23 November, 2014

Printing problem in Crystal Reports for VS2005 - SOLVED!

Crystal Reports
Crystal Reports (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
23-Nov-2014


A week or so ago, I had my old work desktop PC formatted and installed with Windows 7. I opted for that because I don't want any leftovers from previous users cluttering up my work. Say I'm fussy, but that is me. At least I can safely say, if ever the time comes that I leave the company, that they can format the hard disk drive, without ever worrying about 'others' having leftover files in the HDD of the PC that I used for X number of years.

Now, that new Windows 7 OS is sure better than XP Professional SP3, and while I am able to make use of the better hardware and better OS, in that the very reason why I had the Windows 7 installed after a format is that the hardware is better, even when it was running Windows XP. Yap, there was another desktop PC involved. I had a swap. I had the faster PC for a swap, and requested for a total clean sweep of the hard disk, which mandated the installation of Windows 7. I didn't know that, but it was a pleasant surprise - when I was told that due to the formatting of the hard disk, I will now be getting Windows 7 instead of Windows XP. I said, "Err... okay!"

When all applications have been reinstalled back, I discovered that the main software I use in my daily work is getting a problem: it wasn't able to run Crystal Reports, or to be precise, all sections work, except the Crystal Reports form.

When that problem was fixed, a new one came about: printing function. All else, like exporting, viewing pages, etc., work. I was stuck, as again, printing the generated report was a mandatory part of the process flow that I call work.

I asked for help, which didn't easily come. I figure, I had to do it on my own. And that was even harder because I don't have internet access at work. I should say it is hard, but I feel safer and more comfortable, with much ado about wasting time browsing while working, etc., etc. So I do my web seraching at home, then attempt all solutions and resolutions when I come back to the office.

To cut to the chase, here's what I did, and unfortunately, I am not quite sure on the exact item that fixed the problem. And yes, I am using Windows 7 64-bit OS. Sadly, some of the articles that I checked insisted that it has nothing to do with the bit-ness of the OS of the client, or the local PC, but the bit-ness of the server. That is contrary to my experience.

  1. I turned on .NET Framework 3.5 through the Control Panel, Turning Windows features on or off.
  2. I installed ReportViewer.exe
  3. I installed cr_net_2005_x86.msi
  4. I installed CRRedist2005_x86.msi
  5. I installed CRRedist2005_X64.msi

Five items, and I didn't know which one did the fix. So I suggest that if you are following my method, help me out by doing one-by-one, and noting which one does the fix, so I can update my post.

Hope this helps somebody, as it did me.

Till then!

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