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Question |
Is Investor/RT compatible with Windows Vista? |
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Answer |
Answer: Version 9.0 of Investor/RT is not Vista compatible, but can be
run in Windows XP compatibility mode. Investor/RT 9.1 is Windows Vista
compatible. Below, we first discuss how version 9.0 operates under Vista
and then how 9.1 achieves Vista compatibility, and how to transition
from 9.0 to
9.1 to begin running Investor/RT as a Windows Vista compliant
application.
If you run Version 9.0 as Administrator, Investor/RT operates as it does
under Windows XP. The Investor/RT database and other files within the
install folder in Program Files are updated as the application runs.
Running the software with administrative access is not recommended by
Microsoft.
Users who run Investor/RT this way are greeted with warnings each time
the software is launched and must click to "allow" the program to run in
this fashion.
Version 9.0 can be run without administrative privileges if you setup
the program properties to run in XP/SP2 compatibility mode. When run
this way, Vista does not issue the warnings; Vista does not allow the
program to update files inside the Program Files either; instead Vista
makes hidden copies of the Investor/RT database files inside a "Virtual
Store Program Files" folder in the user folder and updates all
Investor/RT files there.
This Vista technique, called File Virtualization, enables Investor/RT to
run without administrative access. The problem with this technique is
that when you startup Investor/RT and run as administrator, the database
in use is the database whose files are inside the real Program Files
install folder. But if you startup without administrative access, Vista
uses versions of those files stored elsewhere. The files will generally
not be "in sync". This can be quite confusing needless to say. So with
version 9.1 we have developed a way to allow Investor/RT to run with
normal user access permissions where Investor/RT keeps the database and
other files it uses in a user-specific folder.
Version 9.1 is Windows Vista compatible, subject to one minor limitation
discussed below. Investor/RT can run as a normal Windows Vista
application without administrative access. To accomplish this
Investor/RT creates a folder named "IRT" within the "user folder" where
the user has permission to read and write files. This "IRT" folder will
appear along side "Documents"
and other familiar Windows Vista folders. The first time you run
Investor/RT without XP/SP2 Compatibility mode enabled, Investor/RT will
create the "IRT"
folder. It will create subfolders within "IRT" named admin, news,
tickdata, and data_f. The empty data_f folder is where Investor/RT
expects to find the Investor/RT database files. Investor/RT will then
quit after instructing you to copy your data_f folder into the "IRT"
folder. The data_f folder you will copy there is found inside the
Investor/RT install folder (typically inside Program Files, see below
for more details). After copying the data_f folder into the "IRT"
folder, start up Investor/RT. The software will then use the "IRT"
folder as its working folder and expect to find the database there.
Investor/RT does not require "Run As Administrator" any longer since it
does not update files within Program Files. Instead, the Investor/RT
database and all other files the software modifies reside inside the
user folder where, by definition, the local user has read and write
permission.
Windows Vista compatibility is available to Vista users whose user
folder name (Vista user name) is 16 characters or less in length. This
restriction is related to technical limitations on directory path length
imposed by the database management system Investor/RT uses internally.
Those with Vista user names that exceed this length can run Investor/RT
in XP/SP2 compatibility mode.
Existing Investor/RT users may continue to run Investor/RT Version 9.1
in
XP/SP2 compatibility mode. If you elect to do this, unlike version 9.0,
you must setup Investor/RT to Run as Administrator. Running the software
in this fashion leads to Vista prompting messages "allowing" Investor/RT
to start.
Existing Investor/RT users who wish to run Investor/RT as a Vista
compliant application can make this transition quickly. Right-click on
the Investor/RT executable and choose "Properties". Uncheck XP/SP2
compatibility and "Run as Administrator". Create the "IRT" folder
yourself and put your data_f folder into the "IRT" folder. When you
startup Investor/RT without XP/SP2 compatibility, the software will
detect that the "IRT" folder and the database files are present; it will
create the other subfolders as needed (admin, news, tickdata) and begin
execution as Vista compatible.
Or, you can Start Investor/RT; it will setup the "IRT" folder, give you
instructions, and quit. Move the data_f folder from the install folder
into the "IRT" folder and startup again. If you have been running
Investor/RT as administrator then the data_f you copy will be the one in
the Investor/RT install directory in Program Files. If you have not been
running version 9.0 as administrator, then you will find the data_f
folder nested deeply inside a folder named "AppData" in your user
folder. If you do not see AppData in your user folder, click on
"Organize" and select "Folder & Search Options".
In the "View" tab, select the option "Show Hidden Files and Folders".
You will then see the AppData folder; open it and follow the path .../AppData/Local/Virtual
Store/Program File. Inside this virtual Program Files folder you will
find a Investor/RT folder with the data_f folder inside. Copy this
data_f into your user folder's "IRT" folder.
Investor/RT users installing for the first time on a machine (or for the
first time for a user account on the Vista machine) will startup
Investor/RT by default as a Vista compatible application. The software
will create the "IRT" folder as described above, provide instructions
for doing the copy and quit. This copy step is a one-time inconvenience;
but we plan to explore ways to have this happen automatically in future
versions of Investor/RT and/or Investor/RT installers.
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