Can you elaborate? You can send me a PM if you think it may not be of interest to folks here.

This is a Unix/Linux thing There is no equivalent of a softlink in the mingw system and so "ln -s" is aliased to "cp -p" and hence when gimp-2.8.exe is softlinked it gets copied to gimp.exe. Make sense?

On a Linux/BSD system, you will find that gimp-2.8.exe is not duplicated but softlinked.

@Partha, I deleted my Gimp-2.8 x64 and removed the user folder, went to your site and downloaded the file again and also the extra plug-ins and installed them. I still get the 18 errors while booting. A lot of the scripts still don't work, like edges > picture frame and some more.

Molly,

My installer has an uninstaller. So, when you just delete, you are leaving behind information such as PATH modifications which may effect how your system interacts with the build. Best is to uninstall from the control panel just as any other software.

If you are getting the same error, it means that you have some 32-bit plugin trying to load 64-bit DLLs. So, where are these plugins coming from? We need to determine that.

Partha

I did un-install from the control panel, both the gimp-2.8 and the 2.8 plug-ins. I also deleted my 2-8 user folder the I started anew.

I was confused by your use of "deleted". When you reinstall, are you seeing the same plugins such as pspi/mathmap etc. trying to load?

yes, I wrote most of the ones down that I saw. I posted them back in this thread somewhere. There were 18.

That is the main issue. My build does not include these plugins (Gimp installer has no additional plugins) and yet your system is finding them. I don't know what to say.

You can do the following - before you start Gimp, start Task-manager. Usually you can do this by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Task manager. Click on the Process tab. In the view option, choose "Select Columns..." and then in the dialog box, scroll down to select "Image Path Name" and "Command Line". Now start Gimp. You will note that any 32-bit application that are running will have a * next to to it. When the error occurs, see if it registers the path name.

Ok I will save these directions and try it. I have to go out for a few hrs, so will try it when I get back. Thanks.

Molly - In your home checked (C: \ Documents and Settings \ ~ ~\. gimp-2.8) ?
If someone has installed Gimp 2.6 - and your version installs it happens (despite uninstalling 2.6 files are in c: \ Documents and Settings \ ~ ~\. Gimp-2.6 \) - and they are moved to C: \ Documents and Settings \ ~ ~ \. gimp-2.8 \ - all - even with the rc files
And therefore can be a mess. Maybe Gms9810 check - or if you already installed the 2.6 or 2.7 - is one of those directories c: \ Documents and Settings \ ... \.gimp-2.6 were transferred to c: \ Documents and Settings \ ... \.gimp-2.8 ?

thank you MareroQ, I will look into it.

Molly, have you tried deleting the GIMP program directories?
i.e. C:\Program Files (x86)\GIMP-2.0 and any others that might be in "Program Files (x86)" and/or "Program Files".

It really sounds like you have plug-ins that were installed in the program directories. Uninstalling GIMP doesn't completely clean out those directories - it only removes the files that GIMP installed. So if you've loaded plug-ins into the program directories, they will still be there after an uninstall. And that can create all sorts of problems.

You are a genius.

I bet that's what's happening. Hopefully this will solve her problems.

Wow did I open a can of worms! lol

I'll take Partha's build .. everything is in one bundle!

Although I get "This application has failed to start because libcairo-2.dll was not found." When it's loading, it stops on mathmap.exe, gimp-plugin-toy.exe and gmic_gimp.exe died on libgdk-win32-2.0-0.dll.

After I ok through them and cancel Vista's checking to find a solution (like that's going to happen) then Gimp will finally open.

It's probably something weird on box. Any ideas??

Thanks much!

Is this 32-bit or 64-bit? If 64-bit, mathmap will not work. My Useful Plugins collection includes gmic 1.5.1.3 plugin. Can you provide a bit more detail? Does gimp loading complain about the cairo file or some other plugin?

Just experience.

I've learned the hard way. Now when I remove a program it's a three or four step process:
1) Uninstall the program
2) Remove any remaining program file directories in the root (C:\); C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86).
3) Remove all associated directories from the user directory. This is fairly simple on XP, but has gotten more complicated on Windows 7 because there are more directories to check - <user>\,<user>\AppData\Local, <user>\AppData\LocalLow, <user>\AppData\Roaming, and sometimes <user>\Documents.
4) Clean up the system environment variables, although I often forget to do this for a while. (The system environment variables on Windows 7 are found at Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings > Advanced > Environment Variables... . If I remember correctly, for XP it was just Control Panel > System > Advanced > Environment Variables... .

It helps keep my system clean, which minimizes problems.

Edit: added step 4.

Indeed, well worth it and very easy to do

Sorry! 64-bit. Ah, I get it! The first time you start the app up it copies .Gimp-2.6 as .Gimp-2.8.

Sounds like I'm needed to uninstall that then delete the .Gimp-2.8 folder in my user then hide the .Gimp-2.6 and then re-install and fire the app up and see what happens. I didn't even think about that! I'll post back!

That is what I had to do Mr. Biggz. I just renamed the user gimp-2.6 folder so they wouldn't install into 2.8.

Yep, worked like a charm! I'll just have to pick and choose the stuff I want to put back in. Guess it's one way to house clean Gimp!

yes you are right. I am afraid I don't know which ones to put in cuz I have a lot of nice scripts and plug-ins I want to keep, Also have to download and install Python, Mathmap and Gap.