It has been years since I ran Pelles C so I installed the most recent release and I get the following message after trying to run poide:
Unable to start POIDE.EXE (error code 2)
Hi PabloMack,
Welcome back - I believe.
Not a lot of information provided - Error 2 is file not found.
Have you checked the shortcut properties?
Have you looked in "Program Files\PellesC\bin" for poide.exe?
I just did a clean install - worked fine. Windows 11, 25H2, 64bit of course.
You might just try uninstalling and re-install after re-downloading from
https://www.pellesc.se/
John Z
Hi Pablo,
Kindly, what is your operating system? Is the User Access Control enabled? Do you have any antivirus software? Are you operating under an administrative account?
Hi Pablo,
For 20+ years, I've kept C:\Pellesc\ in the root of my drive and I tell
Windows to exclude that folder from Windows Defender wanting to scan it.
I never have problems using Pelles C with that arrangement.
The main thing is: DO NOT use spaces in your folder name.
Sage advice IF one uses various Pelles C tools outside of the IDE.
However if staying within the IDE I've never had an issue with installing Pelles C into directories with spaces, all the way back to at least Windows ME :) .
My current install path C:\Program Files\PellesC_14_5\
My current source code path C:\Program Files\PellesC\Files\
even a path like C:\Program Files\PellesC\Files\BBBBuilder_PS - Copy (2) works without any problems.
I've never had Windows Defender flag Pelles C neither has my GData antivirus program. Although we've heard many stories about the 'free' antivirus programs flagging Pelles as well as programs built by Pelles C.
So just another viewpoint -
There is not enough information to be able to help Pablo until he posts more IMO.
John Z
I am running Windows 10. I installed PellesC in an Admin account for everyone but I am trying to use it under a non-privilege account.
Try it once with Admin account, if it check file like sysdefs.tag
An old Depends.exe might show if it fails with files.
Hi Pablo,
Did you remove the previous version of Pelles C? Any remnants from the old installation?
Quote from: MrBcx on July 18, 2026, 04:13:31 PMThe main thing is: DO NOT use spaces in your folder name.
Pelles C was tested from the start with spaces in the path. This has always worked here.
Quote from: PabloMack on July 19, 2026, 05:17:02 AMI am running Windows 10. I installed PellesC in an Admin account for everyone but I am trying to use it under a non-privilege account.
This have been tested in the past, but not recently. Then again, I doubt much have changed (in the installer at least)...
Quote from: Pelle on July 20, 2026, 03:22:29 PMQuote from: MrBcx on July 18, 2026, 04:13:31 PMThe main thing is: DO NOT use spaces in your folder name.
Pelles C was tested from the start with spaces in the path. This has always worked here.
Sorry ... I should have been more clear.
Eliminating spaces in paths is a tenet that I adopted long ago. I did encounter problems
with paths containing spaces in the past. Regardless of the cause(s), those instances
were always resolved by changing to unambiguous paths.
This computer has never had Pelles C installed on it before.
I uninstalled it and then reinstalled it to C:\PellesC
I now run a batch file with the following contents after running cmd.exe:
@echo off
set PellesCDir=C:\PellesC
rem
set PATH=%PellesCDir%\Bin;%PATH%;C:\bin;D:\Pelles\bin
set INCLUDE=%PellesCDir%\Include;%PellesCDir%\Include\Win;%INCLUDE%
set LIB=%PellesCDir%\Lib;%PellesCDir%\Lib\Win64;%LIB%
Strange thing is that I still get the same failure after typing:
poide<CR>
Unable to start POIDE.EXE (error code 2)
But if I explicitly type: C:\PellesC\Bin\poide<CR> it runs just fine.
Quote from: PabloMack on July 20, 2026, 11:07:41 PMThis computer has never had Pelles C installed on it before.
I uninstalled it and then reinstalled it to C:\PellesC
I now run a batch file with the following contents after running cmd.exe:
@echo off
set PellesCDir=C:\PellesC
rem
set PATH=%PellesCDir%\Bin;%PATH%;C:\bin;D:\Pelles\bin
set INCLUDE=%PellesCDir%\Include;%PellesCDir%\Include\Win;%INCLUDE%
set LIB=%PellesCDir%\Lib;%PellesCDir%\Lib\Win64;%LIB%
Strange thing is that I still get the same failure after typing:
poide<CR>
Unable to start POIDE.EXE (error code 2)
But if I explicitly type: C:\PellesC\Bin\poide<CR> it runs just fine.
Your batch file is modified from PoVars64.bat which is found in your PellesC\bin\ folder
When you scrape off all the obvious non-Pelles path folders, your batch file leaves you with this:
PATH=C:\PellesC\Bin;C:\bin;D:\Pelles\bin
I suggest running PoVars64.bat instead of your batch file and then try running your experiment.
Quote from: MrBcx on July 21, 2026, 01:24:57 AMYour batch file is modified from PoVars64.bat which is found in your PellesC\bin\ folder
When you scrape off all the obvious non-Pelles path folders, your batch file leaves you with this:
PATH=C:\PellesC\Bin;C:\bin;D:\Pelles\bin
I suggest running PoVars64.bat instead of your batch file and then try running your experiment.
I did as you suggested and I get the same result.
Quote from: PabloMack on July 20, 2026, 11:07:41 PMStrange thing is that I still get the same failure after typing:
poide<CR>
Unable to start POIDE.EXE (error code 2)
But if I explicitly type: C:\PellesC\Bin\poide<CR> it runs just fine.
At the cmd prompt type set <ret> to verify the PATH variable is actually set correctly and not overridden by something else.
Or
Use echo %PATH% to just see it.
C:\Program Files\PellesC_14_5\Bin>echo %PATH%
C:\Program Files\PellesC_14_5\Bin;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\WINDOWS\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files\dotnet\;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\;C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;Also as a crazy idea just try using poide.exe
John Z
Also if you cd to PellesC bin directory and type poide does it run?
Quote from: PabloMack on July 21, 2026, 02:47:08 AMQuote from: MrBcx on July 21, 2026, 01:24:57 AMYour batch file is modified from PoVars64.bat which is found in your PellesC\bin\ folder
When you scrape off all the obvious non-Pelles path folders, your batch file leaves you with this:
PATH=C:\PellesC\Bin;C:\bin;D:\Pelles\bin
I suggest running PoVars64.bat instead of your batch file and then try running your experiment.
I did as you suggested and I get the same result.
Bummer -- I'm out of ideas at the moment. Hopefully someone can help unravel this.
Try using poide.exe, not poide, as in same folder is poide.com
Hi Pablo,
Try to check your operating system with sfc /scannow.
Quote from: John Z on July 21, 2026, 02:48:26 AMAlso as a crazy idea just try using poide.exe
John Z
Also if you cd to PellesC bin directory and type poide does it run?
If you do this it will run. I can duplicate what you are seeing. Just use poide.exe and it will run after you execute one of the povars batch file.
I got the same 'error' when just using
poide outside of the bin directory.
C:\Program Files\PellesC_14_5\Bin>povars64.bat
Setting 64-bit environment for Pelles C...
C:\Program Files\PellesC_14_5\Bin>echo %path%
C:\Program Files\PellesC_14_5\Bin;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\WINDOWS\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files\dotnet\;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\;C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;
C:\Program Files\PellesC_14_5\Bin>poide <<< worked in BIN directory >>>
C:\Program Files\PellesC_14_5\Bin>cd\
C:\>poide <<< top level C drive
Unable to start POIDE.EXE (error code 2) <<<- didn't work from top level C drive >>>
C:\>poide.exe <<<- worked from top level of C drive >>>
Another option is to just rename poide.com to no_poide.com - then using poide at the top level of C drive also works. Two options -
John Z
When I type echo %ROOT% I get:
%ROOT%
It did run when typing the whole thing "poide.exe".
Hi Pablo,
There is no any environment variable named ROOT on Windows.
Quote from: John Z on July 21, 2026, 10:48:14 AMAnother option is to just rename poide.com to no_poide.com - then using poide at the top level of C drive also works. Two options -
John Z
Wow! That explains it. poide.com ran and printed the message. Thank you. I thought that Windows 10's cmd was working differently from that of Windows 7. You spared me from having to type four extra characters every time I needed to run poide. Much appreciated.