Trouble restarting exe - c++

Question

I need to restart the program that im working on after an update has been downloaded except im running into some issues.
If i use CreateProcess nothing happens, if i use ShellExecute i get an 0xC0150002 error and if i use ShellExecute with the command "runas" it works fine. I can start the command prompt fine using CreateProcess and ShellExecute just not the same exe again and dont want to use runas as this will elevate the exe.
Any Ideas?
Windows 7, visual studio 2008 c++
alt text http://lodle.net/shell_error.jpg
CreateProcess:
char exePath[255];
GetModuleFileName(NULL, exePath, 255);
size_t exePathLen = strlen(exePath);
for (size_t x=exePathLen; x>0; x--)
{
if (exePath[x] == '\\')
break;
else
exePath[x] = '\0';
}
char name[255];
GetModuleFileName(NULL, name, 255);
PROCESS_INFORMATION ProcInfo = {0};
STARTUPINFO StartupInfo = {0};
BOOL res = CreateProcess(name, "-wait", NULL, NULL, false, 0, NULL, exePath, &StartupInfo, &ProcInfo );
ShellExecute:
char exePath[255];
GetModuleFileName(NULL, exePath, 255);
size_t exePathLen = strlen(exePath);
for (size_t x=exePathLen; x>0; x--)
{
if (exePath[x] == '\\')
break;
else
exePath[x] = '\0';
}
char name[255];
GetModuleFileName(NULL, name, 255);
INT_PTR r = (INT_PTR)ShellExecute(NULL, "runas", name, "-wait", exePath, SW_SHOW);

Answer 1

CreateProcess() is an arcane beast. I remember unfondly my first frustrations with it. You should look at the Microsoft CreateProcess Example and the CreateProcess Page. (those links likely have a short lifetime, Googling CreateProcess should work just as well).
I can see 3 problems in your code.
StartupInfo must have "cb" set to the structure size:
STARTUPINFO StartupInfo = {0};
StartupInfo.cb = sizeof(StartupInfo);
The second argument requires both the command and the arguments to form the command line. Your program will see "-wait" as argv[0] and ignore it or pay it no mind.
char command[512];
sprintf(command, "%s -wait", name);
BOOL res = CreateProcess(name, command, // and as you had before
You don't look at GetLastError() if CreateProcess() fails (by returning a zero). It may have helped you but I suspect it would just say "invalid argument" or somesuch. Hey, there's only 10 of them to check, don't be lazy :-)
Another bug I committed is not closing the hProcess and/or hThread handles return in PROCESS_INFORMATION when I was done. I did do hProcess, but not hThread.

Answer 2

Looks like a manifest or registry question judging from the error code. If you can't get the actual error message string for more details, you might try:
moving every possible manifest file (Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest and the like) into your exe's directory, to ensure accessibility
cleanly and completely uninstall/wipe out old versions of DLL you may have installer newer versions of (I suggest: uninstall EVERY version, clean the registry with a sweep-clean tool such as Norton's, reinstall the new stuff from scratch)

Answer 3

What happens if you run the process using system()? It gives you less control, but you'll be running it from the same context you're running in. Also, Try monitoring the launch of your second process using ProcMon, it might give you the hint you need about the source of the failure.

Answer 4

Ok worked it all out in the end.
The first time my exe ran it used the default paths and as such loaded vld (a leak detector dll) from the default path. However in the exe i modified the dll path to be the bin folder ([app]\bin) when i restarted the exe using CreateProcess it picked up on a different vld dll (this was my mistake) that had incorrect side by side linkage and it was only after looking at event viewer that i worked it out.
Thanks for all your help.