H&R Block TaxCut

What works

Installer

Running the program

Doing taxes works

Printing PDF of taxes works

To install and run the program, all you need is to follow these steps, use winetricks:

1.) winetricks IE8

2.) winetricks vcrun6

3.) winetricks vcrun2005

4.) winetricks mspatcha  

5.) Follow directions in "step 2" in the comments below once the program is installed to add state add-ons for local taxes.

What does not

Help screens do not work, not important since you can goto the internet using any browser and view the same help on the product website.

Windows installer reports an error during initial install, during updates, and during State installation. It shows the command line options and the window is titled "Error".  BUT it is safe to ignore this error, as the installer continues as soon as you click close.

Workarounds

What was not tested

e-filing a return

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

Manual Step 1: (no longer needed) goto step 2 UPDATE!! 'winetricks mspatcha' is now working! Huge thanks to the winetricks guys! Here's the guide on how to do it manually in case you're into it. /UPDATE!! MANUAL version of "winetricks mspatcha" skip this guide if "winetricks mspatcha" is available yet. It was not available at the time of writing, so use this easy guide instead: download "InstMsiA.exe" installer binary from MS: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=CEBBACD8-C094-4255-B702-DE3BB768148F run wine InstMsiA.exe /C this prompts where to extract the files instead of installing. Browse for a temp directory to extract the files to. Find "mspatcha.dll" in the directory you chose above. Place mspatcha.dll into c:\windows\system32\ Overwrite the file that currently exists. Create an override in winecfg to use native mspatcha I will try to create a winetricks mspatcha to handle all this. This idea was found here from Focht on how to workaround the known MSI patching issue: http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=12501#c23 -------- Manual Step 2 How to install a specific state program for your local tax forms: Goto "Tools" menu in the program, click "Get state program". Click through and choose the state you need. you only get one state per installation. Tell the updater to close and update right away. It will download and install it BUT It errors out at end of install complaining about missing .dll file. The main program will open again and tell you that you need to buy state now. Ignore this and close the program. Now browse here to get the actual setup file for the state on the "c:" of wine, it can be found here: c:/users/Public/Application Data/TaxCut/2011/Downloads "HRBlockID.exe" is the file you need from that location. I chose "Idaho" for my state. Your's may be "HRBlockCA.exe" if you chose california. Copy that file somewhere safe. now Run: wine HRBlockID.exe Choose to uninstall the program in the wizard that appears. Find a folder named "0" in one of these directories (it may be in a few different places, but you only need one copy) (the folder itself isn't hidden, but the contents are, so you may need to do "ls -la" to see them. /home//HRBlock/0 The "0" folder contains the missing files and folders for the state install to work. For some reason they get placed here. Inside of "0" find these two folders: "Help" "Program" Inside the "Program" folder there will be a folder called "State" copy that folder to c:\Program Files\HRBlock2011\Program\ Inside the "Help" folder there will be a folder called "State" copy that folder to c:\Program Files\HRBlock2011\Help\ Now, go and run this command, from where ever you put the HRBlockID.exe file: wine HRBlockID.exe /S /v/qb Now state is installed. Go do your taxes.