Showing posts with label bugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bugs. Show all posts

QuickBooks Pro 2006 Review

QuickBooks Pro 2006
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Sadly Quickbooks 2006 is only a minor upgrade from Quickbooks 2003. Users should also be aware that they will be forced to upgrade this software. at considerable expense, every 3 years. Also payroll services are not included and cost $150.00 more PER year. See "QuickBooks Standard Payroll Subscription" on Amazon.
The upgrade from Quickbooks Pro 2003 went very smoothly. Unfortunately the software, with no notification to the user, adds a second user to the XP operating system, necessitating logging on as a particular user when your computer boots.
We've found no real benefits from this "upgrade". The software boots much slower thanks to the DOUBLING of the company file. New users may find the redesigned home page useful and despite a great deal of verbage - that is about all that is new here.
New users should take advantage of the 30 days of free support - after that Quicken's dubious support is very high priced.
Quicken's business model is important to understand. They do not tweak their software, from year to year, for increased useability. The only changes that Quicken seems to devote their programming talent toward are new features, some well implemented and some poorly implemented - I don't think it matters to them - anything that will suggest a reason to purchase or upgrade the software. How easy the software could function on a day to day basis seems to be never given a thought.
Secondly Quicken expects your purchase of this software to be the first of many purchases from them. New business owners often will need expert help to set it up. Quicken, will of course, provide you with the name of a certified Quickbooks consultant, who for a fee, will set up the software. The software now comes with an on screen tutorial that may help some new users but it seemed less than complete.
New business owners should test all competing software to see what works best for them. Quickbooks is not bad software but it doesn't seem to evolve in a manner that is really sensitive to user's needs.
New users should also be aware that Quickbooks update feature routinely downloads very sizeable files that seem to do little if anything. A high speed internet connection is strongly suggested.



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QuickBooks: Pro Edition 2006 is the leading choice of small businesses for fast and easy financial management. Track money going in and out of your business more accurately.Routine tasks like payroll, invoicing, tracking bills and check-writing can be done in minutes instead of hours. With the click of a button, you can see past-due invoices or overdue bills. Or instantly see your entire business relationship with any customer or vendor. If you ever want to get in touch with them, all the contact information you need is right at hand. Also at your fingertips are invaluable customized reports. These reports let you slice data any way you wish. You'll see what's really going on with your business in a way never before possible. Isolate expenses. Identify your largest customers. Track your areas of biggest growth. The possibilities are endless. And when you need to share your data, you can easily import and export from Microsoft Excel and a number of other programs. QuickBooks Pro helps you enhance your professional image as well. You can customize and print professional forms. Easily add graphics and personal messages. Seamlessly print letters and envelopes with Microsoft Word. QuickBooks gives you the time, resources and knowledge you need to grow your business like never before.

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McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 Review

McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008
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After being unhappy with ZoneAlarm for a few annoying flaws, I dumped it and tried Norton's Virusscan. They have a trial demo you can download online. But Norton caused some crashes when I was surfing with Firefox. Mostly it don't like certain firefox plugins.
Then I ordered McAfee. It arrived quickly. It installed easily. And now it's working beautifully. No problems at all.

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With the daily emergence of new and more sophisticated Internet threats you need more than an anti-virus program for protection. You also need a guide to help you avoid online attacks that target you your computer your identity and that could disrupt your life immeasurably. McAfee VirusScan Plus with SiteAdvisor helps you avoid online dangers and also protects your PC from malicious activity. This security service offers anti-virus and anti-spyware technology and includes a fi rewall to protect what you value. McAfee SiteAdvisor safety ratings help you avoid unsafe websites. Improved performance allows this essential and proactive software to protect you without disturbing your online experience.System Requirements:Microsoft® Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or higher Windows XP with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or higher Windows VistaTM Personal computer with Pentium-compatible processor 500 MHz or higher and 256 MB RAM800 X 600 or higher resolutionInternet connectionMicrosoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 or laterOptional: Mozilla Firefox 1.5 or laterNote: To upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer visit theMicrosoft website at http://www.microsoft.comSupported Email ProgramsPOP3 (Outlook Express Outlook Eudora Netscape)Supported Instant Messaging ProgramsAOL Instant Messenger 2.1 or laterYahoo Messenger 4.1 or laterMicrosoft Windows Messenger 3.6 or laterMSN Messenger 6.0 or later*Must meet Windows Vista operating system requirements.Internet access required for updating.Format: WIN 2000XPVISTA Genre:UTILITIES UPC:731944568324 Manufacturer No:VSF08EMB1RUA

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Pinnacle Studio 9 Plus - Video Editing Software Review

Pinnacle Studio 9 Plus - Video Editing Software
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I recently purchased Studio Version 9.3. After three unnsuccessful attempts at installing the software (I'm running XP service pack 2 on a brand new IBM computer), I was finally able to nurse a successful install. (The first three installations would hang and lock up the computer.) This took three hours of my day. After installing the program, I tried to launch it. It takes over four minutes for the program to load to the point where I can attempt to use it! Unacceptable. Thinking that the latest patch would solve this problem, I tried to download an update Pinnacle had posted to its web site. Alas, Pinnacle asks for your product serial number before you can download the update. The web site rejected my serial number repeatedly and would not let me download the latest patch. I tried calling Pinnacle's support number, but the message said the wait was over an hour. So then I e-mailed Pinnacle's support e-mail address. My e-mail was bounced back to me with a message that Pinnacle's mailboxes were too full to accept e-mail. I'd avoid this product and look for alternatives.

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Pinnacle Studio Plus 9 is an advanced video editing and disc authoring tool, for those who take pride in their digital video. With its intuitive interface and seamless workflow, users will access and operate hundreds of professional-quality tools. It also features noise reduction, imgae stabilizing and new picture-in-picture and chroma key features. You'll produce high-quality video production effortlessly, from start to finish.Integrated CD & DVD creation tools for convenient burningAdd the feel of home theatre to your creations, with support for 4 - 3 and 16 - 9 WidescreenThe expandable software architecture accepts a wide variety of audio/video plug-ins to create a library of effects & filters

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Norton Systemworks 2006 Review

Norton Systemworks 2006
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I spent three hours helping a friend uninstall norton systemworks..He thought he could install this over norton nis2006 !!Wrong!! these programs arent compatible with each other..Both have versions of noton anti-virus 2006.!!! you cant run both...They fought each other until he got a grey screen.Nothing worked!!! I had to perform a clean windows install,and installed norton 2005 antivirus and the 2005 norton firewall...Now all is well...? we have to wait 15 days to see if the registration fails...You install at your own risk...Upgrading is not always better...You be the judge of this.

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Enjoy a fine-tuned computer with Norton SystemWorks 2006. This multi-purpose solution prevents many common problems, keeping your computer healthy and running smoothly. And if trouble does occur, it's there to help you recover. A lot can go wrong with computers—systems slow down, data gets accidentally deleted, viruses attack—and Norton SystemWorks can stop many of these problems before they occur. To keep your system running smoothly, it rearranges files for fast access, finds and repairs broken Windows registries, and removes Internet clutter. Its antivirus protection safeguards your computer against damaging viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and dangerous spyware. And to keep your data and settings intact, it constantly tracks changes to your system and files. That means you won't have to worry about losing your work, even if you forget to save changes to a document.No matter how many precautions you take, problems can still occur. And with Norton SystemWorks, you don't have to turn to "techie” friends or family when this happens. Whether you need to remove a virus, repair a Windows glitch, or rescue damaged files, Norton SystemWorks can help you solve your problem and get you up, running, and enjoying your computer in no time.

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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Review

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
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This package contains both the "Game of the Year" edition of Dawn of War plus the Winter Assault expansion pack.
This "Game of the Year" edition of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (DoW) contains new battle maps, online features and an observer mode to enhance what was already a terrific RTS computer game. Each of the four races in the game look and behave as one would expect from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 (aka 40K) universe. The Eldar are graceful and cultured in their speech and appearance (think High Elves in space), performing marvelous acrobatic moves in combat. Orks are brutal, awkward and ramshackle in their appearance and gait, Chaos Marines and their demonic minions are dark, cruel and monstrous while regular Space Marines (enhanced humans) are very industrial and all business. The animations in combat are so good you'll want to play some skirmishes on easy difficulty so that you can take your time looking close up at the individual fighting using the fully moveable 3D camera. There are even special "sync-kill" animations when certain creatures destroy each other. For example, when the Space Marine Commander kills a gigantic Bloodthirster (huge winged demon), the animation sequence is one of the most spectacular in the game!
The skirmish option offers both single and multiplayer modes with many different battle maps from which to choose. This offers near limitless permutations, providing tons of replayability. The campaign is a wee bit linear and not overly challenging, but is loads of fun, has an entertaining story and can be completed by all players regardless of skill level. Difficulty level settings can be used in both campaign and skirmish play to make the game more or less challenging as desired.
The voice acting and music are quite good in DoW and enhance play enormously. The game is highly evocative of the dark, gothic feel of the 40K miniatures game produced by Games Workshop (GW).
Resource gathering is used as is expected in an RTS game, but it is very simple and does not occupy an enormous amount of game time. The emphasis of DoW is all on the action and combat! Resources are gathered by capturing strategic points and critical locations on the battle map. Capture more territory and more resources will be available to you to complete your research and build your army.
Note that the expansion pack for this game, Winter Assault, provides players with even more maps and options, as well as a new fully playable army, The Imperial Guard. The Winter Assault campaign can be played from either of two points of view, "order" or "chaos," and involves a war against CPU controlled Necrons! Skirmish mode, as in the original Dawn of War, adds a lot of replayability value to the game, with many different battle maps and play combinations. Play any of five armies, play with allies or play free-for-all, and that's not counting multiplayer mode!
Between trying to hear all the fun voice acting, see all the great animations, and actually playing the game, Dawn of War Gold Edition will keep you busy and enthralled for many hours. "Let the galaxy burn!"

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"Ten thousand years have passed since the treasonous acts of Chaos toppled the Golden Age of mankind. Fires burn brightly throughout the galaxies, illuminating carnage and slaughter as mankind defends itself from ancient enemies. Hardened forces collide with one goal in mind, the complete extermination of their opposition."Game of the Year" developer, Relic Entertainment, brings the world's most successful table-top war game to the PC. Control one of five unique races in head-to-head or cooperative multiplayer action, where faith, skill, and strategy are requisites in ruling the universe.Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Gold Edition presents the most exciting, visceral, frontline battlefield ever seen in a Real Time Strategy game with "Game of the Year" Dawn of War and "Expansion Pack of the Year" Winter Assault combined in one package."

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SystemTech Vista Review

SystemTech Vista
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I don't know what the prior complaint is concerned with, I've spoken with customer service on the phone and they were always prompt and polite.
This software works just fine, we've used it on our own machines, it basically does the same thing as Norton Utilities, but costs a lot less!
It cleans system clutter, defrags the hard drive, cleans up the registry, speeds up the internet connection, and manages the startup programs so that your system boots faster.
New computers are always so quick, then you see it slow down over time. Spending $20 on this to clean up an older machine rather than buy a new one is a bargain.

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Quickly find and fix problems on your PC with SystemTech Vista! Don't let your new operating system slow you down. Improve your productivity and Windows Vista performance using SystemTech VISTA to maintain your system and secure your activity. Quickly diagnose and repair problems, securely clean system clutter to recover lost space, and increase the speed of your Internet and network connections.

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LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Review

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
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I'm trying to divide my review into two parts: 1) The game. 2) The bugs.
1) The game. The game is an innovative take on the standard Lego game engine (which I have been used to from the Star Wars versions), with a much more fluid game interface and transition giving it a stronger feel of a cohesive world. I'm not that familiar with the Harry Potter story, but my son (the game player) finds that it fits right in with the story line. I did notice that the Lego tradition of no dialog (only grunting) in the video transitions completely breaks down. If you don't know the movies (or at least the book) they make no sense. It took my son over 8 hours to play the game through to the end (just to get to the levels, not to do the free play). Overall it is a fun game for those who like Harry Potter and the general Lego take on these things in its games. Just on that basis I would give it a 4 star rating.
2) The bugs. Their technical support tells me that Windows 7 is not supported. I have a laptop with Windows 7 and better graphics which would crash. There were two types of crashes. Random crashes that just didn't repeat if you replayed the level, and then there were two specific points in the game which crashed 100% of the time. I was able to get around those crashes by lowering the graphics setting in one place, and raising it back up in the other. I moved it to an older Vista machine, and it works (it crashes on exit, but who cares?). That older Vista machine has a lousy graphics card and to the credit of the game makers, they adjust the graphics down to compensate, so the game works fine. I have to say that first of all Amazon is incorrectly listing this game as compatible with Windows 7, so beware, and second of all it is not acceptable to release a game incompatible with Windows 7 8 months after it is released to the general public. Who do they think are buying these games with sophisticated graphics? Exclusively people with year-old machines? Unacceptable.
I have asked Amazon for what their resolution to this matter will be. I expect them to refund customers even with open boxes. Although I got the game to work because I happen to have an older Vista machine, most won't, and the game simply doesn't work as advertised.
EDIT: Just heard back from Amazon customer service - they are indeed refunding it even if the product was opened. Since I found a way to get the game to work, I probably will not be returning it, but good for Amazon for making it right.

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True Image Home 2011 Review

True Image Home 2011
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I'm a software engineer and I'm used to pushing computers to their limits. Just my computer at home has 3 hard drives with a total of 14 partitions (I use Boot IT NG to manage so many partitions). I have installed in these disks mostly Windows 7 and Windows XP.
Acronis. A backup and restore solution is like a parachute. It either opens when you need it or it doesn't. It's as simple as that. I've been using Acronis for over 6 years and I've spent my money buying the most recent versions.
Fact: this tool never let me down and it saved my skin several times. However, this isn't to say I love the tool.
To make Acronis work for you is simple: stick to the basics, backup and restore. Acronis has a smart team of developers, but their marketing team is stupid. Every version they come up with, more senseless bells and whistles are added which just clutter their tool.
After so many years, here's a list of features that worked well and some that failed miserably. Again, this is my experience with more partitions in my computer than most users.
One-click backup.
This "one-click" feature works great if you're buying stuff from Amazon. For backups you can't be serious. What will it back up, where will it store, and how do you recover? Sure, the answers are there but how can you understand things with a "one-click"? It's a silly marketing catch phrase that in the end never did anything useful to me. Spend a few more clicks and... do things right.
Try and Decide
This one should be called "please crash my computer". Every time I attempted to make this feature work, something went wrong. To me, this is absolutely useless and it's consistently useless across all Acronis Home versions I owned. This has never, ever worked for me.
Acronis Secure Zone.
This one has consistently worked well for me. On client computers I use the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and it works really well. Again, a core feature that works when you need it. One drawback: it's painfully slow on larger disks with incremental backups. Here's a suggestion for the Acronis engineers:
MAKE EXISTING FEATURES PERFORM BETTER
instead of adding non-sense bells and whistles every year. With Acronis TI 2011, you can convert the ASZ from a FAT files system (old) to NTFS (newer). They claim this should help performance a bit; however, their conversion utility stops working at "33%" on my 350 GB ASZ (not all is used). So, I can't tell you if it's any faster on this version.
Online backup
Another "you've got to be kidding me feature". Why would you want to do it this way? Simple: another marketing catch. This is simple: save your backup locally, validate it, THEN you upload it to the online service of your choice. Now... uploading the file "directly"? It sounds good in theory, but in reality upload speeds are slower, they drop, people use wireless (!) and you set yourself up for failure. I'm sure this works well for some people, it's just that I'm not one of them. I stay away from this one. If you save your stuff online, save it locally first.
Scheduled Backups
Another feature that works well. I have several backups that run every week and Acronis does a great job emailing me the results (good or bad). These backups have worked consistently well for me over the years and they never failed me. Here's something they did right and it works well.
Recovery / Restores
This is thee acid test: does the parachute open or not? In all fairness, a restore with Acronis has never, ever failed me. I restored partitions, files, data from internal hard drives and from external ones (USB). It worked 100%, all the time. It's even smart enough to deal with the file security in Windows O/S and it even updates the boot.ini file to make Windows bootable. Smart. Useful. It's great.
All other features
I can't cover them all here without making this review 50 pages long. However, stuff like mount / un-mount images, file shredder, system clean-up, work "alright" but... they're slow. What's up with the Acronis team that their tool is "consistently" slow? How do they manage that? :-)
Again, in my opinion Acronis is going in the wrong direction trying to add more "features I don't need" to their software to make it more marketable. Instead, they should make this tool screaming fast, but it has been consistently slow over the years.
In the end: does it work? Yes, but only if you stick to the basics. Do I recommend it? Yes, but only if you stick to the basics.
I've been running TI Home 2011 on my computer at home and it seems to perform better from prior versions. The interface is now centered around backup files and this takes some getting used to. If you want to schedule a backup, it's not as obvious as before in my opinion, but it's there.
All in all, buy it if you don't have one. The price is good and the tool works, just make sure you understand what this tool is: backup and recovery. Stick to the basics. All the other stuff is almost useless to me and I guarantee you all bad reviews here have something to do with their "extra" features (Acronis just needs to get smarter). Their basic backup and recovery works well, if you can deal with slow performance (this could be because of so many partitions I have in my computer too). So your mileage may vary.


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Have you ever accidentally deleted a file, had a virus corrupt your files, or had a disk fail? These are just a few examples of how people lose pictures, music, personal and financial data every day. Don't let this happen to you. Now is the time to protect your PC with Acronis True Image Home 2011.
Redesign of friendly user interface includes new features like Drag and Drop for faster navigation. View larger.

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Quicken Deluxe 2011 Review

Quicken Deluxe 2011
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It was bad enough when Quicken simply littered your desktop with icons linking to Quicken Loans, Free Credit Reports (which are never free) and a sundry of other financial pay-to-play products. Now they've taken things to a whole new level with ads literally BUILT INTO the GUI (Graphic User Interface: the 'skin' with which you engage with the program). An example: in the new 'refinance calculator' there is a large banner ad for CHASE BANK. The refinance calculator itself is poor and majorly inferior to free ones available online, but more on that later. I don't expect to pay upwards of $50.00 for a piece of software that contains banner ads! That is simply unacceptable. In freeware, I understand it, but not in something I paid full retail for!
Adding insult to injury, INTUIT has actually removed one of the best features of previous Quicken releases, the CASH FLOW monthly chart. They've replaced it with a projected balances chart which is ugly, harder to read, and doesn't convey nearly as much information as the previous version. A line chart is inferior for the purpose, and INTUIT hasn't even managed to make the data points (low and high balance points along the chart) display the actual balance when you mouse over them. This is a miserably bad design--they've managed to take a very useful tool and turn it into garbage.
The supposed new features are junk. The refinance calculator is extremely simplistic compared to far better online versions (check out Equitrend Financial Calculators if you're looking for sophisticated, free calculators). It doesn't allow the user to enter current mortgage interest rate or PMI, and instead makes you enter the total payment and then the "impound / escrow amount." If you have your mortgage set-up to be tracked in Quicken, the tool cannot incorporate that data into your analysis. You must manually enter everything. The tool also does not take into account the tax implications of your refinance. Overall it is a tacked on, basic calculator that is nearly useless.
The obligatory re-skin of the program (which INTUIT trots out each year rather than making substantial or meaningful changes) is adequate, but unnecessary. Every year they tweak fonts, colors, and layout, and design elements. This year is no exception. None of the changes make the program more efficient for the end user. I don't have a problem with utilitarian designs, as long as the underlying software is substantial. INTUIT seems to leverage much of their development budget into GUI tweaks, while doing little to improve the software itself.
Another major issue is that INTUIT cannot manage to keep their data file consistent from year to year. 2011 is no exception and required me to convert my 2010 data file. Admittedly this was much more painless than the massive difficulty many experienced with upgrading from 2008 or 2009 to 2010. I wish that the developers at INTUIT would make a forwards compatible data file type and just stick with it.
SUMMARY:
PROS:
1) Potentially better GUI (depending on your preferences)
CONS:
1) Ads built into the GUI itself
2) Removal of a significant feature (cash flow and balance chart)
3) No substantial improvements to the underlying programs
4) Added 'features' are poor quality, even when compared with free alternatives
5) Requires yet another data-file conversion
6) Expensive! Especially considering the ads built into the program
FINAL THOUGHTS:
What am I getting for my money here? If you love this version of Quicken, can you kindly explain to me why it is worth upgrading? I have yet to find a single compelling reason. Am I missing something or did I just flush my money down the toilet?

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Quicken Deluxe 2011 gives you money management and budgeting tools to help you watch your spending and increase your savings.

Set Personal Finance Goals and Save More View all your accounts in one place.

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