a general HOWTO to get any windows App working in Wine?

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winzer
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a general HOWTO to get any windows App working in Wine?

Post by winzer »

So, i've been searching and searching and haven't found a HOWTO/walkthru/flowchart document to get a generic windows app working under Wine (that is not in appdb, etc)

Perhaps a document/walkthru/flowchart that show the general process of how to isolate errors/issues and resolve them.

E.g. it would seem to me that before installing any app one should be able to figure out the file dependencies that app would require.

Perhaps I'm wrong? Do we simply rely on the installed app to complain about what is missing? Cause my vb6 based legacy app isn't doing it and I'm completely stuck

I am not a programmer etc but can a program like "Dependency Walker" (https://www.raymond.cc/blog/check-what- ... -software/) help resolve this? if yes, how exactly?

Or can I somehow install the app in to a virgin windows environment (like a VM )and figure out what the app installed/modified and then be able to replicate for Wine? if yes, how do i do that?
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dimesio
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Re: a general HOWTO to get any windows App working in Wine?

Post by dimesio »

winzer wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 9:50 pm Perhaps I'm wrong? Do we simply rely on the installed app to complain about what is missing?
Basically, yes, though it's more that we rely on Wine to tell us what's missing rather than the app itself. Checking the app's system requirements may tell you some things ahead of time, such as the version of .NET an app requires, but mostly you just have to try the app and see what happens.

The wiki has lots of useful information.
https://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ
https://wiki.winehq.org/Wine_User%27s_Guide
https://wiki.winehq.org/Debug_Channels
https://wiki.winehq.org/Wine_Developer% ... ug_Logging
Or can I somehow install the app in to a virgin windows environment (like a VM )and figure out what the app installed/modified and then be able to replicate for Wine? if yes, how do i do that?
Some people have managed to get an app to run in Wine by installing it in Windows and then copying over the installed files and registry keys to the wineprefix. That's difficult and unlikely to work, but could be worth a try if all else fails.
winzer
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Re: a general HOWTO to get any windows App working in Wine?

Post by winzer »

OK thanks, will read your suggestions.
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