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| | Frequently Asked Questions:
We have put together this list of questions we have received from E-Mails, letters, and phone conversations.
If your question has not been answered, please
send us e-mail. We would love to hear from you!
Q: Is it necessary to have MS-Access loaded on my computer to use
PACA+?
A: Absolutely not. While PACA+ is built using the Microsoft Access Jet Engine relational database, it is not necessary for you to buy Access or anything else to use this program on your Windows
computer. This is
accomplished through a licensing agreement between our company and Microsoft that allows us to distribute a "Runtime" version of the Access program.
Q: What version of Windows
will it run on?
A: The program is designed for Windows XP, but is running in many locations under the Windows 98,
ME, 2000 as well as XP operating systems. (Including our home & office.) In the latest versions of XP, Microsoft has left out (or in the case of the Service Pack 2 upgrade - removed) a file that the PACA+ installer was looking for prior to running the installation routine. If you are having trouble installing to Windows XP, there is a fix that you can download here. Save the file to your desktop and remove the ".com" part of the name at the end of the filename. Once saved to your desktop, double-click it to run the batch file. The winxpfix.bat file will look to see if the needed file is present and if not, it will create one and put it in the correct directory.
Q: What are the hardware requirements, including monitor?
A: A Pentium class computer with 200MHz is a good minimum platform and it should have a minimum of
64MB of RAM. The hard drive should have somewhere between 50 and 100MB of free space for the program and data files. The program will keep track of an unlimited number of
animals, but you are limited by the space on the hard drive. This space starts shrinking rapidly if you keep a photo (around 200KB each) of all of the animals! A Super VGA is what I prefer, but I have also run the program on my monochrome laptop.
Screen resolution needs to be a minimum of 800 X 600.
Q: Is it supplied on floppies or CD?
A: The program is delivered on
a CD.
Q: What are the minimum and recommended processor speeds?
A: The minimum processor as a practical matter is a
586 running at 200mhz. The program will work on anything that will run Windows
98.
Q: What documentation is supplied?
A: The program comes with a Users Guide that is currently around 60 pages.
Q: How available, and at what cost, is technical support?
A: Technical support is free and best accessed through E-Mail.
Q: Are any future revisions included in the price?
A: Revisions have not been included in the price of the software, but so far our three major revisions have run
between $25 and $35.
Q: How many generations does it track in the genealogy for each animal?
A: The program will display (on screen and by report) four generations in a format similar to the ARI/ILR Registration Certificate. There are also progeny reports that will list
unlimited generations of the offspring of selected males or females.
Q: Does it break out medical costs based on type of treatment, or just the cost?
A: Medical costs are reported, first of all, by a date range that you enter. There is also a choice right up front as to whether you want to report on the ranch's animals or on those animals that are agisted for others. After that, the report
is sorted by animal and then by treatment/problem. Costs are totaled for each animal and for the entire group.
Q: Is there a provision to record comments for each animal, and how much space is available in that section?
A: There is an area in the identification section that is for a more detailed description and is used on the sales list report as the animals description. The size of the field is unlimited in version 2.0 and later. There is also an area in the
medical records section that provides an unlimited area for recording pertinent data regarding the animal's medical treatment and condition.
Q: Can the photograph files be kept in separate media to save hard drive space?
A: Yes, although with drive storage space
being as cheap as it is, we don't recommend it.
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