Oh this isn't fair / I should have just let it be.
Environment:
XP / Win7 32 bit dual boot laptop
Source code folder common to both OS's as a local driver map on yet a 3rd partition.
The project is a com dll plugin to a commercial 3rd party host application that I don't have the source for. The dll plugin has a property page that the host app activates when a menu is clicked on the host application menu. There is no ONInitDialog() in the property page, just Activate() and Show().
Recently I got the idea that a tabbed interface on the property page would be better than the one page messy thing it is today. I ran into problem after problem with what I have surmised was modeless dialog launching modeless dialogs. This is speculation only as I just don't know.
After 4 tries, and reverting changes from the repository, I have given up for now but have been left with my XP setup damaged.
I can clean the solution, or clean the project and rebuild the solution or project under the windows 7 32 bit boot partition and have the property page launch. But if I dare do the same under the XP partition (home sweet home) then the DoDataExchange() finds that the hWnds for all the controls on the property page are NULL. (Internet says that means they are not created yet).
Ok, but if I then boot into Win7 and rebuild (clean or otherwise) it runs fine and then will run fine in XP too, until I dare do a clean again in XP. The image will then be broken until I rebuild it under windows 7.
I have an image of the XP from last month before all this silliness began that I can restore, but a finer fix would both serve me going forward and be less traumatic.
Thanks for reading.
:Ron