents and Settings\[myusername]\.idl\itt\idlworkbench-config-idl7.1.0
      to:
        C:\Documents and Settings\[myusername]\.idl\itt\idlworkbench-config-idl7.1.0.old

       

  5. Corrupted IDL installation
    If the above does not help, perhaps the IDL installation has become corrupted. If that might be the case, do the following while logged in as a user with administrative privileges:

    1. Close all IDL sessions
    2. From the Add/Remove Programs control panel utility, uninstall the IDL 7.1.2 update patch.
    3. Next, from the Add/Remove Programs control panel utility, uninstall the remaining IDL 7.1.x installation.
    4. After the uninstallation is completed, reboot the machine
    5. After the machine comes up, log in as a user with admin privileges.
    6. Temporarily disable your virus scan software.
    7. Proceed to reinstall IDL 7.1.1 and then install the IDL 7.1.2 patch update.
  6. Corrupted Windows user profile
    If the problem continues for your Windows login but not for other logins, perhaps there is a corruption in your Windows user profile. If this might be the case, consult with your system adminstrator for help with repairing or creating a new replacement user profile.