XyWrite for Windows versus XP Pro/SP2

[Ed Reading ereading@xxxxxxxx]

This post records the pursuit of a XyWrite installation. My XyWrite for
Windows 4.12, which has been running for years on other machines, will not
run on my new XP machine.
I have been troubleshooting for two weeks now. I have read the relevant
information in the archive, saved almost 50 messages in a half-dozen
threads for reference, and followed the suggestions. This message responds
to those suggestions. Still, the program will not run and will not install.
I began by copying C:\XW whole from the predecessor machine (Windows 98SE
). Three different copying methods tried made no difference in the results:
USB cable transfer, then Zip disk copy, and finally Zip disk backup.
The XP machine has no floppy drive. To install the program I copied the
XyWrite program floppies, disk by disk, into three alternative locations:
1) ?C:\Xw Disks,? a directory created at the root, with a subdirectory for
each disk; then 2) onto a CD in the same fashion; and finally 3) all files
together at the root, C:\. No difference in results.
Yes, C:\XW is in the path. Two versions of autoexec are available; I tried
both. The one used on the old machine is simply ?path=C:\Xw?; I have a
*.bak copy on the XP. The active file on the XP is:

   C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE
   @Echo off
   Cls
   Break=on
   Path=C:\WINDOWS;c:\;c:\dos;c:\xw;c:\util
   Prompt=$e[35m$t$h$h$h$h$h$h $e[37m$p$e[35m$g $e[36m
   Ez
Any attempt to run XyWrite--either by selecting an icon or by
double-clicking the Xw.exe file--produces a flicker, but no program.
The installation program seems to want to run, but it chokes. Whether I use
?Run [path] Install.exe? or double-click ?Install.exe? directly, the
XyWrite screen comes up, then four or five dialog boxes, then an error box:

   System Error.
   Cannot read from Drive D.
   Cancel/Abort.
Selecting either Cancel or Abort returns the error box with the drive
letter changed, from Drive D to Drive E. (D and E are my CD drives, one RW
and one ROM. I don't know why the program seeks D or E; no drive on the
other machine was so labeled.)

Then a progress box runs-­zzzzzzzzip!­-and gives us this news:
?We are unable to continue installing XyWrite because of incompatibilities
with your system or its current configuration. Please try the following
strategies:

-    Close any other active Windows applications. [There weren?t any.]
-    Remove any RAM resident software temporarily. [I tried Safe Mode.]
-    Reassign your Windows temporary directory to a drive with plenty
of space available.... [I have 170 gigabytes free.]
-    Reboot the computer.

?If you are unable to install, please call for assistance.?
My response to this information was to try the setup in Safe Mode (no
difference in results), and then to change the properties on Install.exe
and Xw.exe to Compatibility Mode for Windows 98, the system on which the
program last ran. Ditto results.
Can anyone see a way out? Twenty years of my personal and professional
lives exist in XyWrite files.

-----------------
Ed Reading