Computer Meltdown

[David55]

Hi All

My computer which is currently running XP has decided to meet its maker.

I have read somewhere that on windows 7 there has been a problem with the elite. There was also something about 32 and 64.

Question is: if I get windows

7, which is the best one and will I be able to re install the Railmaster disc on it or will I need a new code. I have a back up system, will this put my plans/trains back on automatically or will there be a problem because I have run this on XP?.

[poliss]

The best Windows 7 is Windows XP. Bought a new laptop with Windoze 7 on it. Did I buy Wondoze 7 for my ailing desktop? No way Josie, bought an XP disk for it.

[Mike_G]

Hi David

drivers are different
I run with Win7 ( 64bit )
with correct drivers ( see notice on this site ) should be no problem
I have the dvd version and it is now timed out for some reason
to install on a different computer you need

to deregister it on the first one
as you cant do this dur to it waving its legs in the air
contact customer service and they will deregister it for you at their end
then do the install

dont forget helpline/customer service closed 16:00 Fridays

and dont open again till Monday

rgds
Mike

[Augustus Caesar]

Hi David

Being a PC techie of many years standing I can safely tell you that Windows 7 is a very good OS compared to XP. If you decide to go down this route then 64 bit is better, faster and safer than 32 bit. It will also 'future proof' you when

buying newer software/hardware etc.

Windows XP is an excellent system for helping to identify and diagnose faults with so much stuff. There are an abundance of tools that will aid in that area too. The interface is simple and easy to find one's way

around and doesn't demand huge drive space. However, it is not the most stable OS and recovery can be a nightmare depending upon what crashes the system.

Windows Vista is Microsoft's first attempt at a Win 7 type OS and because of all the issues surrounding

drivers and User Access Controls (UAC's) for security it never really took off. It became a techies nightmare.

Windows 7 is much improved and far more stable than the previous two. It has drawbacks with certain drivers for not so new hardware but this

will be the case for some time even when Windows 8 reaches us soon. However, having said that, most hardware is now covered inline by Windows or drivers are generally available. It rarely crashes as opposed to Windows XP and if anyone tells you different then

maybe their system needs looking at (no offence intended). First of all make sure your current hardware can handle it. The motherboard is most crucial. If it has drivers available for it for Win 7 64 bit your almost there.

The Elite has no real issues

with Windows 7 either 32 or 64 bit but some folk cannot get the drivers or firmware installed properly but this is also true for Windows XP. It can take a few attempts to load the firmware upgrades in either but it can be done.

What some folk won't

say when they are used to a system is that they don't like, or want, to change to another. This is very typical of us and change doesn't come easy to some. The interface on Windows 7 is totally different to Windows XP but once you know your way around it will

seem easier and it is in many ways.

As Mike says above you will need to contact support to deactivate your software and then you can reinstall with administrator rights and activate once more with the updates included.

I hope this helps you decide

one way or another and am glad to offer this advice.

[poliss]

If Windoze 7 is so good why can't it run a simple thing as my USB optical mice? I have two that run perfectly fine on XP but don't work on Windoze 7. Am I supposed to go out and buy new ones?
Like every new version of Windoze the program is bloated

and a memory hogger.

[Mike_G]

Hi Poliss

may be your mouse is USB-1 ( you find this on some early XP Systems )
mind you should still work
may be you need different drivers
goto the web site of the mouse manufacturer and see if there are updated drivers
if no win7

ones try Vista Drivers
most times i get problems with my win7 its cos of drivers, or i did something wrong
or forgot to do something,,, like run as admin,,, ican asure you win7 is the best since Win2000Pro,

I admit that i sometimes revert to

the office XP Pro to do something,, because its not so security minded,, but most all my software/hardware runs on win7
those that dont is normaly a driver problem and gave problems in Vista as well

rgds
Mike

[poliss]

Both are USB2 mice, bought long after the PC. Both are Plug and Play,(or Plug and Pray) no drivers required. Checked the manufacturers website, no new drivers there.
Didn't loads of PC Techies test Vista before it came out? It was only when real people

tried it that they found out it was a pile of pants.

[Augustus Caesar]

Not all mice and other bits and pieces like keyboards will work under Windows 7 even if USB2. Some manufacturers churn out such rubbish and claim it works on a kettle plugged into a farm yard tractor!!! Seriously, it is likely a driver issue even though

it is said to work with Win 7. If no drivers can be found then that means that the system is using generic Microsoft drivers written as a courtesy for that hardware. It will not have the full capabilities of the driver written for XP by the manufacturer though.

This holds true for a lot of hardware used under Vista and Win 7. Very occasionally you may be able to move the mouyse to a hub or another port and find it works a lot better. Some motherboards front USB ports work rather better than the rear ones. So it's

not just down to Windoze as you put it! :) Try running them with Service Pack 3 compatibility even.

Some techies test stuff with blinkers on I must say. It is usually the general public in most cases that find faults with most computer related stuff.

When I test anything I look at it all from a customer's point of view and then mine and give the best of both where possible.

Windows is bloated and always has been but you can switch stuff off and control how the system uses its memory etc either on

the hard drive for caching or its RAM. If Linux was that much better then Bill Gates wouldn't be as rich as he is. Linux is excellent but not good for field testing etc.

Anyway, David merely wants to know if his gear will work well with Win 7. Yes mate

- it will... very well.

[David55]

Thanks for all of your replies. One Question:

When you de activate railmaster and re activate it, does it keep all the info i.e. my layout, trains etc.

Happy New Year

David

Not all mice and other bits and pieces like keyboards

will work under Windows 7 even if USB2. Some manufacturers churn out such rubbish and claim it works on a kettle plugged into a farm yard tractor!!! Seriously, it is likely a driver issue even though it is said to work with Win 7. If no drivers can be found

then that means that the system is using generic Microsoft drivers written as a courtesy for that hardware. It will not have the full capabilities of the driver written for XP by the manufacturer though. This holds true for a lot of hardware used under Vista

and Win 7. Very occasionally you may be able to move the mouyse to a hub or another port and find it works a lot better. Some motherboards front USB ports work rather better than the rear ones. So it's not just down to Windoze as you put it! :) Try running

them with Service Pack 3 compatibility even.

Some techies test stuff with blinkers on I must say. It is usually the general public in most cases that find faults with most computer related stuff. When I test anything I look at it all from a customer's

point of view and then mine and give the best of both where possible.

Windows is bloated and always has been but you can switch stuff off and control how the system uses its memory etc either on the hard drive for caching or its RAM. If Linux was that

much better then Bill Gates wouldn't be as rich as he is. Linux is excellent but not good for field testing etc.

Anyway, David merely wants to know if his gear will work well with Win 7. Yes mate - it will... very well.[/reply]

[Mike_G]

well no it wont in your case cos you will be installing on
a completly new computer

all your data is on the hard drive in the dead one
maybe you can take the old drive out and put it in the new one as
a second drive,,

anyway should

not take so long to set your track and engine data bace up again
all part of the fun

best of luck

Mike

[David55]

[reply]Mike_G said:

well no it wont in your case cos you will be installing on
a completly new computer

all your data is on the hard drive in the dead one
maybe you can take the old drive out and put it in the new one as
a second

drive,,

anyway should not take so long to set your track and engine data bace up again
all part of the fun

best of luck

Mike


With this also being my works computer, I do have an external hard drive which backs up nightly.

Will this have stored the data?

[Mike_G]

depends if you set the backup back up every thing
plug it in and see

is it a straight copy or an encoded backup
if encoded you willneed to install the same backup software to read the backup
disk

plug it in and see
if you find

a folder called railmaster
your layout will be there in the name you called it
if you install railmaster on the new one,, you could then possibly copy
all the old files across overwriting the new setup
then you wouldhave everything as you left

it
worth a try nothing to lose everything to gain

rgds
Mike

[Kenneth_Brattey]

AugustusCaesar said:

Hi David

Being a PC techie of many years standing I can safely tell you that Windows 7 is a very good OS compared to XP. If you decide to go down this route then 64 bit is better, faster and safer than 32 bit.

It will also 'future proof' you when buying newer software/hardware etc.

Windows XP is an excellent system for helping to identify and diagnose faults with so much stuff. There are an abundance of tools that will aid in that area too. The interface

is simple and easy to find one's way around and doesn't demand huge drive space. However, it is not the most stable OS and recovery can be a nightmare depending upon what crashes the system.

Windows Vista is Microsoft's first attempt at a Win 7 type

OS and because of all the issues surrounding drivers and User Access Controls (UAC's) for security it never really took off. It became a techies nightmare.

Windows 7 is much improved and far more stable than the previous two. It has drawbacks with certain

drivers for not so new hardware but this will be the case for some time even when Windows 8 reaches us soon. However, having said that, most hardware is now covered inline by Windows or drivers are generally available. It rarely crashes as opposed to Windows

XP and if anyone tells you different then maybe their system needs looking at (no offence intended). First of all make sure your current hardware can handle it. The motherboard is most crucial. If it has drivers available for it for Win 7 64 bit your almost

there.

The Elite has no real issues with Windows 7 either 32 or 64 bit but some folk cannot get the drivers or firmware installed properly but this is also true for Windows XP. It can take a few attempts to load the firmware upgrades in either but it

can be done.

What some folk won't say when they are used to a system is that they don't like, or want, to change to another. This is very typical of us and change doesn't come easy to some. The interface on Windows 7 is totally different to Windows

XP but once you know your way around it will seem easier and it is in many ways.

As Mike says above you will need to contact support to deactivate your software and then you can reinstall with administrator rights and activate once more with the updates

included.

I hope this helps you decide one way or another and am glad to offer this advice.

[Kenneth_Brattey]

I am also using Windows 7 64 bit in evaluation mode with no problems. I would be careful though in saying that any operating systems is "future proof". I remember buying a PC about 10 years ago which was being marketed as "future proof". It was out of

date within two years of purchase!

[Mike_G]

well thats market hype
in fact most IT equipment is out of date before it even gets to the shops
if you wait for the 'BEST ONE EVER' you will wait for ever
just get the best you can afford that does the job you whant

I have a whole room

full of 'THE BEST ONES' dating back to the 70s
How about a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 3
48 K ram
black and white screen
no hi res graphics ( block pixels 124 x 84 )
2 disk drives ( 5.5inch paper floppys )
screen, keyboard, disc drives all

built in 1 unit
1973 1850 pound sterling
complete with word prosessor and visicalc

still works

rgds
Mike

[David55]

Hi All

Went with windows 7 64 bit.

All went ok till it said MCI32.OCX was missing. Time to phone a friend. He came over and after a couple of E Mails to Hornby Care it was sorted. He also copied all my info on so all running fine.

One

thing I have noticed which I have seen somewhere else on this forum is that if you are using the buttons to run the trains and then move the slider the screen locks.

Anyone know if there is a quick fix.

Cheers

David

[Mike_G]

Hi David

Have not seen that happen
Railmaster does say when programing to use the buttons
and not the slider,,

one thing i did find is that if you use the button and then try to usethe slider it will revert straight back to the button

setting, some times you have to try several times before it will accept the slider setting,,, but the other way using the slider and then pressing a button option works right away

try it and see

if you set up the shunting speed and the max speed

in Railmaster
and set your speed curve up in the decoder,, i have found it unnessasary to use the slider

shunt/cruise/stop do it well

i have all my freight locos sett with a 5 for shunt
they crawl along very slow and stop imidiatly you

click stop

you will find the best setting to suit you with a bit of practice

have fun

Mike

[stevecamden]

I think we need another update of RM soon to sort out all these little 'strange quirks' and oddities. I know its not easy to make this software, but I do wonder sometimes if the people doing the Elite Firmware upgrade speak to the guys writing Railmaster.
Having

said that, if Hornby get it right with the sensors etc, then they will be market leaders for Train control.

[Augustus Caesar]

Just a quick repose to say that when I say 'future proof' I did enclose the words in double quotes. No system will ever be truly fp so hopefully I was not taken too literally! :)
One small point - if the screen is freezing using RM then ensure all updates

are installed for the system as well as hardware like the video card.

[David55]

What I omitted was that it was a mix of info from this site and hornby care, so thanks to everyone.

Unfortuneatly I am only a pc user and do noy know what video card is. I presumed by updating to 1.3 version everything was in place.

Another

thing that has always happened is that I can click on shunt on one train, but it will shoot back to my previous command. This can happen several times, the only thing that seems to cure it is by double clicking.

All your help now and in the past is

much appreciated.

Regards

David