Okay so these questions haven't been asked that frequently, in fact most of them have never been asked, but for now they are the questions that I envision customers will ask.
Q. I don't have a laptop to take to the track so why would I buy this software?
A. Do you take your scales to the track? Maybe, maybe you don't scale, but probably not. My point is this; this software is only a tool. A way to keep track of all that information that you accumulate with racing but didn't have a way to save or to analyze. Is it nice to take to the track? Definitely. But, the software is just as valuable to have on a PC at your home or shop. You know where you are going to race when you are putting your shop setup on the car, correct? Well why not go to your computer and print off information about previous races at this or some other similar venue? Sit down on Monday and enter all the data from the previous weekend, then analyze the data, and make decisions based on that data as to how to get better.
Q. What type of software does this program run under, what will be installed on my P.C.
A. Race I.T. racing software is a database application. What this means is that relational database design lies at the base of the product. A database is just a place to efficiently store large quantities of related data in a logical format. For this application the database is Microsoft's Access. The language used to access that data is VBA ( Visual Basic Application). So on your P.C. will be installed not only my software but the runtime libraries that interpret my code. Confusing isn't it? Not really. If you feel the need to know more, just email me.
Q. If I have Microsoft Office (of which Microsoft Access is a part) already installed on my machine does this matter?
A. In a word, no. If you already have Microsoft Office 2000 installed on your machine the install won't put the runtime libraries on your P.C. as you will already have them. This will save you a little disk space is all. If you have a release of Microsoft Office prior to 2000 this won't cause a problem either. The install will place the 2000 runtime libraries on your machine and won't interfere with your older release of Office.
Q. What are minimum system requirements for my P.C. to run this software.
A. I have found that for best performance you should have a Pentium class machine. A 120Mhz or 200Mhz machine will work fine. Obviously the faster the machine the faster the software. I have, however, used the software on machines of the speed mentioned above, with good performance. Memory: Microsoft says that you are required to have at least 24Mb of Ram (memory). Almost all machines produced over the last few years have had at least 32Mb and many have had 64Mb, or even 128Mb. Operating system: firstly, must be either Windows or OS/2. Windows 95, 98, NT or 2000 will be fine. For window '95 it would be best to be at Windows '95 B. All versions of Windows '98 appear to be fine. Windows NT must be at or above service pack 4, this is a Microsoft requirement. CD reader to be used to install software must be of multi-read type (see below).
Q. How do I tell how much memory my machine has? How do I tell what operating system I have? How do I tell what speed my processor is?
A. Click Start >> Settings >> Control Panel. Now double click on System. On this form you will see: system, Microsoft Windows nn, where nn is 98, 95, NT or 2000. The next line is a date, telling the date that the current release was prepared. I.e., Microsoft Windows 98 4.10.1998, tells you this is Windows '98 and the maintenance was current as of April 10, 1998. Down on the lower right corner you will see processor and memory information. It may or may not tell you the exact speed of the processor. Maintenance for Windows operating systems is available free of charge from Microsoft across the web. Simply look for it on Microsoft's web site. It really is a good idea to apply maintenance every so often.
Q. What in the world is a multi-read type CD reader?
A. Firstly, if your P.C. is less than 4 years old this probably isn't an issue for you. If it is a name brand and only a couple of years old it definitely isn't a problem. Here is what this means; prior to a couple of years ago when CD-R and RW type CDs started showing up there was pretty much only 1 format of CD. All CDs looked the same to PC's and all machines that had a CD reader read this format. I believe the basic format was that the table of contents for the CD was first followed, by the data. Well now that we can all burn CDs at home and the new burners have to be able to add more data to the CD when you want it to, the table of contents got moved away from the data, so that it could be changed as the files on the CD changed. Some older CD readers have problems hunting this down. Unfortunately if a CD reader can't find the table of contents, it can't tell what is supposed to be on the CD nor where anything should be on the CD.
Q. The install doesn't start after I put the CD in my machine.
A. I have setup the CD to start the install immediately. Unfortunately some PC's have the options to allow this function to be turned off. If this is the case simply double click on the CD and run the Setup.exe. If you should have problems with the install, e-mail me, I can get you through it.
Q. I have defined all of my parts to the system and now they don't show up in the drop down boxes for the setup sheets.
A. I will almost guarantee this is because you didn't assign the part to the car that you selected to use for the event that you are working on. All parts must be assigned to the appropriate car to use them.
Q. Why?
A. Simple: the software is designed to handle multiple cars, which may or may not be the same type of car and may or may not have the same parts. Say you have a late model and a sprint car. Do they use all the same parts? Probably not if you are going fast. So when you are working on entering the setup for your late model and you click the drop down box to see the appropriate springs, do you want to have to sort through not only the springs for this car but also the torsion bars for your sprint car? In a future release I will make it a push of a button to add all parts entered to all cars.
Q. At the beginning of the install I'm asked about updating some systems files, should I freak out and run from my house shrieking?
A. Fine with me, but not necessary. I have bundled my software under the Microsoft installer software to facilitate the installation. And of course Microsoft being Microsoft, the install software takes this opportunity to update some of your windows software as pertains to installs. This is a Microsoft product updating itself. Yes it may tell you that it is going to upgrade you Internet Explorer, well look at this as a free bonus gift from the ever benevolent Microsoft. You will have to trust me that these update, if they occur are minor. If you are current on maintenance these won't even be applied.
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