>>>I'm so confused!!! Reading all the threads regarding DCOM95, and DCOM98 I wonder: Which one should I use?! DCOM98 is right on my VFP6 installation cd. DCOM95 has to be downloaded from MS. Can I distribute these with my application legally? If it gets installed when they don't need it, will that cause a problem? Does anyone know if I can distribute IE4 and NTSP3 that come on my VFP6 disk? Thanks to anyone who can end my confusion.
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>>Both DCOM98 and the version 1.2 of DCOM95 are redistributable. Both should identify their appropriate environments, and refuse to install where they are inappropriate.
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>>IE4 can be redistributed with an application; you'll need to contact Microsoft on their Web page as to the requirements for redistribution of IE4. There are licensing and reporting requirements involved.
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>>I don't know what the status of redistribution of SP3 or SP4 are; you'll definitely have problems with redistribution of SP4's 128 bit version if there's even a remote chance of it ending up outside the US. I'd check to make certain that SP3 or SP4 has been installed, and point the user to a source to get it, but would not integrate the SP installs into your distribution.
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>Thank you for the valuable information. I still am a little confused about whether I should be sending DCOM98 or DCOM95 with my application. Are these basically the same? Is DCOM98 a newer version of DCOM95?

DCOM98 contains updated DCOM components for both Win98 and Win95; the DCOM95 on Microsoft's Web page is for Win95 specifically. Win98 installations should already have DCOM installed, since IE4 is a base part of the operating system, and I'd rely on the components being updated from Microsoft's Windows Update page on the web instead of distributing and trying to install it on Win98 yourself.

You need to be aware that the DCOM95/DCOM98 components, if they run, will cause the user's system to reboot, as would installing one of the Service packs under NT. If you incorporate the DCOM installation into your install, you'll need to write a split install that can restart itself following a reboot. I'd recommend instead that you check for the registry key put in place by DCOM, and then have the user install DCOM through an appropriate mechanism outside of your install (install DCOM95/98 for 95/98, install SP3 or SP4 for NT, or install IE4 for any of them) and abort your install there. The registry key left on the system by installing DCOM is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\OLE; there will be a registry value called EnableDCOM if the necessary DCOM is installed under any of the operating systems.