WinTotal problems

[scott lindsley]

i am jealous of everyone out there who seem to be completely happy with WinTotal. i have used it for years, and am finally giving up. i have never used it when it didn't have problems, and though some may seem minor, they are worse now than ever. i dealt with the "z", "q", and other letter problems for months about a year ago (they couldn't be typed into my reports unless capitalized. tech support continued to say it was a computer problem though, in my office, there were four different models and brands of computers (not networked) that all had the same problem.

i have always had lock-up problems and the continued frustration of being told by tech support that maybe i should reboot my computer more often during the day.

now two of the computers in my office won't print to PDF and most of the time (its a crap shoot) won't pring at all. all of this only in WinTotal. all other software and systems work fine on these machines.

i find that WinTotal is loaded with bells and wistles and things that most people i know, and most i read on here, don't even use.

tech support has tried to be helpful at first but now is placing the blame on your system and the XP OS. if its not compatable or doesn't work well with XP, why is that not mentioned when you buy the software (or upgrade) and why have i never used WinTotal that it worked as it should?

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

It works great with XP. Never locks, never crashes, always prints fine. You must have a software conflict with some program and wintotal. Athena runs like a champ and I have all the bells and whistles. Tech support can not predict how any program will work on every machine, nor do they know if they will have any conflicts with other programs. I bought an HP pentium 4 last year after years of buying "custom built" computers and having some kind of issue all the time. I "fresh loaded" all programs and it works great. I have had no problems with this computer and Wintotal. I was reminded of my previous problems when I gave my old computer to my kids. It crashes constantly and doesn't restart correctly and Wintotal is not used on the computer any more. Some times you just get a lemon for a computer, just like a car. I wish I had answers for you, but it really is never predictable or easy to solve, especially over the phone through tech support.

 

[dbiggers]

Scott, something sounds really flaky. What you're experiencing isn't normal by any means (or acceptable), and as Tim said so well, it's probably an interaction, not a core issue with WinTOTAL. If WinTOTAL was flaky all by itself, it wouldn't ever run. But on some networks with some other programs also installed, everything from system files to virus scanners can cause conflicts.

I asked my techs to contact you back and it sounds like there's an issue with large files only on the XP stations on your network, so there may be a configuration issue network-wise to look at (and they're better at that stuff than I am).

As far as Z, Q, and others being only uppercase -- bizarre. Never heard of anything like that and I can't under any circumstances see how WinTOTAL would arbitrarily decide that it doesnt like certain lowercase letters.

As for having lots of bells and whistles, it's simple -- you ask for them. We have so many users that they transcend the small niche players below us and don't fit into one single style of use. We have everything from hundred-station network users to single-user standalone stations to people using Tablet PC's and remote Terminal server. Our users are rural, commercial, computer-savvy and computer-phobic. We try to accomodate all of them, and I'll admit, it's a challenge.

But, in the end, I think most people would agree that having a program with great stuff which they haven't even uncovered -- but which is there when they need it -- is better than having a program in which the beauty is only skin deep and very shallow. You can start as a novice and grow **INTO** WinTOTAL without concern about the future, but you start with other programs and eventually realize that you've grown **OUT OF** them. (Sorry, but that's my completely unbiased opinion.) I've never heard of anyone growing beyond WinTOTAL. People may not like it, they may not like us, etc. -- but I've never heard someone say they've outgrown it. But we hear that all the time from people who switch from other systems.

Let me know if the techs can't get you taken care of. My e-mail is [email protected].

Dave Biggers
CEO
a la mode, inc.

 

[scott lindsley]

thanks for the responses. as for buying a "lemon" computer, i completely agree to the odds for that. but i have had WinTotal problems on every computer i've had and they have not been custom built and they have not all been the same brand or type. the older problems were more annoying than anything

the z or q thing was not on one machine but on 5 and we were advised by tech that an update was coming to fix it which worked so someone there knew about it. and i also know it wasn't just my office because i reviewed a report from another appraiser, who's name was blacked out, that had random capital Z's and Q's in it...

i am not WinTotal bashing, but truely have never had it run as it is advertised on any machine i've used. i like it but just want it to run correctly.

if your tech guys can get this resolved i'll send you champaign, flowers, money, whatever you want! but for now i have to type in reports on one computer, move to another one, print to pdf, move back and hope it doesn't lock up.

again, thanks for the response

tired and working too late in charlotte...

 

[Willie]

Buy Toolbox and your worries will be over. You never hear of anyone who uses it complain.

 

[dbiggers]

Buy Toolbox and your worries will be over. You never hear of anyone who uses it complain.

Do you spend much time on the ToolBox forum on Yahoo? People complain all the time. The latest interesting topic is why Bradford's been promising the 32-bit version -- "version 10" -- for so many years yet never delivered it.

It's always confused me, actually, as to why Bradford's so far behind on that. It's touted as a no-frills, basic, small program -- so how have all these much more complex programs been moved successfully to 32 bit long before Toolbox?

Dave Biggers
CEO
a la mode, inc.

 

[George W Dodd]

Have you considered the possibility that you have a networking problem?

If you are sharing printers and files across the network, why wouldn't you network WinTotal?

 

[Ben Vukicevich SRA]

William

I agree with you completely. The 16 bit version of Toolbox is fine "as-is." The only problem I've had was with freeform text and large fonts.

Hey, whenever the 32 bit version gets here, if ever, it's OK with me.


Ben

 

[Willie]

Dave, I respect you and your company. You didn't get to be the largest by accident. As you know biggest is different from best, and best depends on ones point of view. I don't have any need to look at yahoo or whatever to find out how to solve problems, as I have very few with Toolbox. As to 32 bit vs 16 bit, thats just it, I really don't care as long as it works for my small business. I don't even know what the difference is and don't care as long as my reports go out regularly with few problems. I would rather be using a working 16 bit than a aggrevating 32 bit program with bugs be it Toolbox or Ala mode. One year ago I left an old DOS program. I studied this board very carefully, and I do mean carefully, and made a business decision for a one man shop. I read post like short learning, curve, few problems, few conflicts with other software, you don't have to be a rocket scientist, etc. etc. about Toolbox, tried it and was up and running at full speed rapidly. Toolbox works for me well. The only experience I have had with Ala mode was I tried to load a demo version and it locked up my computer. This was 1999. I blamed my computer but I don't know. It scared me, because at the time I was computer savy and not backing up. I will admit I was gun shy after trying it once, especially as long as there were alternatives that work well. Someday I might try ala mode again but right now I am satisfied.

 

[slacker]

I have been having issues lately as well.

I can't seem to get through more than 2 reports without having my system crash or freeze up. I usually have problems when opening and closing multiple reports from the "Requester". After opening and closing a few reports I need to shut down Wintotal and start over. I get hung up on an item called "Winform" in the task manger. I'll try to open a report and it will just hang. When I view the task manger I will see two or three "Winform" items. Then I need to end these tasks and start all over.

The "Square Foot Adjustment" tool is giving me fits too. I cross my fingers every time I use it. Sometimes it just sits there and does nothing, and other times I have had complete crashes. Either way I need to do a complete re-boot and start over. Which by the way happens to be a good response from tech Support, "Oh, when that happens you just need to re-boot". What?

I'm getting to the point where I'm looking for a platform that is more reliable. Tech support has been as helpful as they can but it seems that they never have a definitive answer to any problems. They run me through some system checks and everything appears fine. Of course I hang up the phone and the problems start all over again. I don't have the time for all that.

And there is nothing wrong with my computer. So I don't want to hear the lemon response. The only lemon seems to be Wintotal. It's a great product when it's working but I don't have time to keep re-booting at 1:00 am when I'm trying to meet deadlines.

I still like the product but I'm pushing a "9" on the old frustration meter.

I have never used "Day-One", can anyone give me some feedback on that product?

I'm running in to more and more people that are using it.