What are the known issues with Guest Tracker in my version of Windows?

RezOvation GT, the new software inspired by Guest Tracker, is now available! Click here for details.

Here's what our users have to say:

"I would like to express my great satisfaction with RezOvation GT.  Having been a Guest Tracker user for
7 years, I was hesitant to switch. Looking back, I wish I had made the change sooner. Way worth it!  We get so many reservations from BedandBreakfast.com and the old way of manually updating online availability took so much of my time.  The credit card processing is another big time AND MONEY saver.  The card numbers are already loaded into Rezo GT for me and,  Quick Books Merchant Services gives me better rates than my prior provider.  I just want to thank you and the team at RezOvation and BedandBreakfast.com for putting this all together." — Glenn Kithcart, The Bentley Inn, Bay Head, NJ

"I love the fact that RezOvation GT is so similar to Guest Tracker, making it easy to learn. It feels familiar, and incorporates lots of innkeeper feedback. Being able to customize reports is key; GT does exactly what we need it to do!" — Lyn, Cornell Inn, Lenox, MA

"I installed the credit card processing through Rezovation GT and Quickbooks. What a great program! I have used it this past month and can't believe the ease of using the program. The credit card number can be swiped once and then is recorded and then exported into Quickbooks where it is on the deposit list. No more of this swipe a credit card, remembering to check out customer, and then transmit every night and THEN enter it into Rezo GT. Last year, I forgot to transmit one account on the old machine and finally caught the error 2 months later. Also, the rate is cheaper than any other company. Rezovation GT's support group is also very helpful and pleasant, not like some companies." — Wilma Griffin, Camp O' My Dreams, Longville, MN

Overview

Different versions of Windows can run the same software in different ways. That can mean that a feature which runs flawlessly in Windows 98 may have problems in Windows 2000. Although Guest Tracker has largely avoided this sort of problem, there are some minor version conflicts which need to have workarounds implemented. These issues do not generally interfere with the basic operations of Guest Tracker. Other problems may be caused by programs conflicting with Guest Tracker or with Windows in a way that affects Guest Tracker. In some cases this can cause an error severe enough to interfere with the basic operations of Guest Tracker. [Windows 9x/ME] [Windows NT] [Windows 2000] [Windows XP] [Other Software Issues]

Windows 95/98/98SE/ME

Couldn't Load Custom Custom Control MMail1.vbx Guest Tracker version 3 requires a file named winsock.dll to be installed in the Windows directory (C:\WINDOWS) before it will run. Windows should install this file as part of the dial-up networking software. If you are missing it, try copying it from another computer with the same version of Windows.   Web Module gets "Invalid Username/Password" error, followed by "Dialup!RASActionConnect" error. To use Windows Dial Up Networking automatically (such as through the Web Module), you need to tell Windows to remember your username and password. If Windows is not set to remember the username and password, you will see dial-up errors when trying to connect. Change your Windows DUN setting to remember your username and password and this error should not occur again.

Windows NT

Can't Install Version 2 From Floppy Disks Windows NT does not support the install program used by the old Guest Tracker version 2 floppy disks. If you encounter this problem, you will need to upgrade to the version 2.1.7.5 CD in order to install Guest Tracker. Better yet, upgrade to version 3.1!   Preview Screen Can't Be Magnified This problem exists in Windows NT, 2000, and XP. When you attempt to change the size of the preview by magnifying or maximizing the window, the graphic actually shrinks. While this can not be completely corrected, you can make the preview window large enough to view by the following steps: 1) Preview a letter or report. 2) Move the preview window so that the upper-left corner of the window is in the upper-left corner of your screen. 3) Putting your arrow over the lower-right corner of the preview window changes it to a two-headed diagonal arrow. 4) Click and hold down your mouse button. Drag the lower-right corner of the preview window to the lower-right corner of the screen. NOTE: While you are resizing your preview window, the preview graphic will shrink and become unreadable. Don't worry! 5) Close the preview window, then preview your report or letter again. Your preview window should now open full-screen. You still can not zoom in or otherwise magnify it, but at least you can see what you are previewing.

Windows 2000

Only the System Administrator Can Install Guest Tracker "Component transfer error - Component: New DAO 3.5.1 Error: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect." Only administrators have permission to install certain types of Windows system files. Log off of Windows and then log back on as the system administrator before trying to install Guest Tracker.   Configuration Error - SHARE.EXE Could Not be Loaded If you see this error when trying to open Guest Tracker, then your Windows configuration requires you to run Guest Tracker in a separate memory space. This optimizes the way that Windows handles allocating memory for Guest Tracker 1) Right-click on the Guest Tracker icon on the Desktop. 2) Left-click on the Properties menu item. 3) Left-click on the Shortcut tab at the top of Properties window. 4) Put a CHECK into the checkbox called 'Run in separate memory space'. 5) Click OK.   Preview Screen Can't Be Magnified This problem exists in Windows NT, 2000, and XP. When you attempt to change the size of the preview by magnifying or maximizing the window, the graphic actually shrinks. While this can not be completely corrected, you can make the preview window large enough to view by the following steps: 1) Preview a letter or report. 2) Move the preview window so that the upper-left corner of the window is in the upper-left corner of your screen. 3) Putting your arrow over the lower-right corner of the preview window changes it to a two-headed diagonal arrow. 4) Click and hold down your mouse button. Drag the lower-right corner of the preview window to the lower-right corner of the screen. NOTE: While you are resizing your preview window, the preview graphic will shrink and become unreadable. Don't worry! 5) Close the preview window, then preview your report or letter again. Your preview window should now open full-screen. You still can not zoom in or otherwise magnify it, but at least you can see what you are previewing.   RASAPI16.DLL Is Missing Windows 2000 and Windows XP share this problem. One of the files that Guest Tracker uses with dial-up networking is not installed as part of these operating systems. This does not prevent e-mail from being sent, but it is annoying and can keep you from being able to automatically dial your ISP when sending e-mail. The FAQ section provides a solution.   Check-mark can disappear at times When you move your arrow over the left edge of a line, it is supposed to change to show as a check-mark instead of an arrow. Occasionally, in Windows 2000 and XP, this stops happening. Rather than changing to a check-mark, the arrow just vanishes. This does not affect the way that this selection tool works, it just means you can't see what you are clicking on.  Sometimes this can be solved by simply exiting Guest Tracker and then reopening the program, but usually you will need to restart your computer to get back the proper graphics.

Windows XP

Guest Tracker runs slowly and/or causes the entire system to crash Since Guest Tracker was not designed to be run natively in Windows XP, there are some compatibility considerations. One is to set Windows to recognize Guest Tracker as a Windows 98-based application. Please see this Knowledge Base article for details: http://www.rezovation.com/webkb/issuedetail.aspx?issue=870&db=gtkb&vc=1 Only the System Administrator Can Install Guest Tracker "Component transfer error - Component: New DAO 3.5.1 Error: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect." Only administrators have permission to install certain types of Windows system files. Log off of Windows and then log back on as the system administrator before trying to install Guest Tracker. Limited User Access May Be Restricted Limited Users are not allowed to access applications installed into a user folder other than their own. If you have users on your PC who do not have administrator permissions, Guest Tracker must be installed into the ALL USERS folder or Windows XP will not give them permission to open the program. Preview Screen Can't Be Magnified This problem exists in Windows NT, 2000, and XP. When you attempt to change the size of the preview by magnifying or maximizing the window, the graphic actually shrinks. While this can not be completely corrected, you can make the preview window large enough to view by the following steps: 1) Preview a letter or report. 2) Move the preview window so that the upper-left corner of the window is in the upper-left corner of your screen. 3) Putting your arrow over the lower-right corner of the preview window changes it to a two-headed diagonal arrow. 4) Click and hold down your mouse button. Drag the lower-right corner of the preview window to the lower-right corner of the screen. NOTE: While you are resizing your preview window, the preview graphic will shrink and become unreadable. Don't worry! 5) Close the preview window, then preview your report or letter again. Your preview window should now open full-screen. You still can not zoom in or otherwise magnify it, but at least you can see what you are previewing.   RASAPI16.DLL Is Missing Windows 2000 and Windows XP share this problem. One of the files that Guest Tracker uses with dial-up networking is not installed as part of these operating systems. This does not prevent e-mail from being sent, but it is annoying and can keep you from being able to automatically dial your ISP when sending e-mail. The FAQ section provides a solution.   Check-mark can disappear at times When you move your arrow over the left edge of a line, it is supposed to change to show as a check-mark instead of an arrow. Occasionally, in Windows 2000 and XP, this stops happening. Rather than changing to a check-mark, the arrow just vanishes. This does not affect the way that this selection tool works, it just means you can't see what you are clicking on.  Sometimes this can be solved by simply exiting Guest Tracker and then reopening the program, but usually you will need to restart your computer to get back the proper graphics.

Other Software Issues

Zone Alarm This problem seems to only affect Windows 2000 Users. Zone Alarm is a firewall program that intercepts every outgoing connection to the Internet and asks if this is an OK transmission. The user can normally say "Yes, this time", "Yes, always", or "No". When Guest Tracker tries to send e-mail, Zone Alarm intercepts - and the system crashes and forces a manual power off and reboot. Possible solutions:  1) Disable Zone Alarm before sending e-mail.  2) Upgrade to Norton Firewall or (better) a hardware firewall solution. Workaround: Preview letters and use the EDIT > COPY ALL WITH DATA option to copy, then paste the letter into a commercial e-mail program (i.e.: Outlook or Communicator).   McAfee Personal Firewall In the Web Module: McAfee Personal Firewall blocks the Web Module's FTP transmissions even when disabled.  (Error 10060: Connection Timed Out). Solution: Enable passive FTP transfers. (See FAQ: Error 10060) In Guest Tracker: McAfee Personal Firewall blocks Guest Tracker's e-mail (Error 10055: Email setup and connect). Disabling the Firewall does not prevent the error. Uninstalling the program is the only way to return normal e-mail sending. This has only been reported in Windows 98 and Millennium. Possible Solutions:  1) Uninstall McAfee and replace with Norton Firewall or (better) with a hardware firewall solution. 2) Try removing just McAfee Privacy (one component of the Personal Firewall program). In some cases this seems to have taken care of the problem. Workaround:  1) Preview letters and use the EDIT > COPY ALL WITH DATA option to copy, then paste the letter into a commercial e-mail program (i.e.: Outlook or Communicator).   Hewlett Packard USB drivers There is a basic conflict with certain HP inkjet printers that connect through a USB port. We have heard reports of this problem with the following models: 840/845/932/935/960/970. The USB port name set up by the HP printer driver has one or more spaces in it. Guest Tracker (and many other 16-bit programs) reads a space as the end of a line. Thus, when presented with the name "HPUSB Port6555", Guest Tracker would see only "HPUSB".  When printing from the Revenue section or the Occupancy Map, Guest Tracker tries to write to the printer directly (the other sections print differently and are not affected by this conflict). Since it believes the port name to be just "HPUSB", it send the information to that port. Since that port doesn't actually exist, nothing prints out. Possible solutions: 1) Update your printer software. HP often updates its printer drivers and has taken the space out of the port names of some. 2) Change to a standard printer cable. This problem only affects the USB print drivers. Switching to a standard printer port and cable eliminates the conflict. 3) Hack the registry. Only people experienced in making changes to the registry should try this!  Find each reference to the port name in the Windows registry and remove any spaces.  NOTE: We can not support or assist with making changes to your registry!