Non Std App Usage - 20 year old program

[KeithS]

I have this old CD (running it on a VirutalBox VM running Windows XP) that runs from an exe and it runs from the CD. It's not a typical windows application; it's a data repository disc. The company is defunct now and the program will not run on Windows 10. So I want to extract the data to store in another format on my Windows 10 PC.

The AutoIt Window Info tool shows all of the visible text of the controls in the Summary tab, but ControlGetText and WinGetText do not retrieve what is currently displayed; they seem to display what was a default value in the control's properties, before it was updated when the program runs. When the program runs it dynamically updates the controls from the CD. I instantiate the application and get it to a state where content I want is being displayed then I run the au3 script, but it doesn't return what is being shown. I don't believe this is a coding issue, but rather a possible limitation of AutoIt as designed. So it is probably working correctly or as designed.

Given the Summary the AutoIt Window Info tool shows I think this should be possible, but the functions do not seem to have the same capacity as the AutoIt Window Info tool.

Any suggestions?

[TheXman]

23 hours ago, KeithS said:

I have this old CD (running it on a VirutalBox VM running Windows XP) that runs from an exe and it runs from the CD. It's not a typical windows application; it's a data repository disc. The company is defunct now and the program will not run on Windows 10. So I want to extract the data to store in another format on my Windows 10 PC.

If it's the data that you're after, why are you trying to retrieve it from application controls instead of finding where the actual data is stored and trying to extract it directly from the file or source where it resides?

It appears that you are intentionally being vague when it comes to the name of the application.  Without more information, it would be very hard to give you any other suggestions.

Edited February 17, 2020 by TheXman

[ModemJunki]

You are running the AutoIT script inside the VM (on Windows XP) or from the host system? What VM solution are you using (e.g., VMware, Virtual Box, Microsot virtual machine, etc..)?

I don't have any VMs set up to play with but answering these questions might lead to someone with experience chiming in.