MainBoss Newswire
October 2001
Topics:
· Maintenance 2001 in Paris, November 20 – 22, 2001. Booth # B05
· PMExpo 2001 in Toronto, November 28 – 30, 2001. Booth # 2038
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1. The benefits of using Windows NT/2000/XP over Windows
95/98/ME
The MainBoss Support Center receives numerous calls from customers who report a sporadic crash of the MainBoss program, a printer related problem, or a general slowness when opening menus of MainBoss. Almost all of these customers use a Windows 95/98 operating system on their workstations and/or for their server. While we try our best to help these customers with their concerns, many of the problems are due to using a Windows95/98 operating system. In-house testing comparing Windows 98 versus Windows NT revealed that opening a menu item in MainBoss (Inventory->New Purchase Order) took as much as 34 times longer when the operating system of the computer holding the database was Windows 98 rather then Windows NT. Following are some examples of problems reported by MainBoss customers using Windows 95/98:
· Using Windows 95 or Windows 98 with a certain type of HP printer caused MainBoss reports to print with missing digits/letters/logos. This problem is directly related to an incorrect printer driver that was shipped with Microsoft Windows. Customers are required to get updated drivers from HP.
· Trying to install MainBoss 2.8 from the MainBoss CD onto a Windows 95 machine, a system error appeared indicating that the machine was running out of resources. At this point the machine froze and the user had to reboot the computer.
· Creating a new Work Order in MainBoss on a Windows 98 machine caused a stack overflow message to occur, which caused the system to crash. The error could not be reproduced on a Windows NT/2000 machine using the same customer database.
· Customers using Windows 95 or 98 in conjunction with an HP printer: during a MainBoss printing operation, the computer would freeze or the program would crash on a random basis. Customers, who had both Windows NT/2000 workstations and Windows 95/98 workstations, reported that this problem did not occur on Windows NT/2000.
· Customers using a Windows 95 machine as their server and/or for their workstations have complained about a general slowness in operating the MainBoss program.
· Windows 95 OEM Service Releases 2 and 2.1 (OSR2 and OSR2.1) have a bug that reports incorrect information to MainBoss software. Because of this bug, Windows 95 occasionally gives the wrong size for a database file, indicating that the file is shorter than it actually is. When MainBoss writes new data to what is supposed to be the end of the file, this new data actually overwrites existing data. Microsoft has created a patch that will fix the bug. To obtain the correction, go to http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q174/3/71.asp
To ensure the most efficient and effective operation of your MainBoss software, especially when MainBoss is being accessed over a network, we recommend the use of Windows 2000/XP Professional for running MainBoss. Windows XP and 2000 contain numerous optimizations for fast interactions over a network; for some reason, these optimizations were never put into Windows 95/98, and therefore network operations run much slower. Not only will users generally notice an improvement in speed, but they will also experience a reduction in random system crashes and fewer problems in conjunction with other software such as anti-virus software or printer drivers. In Windows 95 and Windows 98, programs are not protected from each other. This may cause other programs to interfere and cause problems in MainBoss. Windows NT/2000/XP do have the program protection in place, resulting in greater program stability. In addition, you should be aware that Microsoft will no longer be supporting Windows 95 after December 31, 2001 (see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle.asp for more information).
However, if you are unable to upgrade your Windows 95/98 computers, the following may help reduce or avoid problems:
1. Reboot your Windows 95/98 machine every day.
2. Make regular backups of your MainBoss database.
3. Ensure that if you are running Windows 95 OEM Service Releases 2 or 2.1, you install the patch from http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q174/3/71.asp
4. Visit your printer manufacturer’s website to obtain the latest drivers for your printer.
5. Reindex your MainBoss database on a regular basis (Administration -> Database ->Reindex). Depending on how much work you do in MainBoss, reindexing should be performed at least once a month.
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2. MainBoss Customer Survey
We invite all MainBoss customers to participate in a customer survey. This survey is available on the MainBoss website and can be filled out online. Please go to www.mainboss.com and click on the Customer Survey button found on the home page or go directly to www.mainboss.com/english/support/survey.shtml
For those that do not have web access,
a copy of the survey can be emailed, faxed, or mailed to you. Please contact
Daniela at daniela@mainboss.com for more
information.
The person from each company who fills
out the survey will receive a free Golf Shirt! Note that you must supply the
serial number of your MainBoss software in order to receive the Golf Shirt. The
serial number can be found by opening your MainBoss program and clicking on
Help-> About. The survey will take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
Please take the time to provide us with feedback on MainBoss so that we can
incorporate your suggestions into making your CMMS program better meet your
needs.
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3. Did you know: Clearing a selection from a pull
down menu.
When you select an item from a pull down menu (for
example, from the work category list when creating a new work order) but then
realize that you would like to leave this field blank, there are two easy ways
to clear the field. In order to clear your selection you can either:
1.
Click your right mouse button on the down arrow beside the
selection field (for example the down arrow that refers to the work category
drop down list) and click on ‘Clear Selection’; or
2.
Highlight the field entry (for example in your work category field it
may now say Electrical; therefore highlight Electrical) and press the CTRL and
DEL buttons on our keyboard at the same time. This will bring up the
pull down list for that field but make the actual field blank. Just click
anywhere inside the MainBoss window to close the pull down menu.
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4.
MainBoss welcomes new Partners in USA, Canada, Dominican Republic, and
Trinidad!
MainBoss is please to announce that the following Representatives have joined the MainBoss team:
·
Randy Ward covering Ontario
·
Ave Romulo Betancourt covering the Dominican
Republic
·
Paula-Marie Granado covering Trinidad
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5. Upcoming Tradeshows:
· Maintenance 2001 will be held in Paris, France from November 20 to 22, 2001. MainBoss will be demonstrated at Booth # B05.
· PMExpo 2001, Canada’s largest property management show, will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from November 28 to 30, 2001. MainBoss will be demonstrated at Booth # 2038. Visit www.pmexpo.com for more information.
Daniela Schumann
Phone: 800-563-0894 ext. 214 or 519-895-1860 ext.214
Fax: 519-895-1864
E-mail: daniela@mainboss.com
www.mainboss.com