For one of the many usual reasons, I had to wipe my c:\ hard drive and re-install Vista Home Premium and all my software.

specifically, I followed the directions in http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/install-python-for-gimp-2-6-windows.html to get Python-Fu working again -- NOT!

Specifically, the first recommended step is to get Python 2.6. The hot link from the above page to http://python.org/download/releases/ vectors you to the Python 2.6.7 page whence you can get ONLY the source code for the latest revision of Python 2.6. Well I don't know how to compile C++ code but I did search Google for "Python 2.6" and found http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.6/ which allowed me to download python-2.6.6.msi which seemed to install Python in c:\Phthon26.

Going back to the GimpUsers tutorial, I next hotlinked to PyGTK Downloads at http://www.pygtk.org/downloads.html and tried to install the recommended all-in-one installer: pygtk-all-in-one-2.24.0.win32-py2.6.msi. Alas, it bombed out because something that whomever put the installer package together was supposed to set in some table somewhere, TARGETDIR, was somehow wonky. Well, that was way over my pay-grade so I fell back on getting PyGTK, PyCairo, and PyGObject from:

http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/binaries/win32/pygtk/2.24/ - pygtk-2.24.0.win32-py2.6.exe http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/binaries/win32/pycairo/1.8/ - pycairo-1.8.10.win32-py2.6.exe http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/binaries/win32/pygobject/2.28/ - pygobject-2.8.3.win32-py2.6.exe

They installed just fine. Then I re-installed GIMP as per the tutorial. But when I tried to run GIMP, I got a zillion error messages, all saying that "The procedure entry point g_malloc_n could not be located in the dynamic link library libglib-2.0.0.dll." followed by Microsoft Windows saying that "unsharp-mask.exe has stopped working." Followed by the same error message for softglow.exe, etc., etc. I gave up and used Task Manager to shut down the GIMP installer.

I suspect I am in the well-known "DLL hell." Firstly it is my dim understanding that some DLLs do not, in fact, contain executable code and contain, instead, just "pointers" to who-knows-what, who-knows-where. Secondly, as DLLs got updated by who-knows-whom, this or that program, that used a common DLL, needed this or that prior revision of the DLL -- which turned out to be a huge mess (hence the term "DLL hell"). Which problem was "cured" in Vista by simply saving EVERY version of EVERYTHING in a huge hidden file.

The Python people are up to version 3.7 or so and we GIMPers are still using version 2.6. I tried as hard as I could to get all the right versions of Python, PyGTK, PyCairo, and PyGOject. Python-fu usta-did-work for me before my re-install. Can anybody tell me where I went wrong and what I should install instead of the above and/or what to do about the DLL(s) in the error message? HELP!

For one of the many usual reasons, I had to wipe my c:\ hard drive and re-install Vista Home Premium and all my software.

specifically, I followed the directions in http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/install-python-for-gimp-2-6-windows.html to get Python-Fu working again -- NOT!

Can anybody tell me where I went wrong and what I should install instead of the above and/or what to do about the DLL(s) in the error message? HELP!

I've had a similar experience with python 2.6, the all-in-one package has not improved things. I also followed that tutorial to no avail.

Helping someone install python in win7 a couple of weeks ago and various combinations from latest-to-older of cairo-gobject-gtk failed. In the end resorted to python 2.5 which at least does work. I dare say that there will be python scripts that will not work with 2.5 but so far photivo launcher, gurm, etc work.

These are the packages I know do work pycairo-1.4.12-2.win32-py2.5.exe
pygobject-2.14.2-2.win32-py2.5.exe
pygtk-2.12.1-3.win32-py2.5.exe
python-2.5.4.msi

And FWIW a video installing in Win7 (about 5 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5G3U1hKlxo

If you do find a mix of python 2.6 that works please inform & I will be eternally grateful.

Sir, you are a scholar and a gentleman and all of the above worked like a charm and GIMP now starts just fine. However, I had all kinds of Python 2.6 stuff lurking on my PC. Here is how a hard-bitten (because I have been bitten hard many times by Windows) Windows victim...er...I mean Windows user cleans up his or her PC:

How to really un-install software.

1. Go to http://eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm and download and install the Eusing Free Registry Cleaner. 2. Go to Start - Computer, find your hard drive (c:\), select it, on the Windows Explorer Toolbar, click on Organize, and then Folder and Search Options. In the tabbed wizard that comes up, click on the View tab, and then click on the radio button that reads "Show hidden files and folders," click "Apply" and then click "Apply to Folders" and click Yes in the little box that pops up. Close Windows Explorer and open it right back up again. 3. Go to C:\windows\system32 and scroll down until you see "regedit32" or "regedit32.exe" (depending on whether you have the stupidest Windows default ever -- "Hide extensions for known file types" -- checked in the aforementioned "Folder and Search Options" wizard), right click on it and select "Run as an administrator." 4. Try uninstalling all the Python-related software usi9ng the Windows installer. If you do not know how to do this, RTFM (read the "fine" manual!). That is, fire up the Windows help menu and look up "uninstall." 5. Chances are, the Windows uninstaller will leave bits and pieces of Python all over the place which might mess things up. Let's vaporize everything! 5a. Open Windows Explorer and delete the Phython folder (ex. C:\Phthon26). 5b. Above the usual "C:\Program files" you should now see the hidden "C:\Program data" folder. Poke around in its sub-folders and delete anything that looks Python-ish. 5c. Find C:\users. Under this folder should be a sub-folder for each "user" on your PC. Open each one, look for an "AppData" folder. Under the "AppData" folder will be a bunch of sub-folders. Open each one and delete anything Python-ish. 5d. This is hard-core Windows stuff but it has to be done. In the Registry Editor navigation pane are two folders: HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Open each one. Go down to "software." Open each "software" and delete anything that looks Python-ish. Then close RegEdit. 6. Run the Eusing Free Registry Cleaner. When it comes up, click Skip on the registration wizard. Then click on Scan registry issuers. When the scan finishes (you will probably see some Python-ish stuff in the list), click on Repair registry issues. After that finishes, close the Cleaner.

Now all the Python 2.5 stuff should install cleanly.

Chuck "The Technomasochist" Small