PRB: Data Path Errors Starting SourceSafe

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This article was previously published under Q136401

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SYMPTOMS

When you start Visual SourceSafe 4.0 or 5.0, one of the following error messages might appear:

Invalid Data Path

Cannot find initialization variable "Data_Path"

Invalid DOS path

When you start Visual SourceSafe 6.0, one of the following error messages might appear:

The SourceSafe database path <path> does not exist. Please select another database.

Invalid DOS path: <File Path>

Invalid handle

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These errors occur when a client installation does not properly define the path to the SourceSafe server's SRCSAFE.INI in the client's SRCSAFE.INI file (#include) or the server's SRCSAFE.INI does not contain a valid SourceSafe database location.

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RESOLUTION

After installing the Visual SourceSafe server, always use NETSETUP.EXE to install the client installations. NETSETUP.EXE is found in the SourceSafe server directory.

Be sure to check that:

The client's SRCSAFE.INI include path is a valid path to the server's SRCSAFE.INI location.
If using the 16 bit client, ensure that the client's SRCSAFE.INI #include path uses the 16-bit path, such as the following:
#include d:\<path>\vss_se~1\srcsafe.ini
The server's SRCSAFE.INI DATA_PATH setting points to a valid SourceSafe server DATA directory.

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