> If I then copy the exe to the program directory the 'Cannot load Foxpro Resources' error come up again. I can pass the exe a parameter which tells it where the data is located. If I run the exe as "vcars c:\vcars" from the update directory all is well. I know that this is somehow related to the DBC or Stonefield files but have no understanding of the mechanism. If someone could explain this to me I would be most appreciative.

You've got VFP resource DLLs that are out of sync with the version the EXE is looking for, and somehow the EXE is finding the out-of-sync DLL sometimes. Search the drive for vfp7r.dll and check the version numbers on the ones that you find.

Alternatively, it's just not finding the DLLs at all, and specifying the path as a parameter starts the program in a directory with the runtime DLLs.