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I got a new PC a while back to replace my old Win XP one. When I tried running the Shop manual CDROM, it won't display the electrical diagrams. It just sits there - no error or anything. I've tried reinstalling (including uninstalling and reinstalling) and rebooting a bunch of times, so that isn't it. Helms says that Ford has not made them compatible with XP or Win 7 (though I never had an issue with XP myself). What's the deal and is there a workaround for this?
I have both the Win 7 and XP-Pro, have experienced the same issues with my Helms/Ford CD-ROM manuals---won't load, aren't recognized by Win 7. I fricking HATE that Win 7 FWIW---and not just because of this! XP forever!
I'm not sure if there is a workaround but I would be interested in it too!
Helms tells me the only option is to refund my money (and I assume buy the paper copies). That should be interesting given that I bought it 4 yrs ago...
Install XP on a virtual hard drive. It's easier than a conventional install. I use Virtualbox all the time for testing software. I max out the video memory allocation and assign my VMs at least a GB of RAM.
Since this was originally posted way back when I've found the best and only real work-around to "expired" CD-ROM manuals is two-fold: Run Win VM and reset your main OS to the last date shown on the CD-ROM label. Trying to reset the computer clock through WinVM doesn't work---it won't allow those changes through that console.
How many of you are installing to Program Files\....? I went through all these hoops a while back when I went from W2K to XP and then Win7. Got tired of that and I fixed it by installing directly to c:. So C:\TSO and everything works fine on Win7 and XP. I think they hard coded some paths in there. Still have to leave the CD in the tray though when using the manual.
It is not necessary to download and install the SVG Viewer as modern browsers (IE, Firefox, etc) all include that function.
All my service DVDs from 96-12 work perfectly on my desktop Win7Pro system with a few tweaks.
1. Install a virtual DVD setup, then use .iso copies of the disk as virtual disks. Eliminates the physical disk swapping. Put all the ISO files in a single folder to make them easier to find. I use VirtualCloneDrive, it's free.
2. DVDs that are either individual or part of a set must each have their own sub-directory to be installed into, one for a set or one per individual independent DVD. Therefore, I happen to have four folders, each with a specific model year span.
3. Install an appropriately named desktop shortcut for each folder's executable.
4. For those DVDs or sets that have expiration dates, download and install the utility RUNASDATE. You must then edit the shortcut for each of your desktop shortcuts to include the command line and date for that particular set.
For example, here's the selection of desktop icons on my system:
Now, only the three newest of those have expiration dates so they require the date to be modified before launching.
The 09-10 DVD has a date of July 2012 on it, so I set it to run with a date of July 1st, 2012 using the following command line:
C:\runasdate32\RunAsDate(dot)exe 07\01\2012 C:\TSO_09_10\tsobrowser(dot)exe [had to spoof forum software which doesn't like executable file names ]
The shortcut includes the path to the runasdate executable, the desired date (in the mandatory format!) as well as the operating folder and the TSO browser executable.
Works fine!
Now, my notebook is bit of a different matter... I have a glitch somewhere in it so that the wiring diagrams for ONLY 01-03 won't display in-application. I only get a box with an x in the upper left corner and I have to go into the tsobrowsercache folder and open the .pdf file manually. My file associations are correct but something isn't linking correctly and launched them in Acrobat Reader DC. The really odd thing is that the '00 diagrams work properly and they're on the same disk as the 01-03 files...
I have VMWare installed on the laptop running WinXP in that virtual machine and it works correctly, it's just a PITA to wait for the VM to boot up. Plus, it doesn't seem to coexist well with the stuff running under my Win7Home main environment, especially the Acrobat viewer, and it causes the the machine to hang all environments for up to a minute or three at a time. Plenty of memory, disk space, and processor (I3, 4GB, 50+GB free) so the hardware is okay but something's jacked up in the 4-year old Windows install. Probably need to re-install (or even let Win10 upgrade it), but I'm not fond of either option.
Those are a one-time configuration. You have to create the shortcut's command line to set the date and tell the system where everything is at. After that, it's a simple double lick to launch.
BTW, fixed that annoyance on my laptop finally after I posted yesterday...
Yeah I was mostly kidding but my friend/computer guru is due to come help me network my house some day in the near future----I'll save your steps and have him do all that heavy lifting too!
Great advice, highly appreciated!
Did you do a fresh install of Windows on your laptop?
Nope, if I had, it would take several days to put it back together the way I want it, which is why it still needs to be done.
I installed FoxIt PDF Reader, changed file associations in Win CP for .htm to Chrome and .pdf/* to Foxit. It works, although it puts up a FoxIt window inside TSOBrowser which is a bit annoying. Way less annoying than screwing with the VM, though.
04-11-2012, 08:36 PM
