I downloaded the trial version of SiteSpinner 2.7f and wanted to update but there is no 'check for updates' link under the 'help' tab. Is this only available if I purchase?

Also the tutorials under the 'help' have no working links. That is the tuts are filled with additional info links but none of them work

Maybe you should do an uninstall the reinstall. It sounds as though your installation is somehow corrupted. The trial version is the same as the registered version. There is just a time limit for use until a registration key is entered.

I now use SS Pro, but I still have SS version 2.7f (which is the latest version) and the “Check for Updates” is there, and the tutorials work fine.

Thanks postyr,
I downloaded from the VM site, the whole download process seemed a little strange. There was a small ,exe file that I could only access from the Firefox download screen (right click-open) that seemed odd and then the download seemed to take a very long time.

The tutorials are in the format of a SS project, totally editable and no working links, very strange.

How do I do uninstall re-install? I know how to uninstall but will I have to download SS again? Will I lose my work?

Thanks for your help

What you see in the tutorials is correct. They are in the format of a normal SS project. To view them as a web session, click on the double arrow preview button. The links in the tutorial work for me in the project itself (without previewing).

I’m not quite sure where you were downloading from, but this is the page you should be using.

I strongly suggest that you do download again from the link I supplied above. Because of the problems you are having, it suggests that the original download has been corrupted.

And, no, you will not lose your work. Before doing a clean uninstall, locate your IMS (project) files and move them to a safe place. After reinstalling, you can open any project file from anywhere on your computer.

Before doing a clean uninstall, locate your IMS (project) files and move them to a safe place

Can you be more specific? You lost me.

Your project files have a file extension of IMS, such as myproject.ims

I you are not sure where they are, do a search for all files with an ims extension using the wild card *.ims

If you left them in the default location when you saved them, they will probably be in My Documents\My IMS Projects\Projects. If that is where they are, you will more than likely loose them when uninstalling.

Move them from there to any other folder on your computer.

OK, I found the files, if I send them to 'desktop' will they be safe. I don't know how to move them to another folder.

Then what do I do with the project files after the new install? Send them back to 'my documents'?

Sorry for being so dense.

No, they will not be safe if you “Send to Desktop”. That only creates a shortcut to the files.

Rather than using My Computer, I personally find it easier to use Windows Explorer for file manipulation.

Go to Start > Accessories > Windows Explorer (some Windows versions have Windows Explorer under System Tools).

In the left hand pane, expand the tree and highlight your C:\ drive. On the main menu, go to File > New > Folder. Type in a name for the new folder, such as “My SS Projects” and hit enter.

Back on the left hand pane, scroll up and expand My Documents > My IMS Projects > Projects.

In the right hand pane, select all of your project files with the .ims extension. Go to Edit > Copy (or right click and Copy).

Now back to the left hand pane and navigate to the new folder you named. With that highlighted, go to Edit > Paste (or hold the mouse over the right hand pane, Paste).

That’s it, your projects are now safe, and you know where to find them. When you reinstall SS and go to File > Open Project, you can navigate to the new folder and all your IMS projects will be there.

Thanks for the great instructions. Everything went well except the folder disappeared, it was there, I saw the file in the folder, when I closed everything out and went back I couldn't find it. I'll play around with that later.

I uninstalled, went to the page you gave to download. Same thing happened, downloaded a 138KB .exe file which is no where to found after download. I ended up right clicking on the download box in FireFox and the file could not be opened.

I can't be the only one having these problems. So, my question now is how do I actually download SS?

I'm about ready to give up on VM. I've had nothing but problems with WD (won't upload from the program) and spent umpteen hours here on the forum trying to do it manually.

WD and SS produce great looking pages but my patience is wearing thin.

What folder disappeared? The new one you created?

The 138KB file is the correct one. When you run that, the required files for installation is then downloaded.

When you download the above file, are you clicking “Save”?, and then are you choosing a location to save it to?

If not, God knows where it is. Try searching on your computer for a file named SetupSiteSpinnerV270f.exe

When you find it, double click it to start the installation.

To be quite honest, I’m pretty sure the problem is not of VM’s fault. Thousands of people have used the same file with no ill side affects. It is either the way you are doing things or a problem with your computer.

Hi postyr,

I found the file.

As far as the download, I didn't see any options to 'save to' and I did 'save'.

I don't mean to be a crab and it certainly may be user error but here's my feelings: I've played with WD for about a year and it's a great program but I couldn't upload pages from the program itself and came here for workaround.

Now I have the SS download problems and I don't see how my computer could eliminate the 'check for updates' link in SS.

I truly like WD and SS and find them both to be fairly intuitive and these forums are fantastic but I just want to build and publish some pages and always seem to run into road blocks.

I'll try the download again and thanks so much for your time and patience.

OK, I just tried the download again there is absolutely no place to choose a 'save to' location. I have Firefox set to save to desktop and that does not work with this download.

Try it yourself and see.

The suggestions I gave above was using IE8. I don’t normally use Firefox, only for preview testing, and have no idea how to set it’s tools.

However, I did just try it and, as you said, I got a box with “Save File” as the only option. Clicking that button opens a Downloads box with the SS file in it. Double click that, and you get another dialogue that warns about EXE files. If you click OK, that will run the installation file.

I just tried with firefox again. I can get the .exe file, if I double click on the that file in the download box the install starts but then I get a window saying it cannot open file.

The reason I use FF is it way faster with downloads than IE and I'm on 46K dial up so anything that is faster is a huge plus. I've downloaded at least 50 programs and only had problems with one before this.

I'll try IE and let you know how it turns out.

You have to configure Firefox via its Tools->Option winodw, on the Main tab. You can select to either set a download location or chose to have FF ask you each time.

OK, so here's my update:

After 5 failed attempts trying to download from VM (40 minutes per each download and then rejecting the installation) I went to downloads.com. That download went off without a hitch (version 2.7c) but it had the updates tab I was missing. I checked for updates and it downloaded a complete new version of 2.7f, so now I have both versions.

But, the 2.7f version was again <u>without the updates tab.</u> I can truthfully say it has not been a fun experience.

By the way I checked the FAQ and the problems I was experiencing was in a post from 2004 (not a valid win32 app) so this problem has been going on for at least 5 years.

So, when the time comes how would go about updating 2.7f without an updates tab?

Sorry I was not of more help, but I am running out of ideas.

Everything seems to work fine for me. During testing for your problem, I even reinstalled over my current installation, and all worked fine.

Maybe it’s time for VM staff to step in.

I do recall reading somewhere about the “not a valid win32 app”, and it was not to do with a VM product. I can’t remember the exact details, but it turned out to be a registry problem on the machine involved.

Again from memory, I think a search of “not a valid win32 app” on the Microsoft site will bring up some useful information.

postyr,
You've been a great help especially with detailed how to on file moving.

Like I said I did get version 2.7c without any problems from cnet but when I updated to 2.7f there was no updates tab, just like my original download.

Will there be an easy way to update without that tab in SS?

You keep mentioning “Check for Updates” as a tab. Maybe that’s your way of explaining it, but on my copy, it is a menu item under Help on the main menu.

Why everything else installs okay, and that doesn’t, has me completely baffled. It certainly doesn’t make sense.

Until someone can come up with a solution, I suppose you could simply visit the VM home page once every few months to check the latest version (or keep in touch with this forum).

Yes -- you just need to check the News and Announcements forum occasionally, or the VM Web Site.