Workaround for Dynamics GP install on 64-bit Windows

I ran into an issue when installing GP 9.0 on a couple of brand-new servers with 64-bit Server 2003 on them.  The servers will be used for Citrix, so they need to have an install identical to the rest of the GP clients for everything to function consistently.  However installing the 32-bit Dynamics GP application on 64-bit Windows results in the client folder ending up in C:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft Dynamics\GP.  We have a ton of VBA code with references to files in the default client location, which didn't want to function.  To redirect those references would require our developers to keep two separate code libraries.  In addition the home page didn't seem to function correctly, as it was missing the headers for each of the sections, as pictured here.  The home page seemed to have an issue with the (x86) in the path, because as soon as I installed GP9 outside of C:\Program Files(x86), it worked fine.

After working with support at Microsoft, who seemed puzzled as to why it was installing in C:\Program Files(x86), which appears to be standard behavior when installing a 32-bit app on 64-bit Windows, we ended up coming up with a work-around.  We installed GP 9 to C:\Microsoft Dynamics\GP, then created an empty C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics\GP folder.  Then we created a junction point, which redirected the empty C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics\GP folder to C:\Microsoft Dynamics\GP.  All of the vba code now functions correctly and the home page seems to be happy as long as it's not installed to C:\Program Files(x86). 

Comments

[Georgiann Diedricks]

welcome, that one good thought.. :-O