Windows 7 & Vista Install Help

Microsoft recently released Windows 7. This is an appropriate name, since Microsoft has introduced at least 7 major operating systems in the past 14 years. Each new system managed to negate advances in computer speed and memory costs. Each was a pain for the person forced to upgrade. Vista/W7 represent the pinnacle of this effort. Because of the relative success of Windows XP, MS had to force Vista on users by withdrawing XP from the market and ending support. Your favorite old software and hardware probably no longer work, there is no natural upgrade from XP to W7, and they seem to change things just to increase the learning curve (read frustration). They've dumbed down many useful tools so that they're now next to useless. Our household has 3 computers and 2 printers on a home network that worked fine with a mix of W98 and XP. My wife just got a new W7 laptop and there is no straightforward way of adding it to our Microsoft home network. All this to create another cash cow. -END OF RANT- If you have an old (prior to V2.2) copy of ElectriCalc, you'll need to download the Version 2.2 Upgrade. This has been updated to install relatively smoothly on Vista/W7. The latest issue of ElectriCalc (2.20B) should also install without problem. Unfortunately, you will get the following the first time you click on Help:

Before proceeding, some clarification is in order. These pictures probably won't look like yours. They have been saved in a format to minimize download time. Also, I set everything for "Windows Classic" appearance since I'm too old to be enamored by the latest "style". Clicking on "Microsoft Help and Support" will get you this:

Read all of this carefully. Hopefully, you will see that what you're about to be put through is not our fault, but the arrogant attitude of a company with a near-monopoly. The remainder of this page is for those who aren't using the latest CD or Update. When you try to install ElectriCalc you will most likely see something like this:

The problem is that the "intro" program on the CD is a 16-bit program designed to be compatible with all of the myriad of operating systems prior to Vista/W7. We will get around this by going to the actual install program which is compatible. The easiest way to do this is to stick the CD in again to get something like this:

Click on "Open folder to view files . . ", and select Disk1.

Double-click on setup.exe or setup dumbed down without the extension but with the word "application" on the right. Either way the install program should run normally (except for all the annoying "security" messages).

ElectriCalc should work without any problems (except for the help debacle addressed above). We strongly recommend using the tutorial. Unfortunately, it relies on 16-bit support programs. If you try to run the tutorial, you will get something like this: We can fix this using Windows Explorer. Look at the bin folder on the CD.

Select the two files indicated and select Copy. You'll probably find this under Organize. I guess three-syllable words are more impressive than the familiar one- and two-syllable ones.

Navigate to Program Files (x86).

Navigate to Slk Electronics > ecalc2 > tutorial and click the tutorial folder.

Select and click Paste. This puts the 32-bit versions of the tutorial support programs into the proper directory.

Now we have to change which program runs the tutorial. Right-click the Tutorial icon, then click Properties.

Now we have to change which program runs the tutorial. Right-click the Tutorial icon, then click Properties. Change the target to specify demo32.exe rather than demo.exe. Click OK and everything should be correct. Sorry to put you through this, but perhaps you discovered something new in going through all this.