Which Windows to Buy
WinPower on Windows 7
WinPower Printing ProblemsWhich Windows to buy
WinPower seems to run any 32 bit system. Windows 7 32 bit, Windows 8 32 bit, and off course XP 32 bit, so if you can get anything with 32 bit, grab it!!If you can't get 32 bit system, then try to get Windows 7 Professional. Or Windows 7 Ultimate or Enterprise are also good but these are more expensive and you don't need these features (one for mainly gaming and the other for corporate scale networking). With these editions, you can install free Virtual PC from Microsoft on it and use XP mode to run WinPower.Windows 8 doesn't support Virtual PC (although I saw some YouTube popping up to show how to install Virtual PC on Windows 8) so stay away from it, for now, at least.
WinPower on Windows 7
SOME people were able to run WinPower on their Windows7 computers without any special setup.But most often, Windows 7 will not run WinPower, saying it's not compatible. If that is the case, the please read on.
If your Windows 7 computer is NOT "Home" or "Home premium" edition but anything else, you can download "Virtual PC" and "XP Mode" from Microsoft website, free of charge and install those first. Then, WinPower will run inside Virtual PC screen.
Here is the link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx (or you can easily Google it by typing "Virtual PC").
When you try to download and run "Virtual PC", it will say "Verification is necessary" (or something on those lines). Let it do that but you might get the same screen again and again. You might have to try downloading several times. I suggest you reboot your computer and try again. This is a glitch on their part, I think, but I have always been successful after several tries. If still no success, try to "Enable JavaScript" for your browser. For Internet Explorer (9.0), here is how: Select "Tools" from menu, then "Internet Options", "Custom level", scroll down until you see the section labeled "Scripting." Under "Active Scripting" select Enable and click OK.
During the installation of Virtual PC, it will ask you to setup your password. Please write it down somewhere because I saw on website that lots of people selected it and forgot what it was and they were crying. There will be no web link for "I forgot my password" to retrieve later.
After you install Virtual PC with XP mode, start XP mode. (Click "Start" button, then type in "Virtual PC," then select "XP Mode" from the sub menu (or you might have to double click "Windows XP Mode" in the right pane of the Windows Explorer.) Each computer is setup differently, so experiment and try to remember the step you have to take to start XP mode for the next time.
Inside XP mode window, you have to "Attach" thumb stick from menu at the top of the Virtual PC screen. Locate the menu called "USB" and your thumb stick should be listed. Select it and click "Attach." Then, you can go to "Start" button in XP mode, "My Computer" to select "Removable Disk" for you thumb stick which should contain WinPower setup files. (If you haven't done it already, please copy all your setup files to the thumb stick.)
Double click 1.exe, 2.exe, 3.exe. etc. to setup WinPower. You might encounter with some error messages but ignore them for now and try to do all the steps anyway. You should go to Internet Explorer from Virtual PC window (not from Windows 7 IE) to get the latest WinPower program and run directly from there.
When you finished setting up WinPower, remember to "Restore Data" from WinPower welcome screen. If you are running Virtual PC, you must "Attach" your thumb stick every time you start Virtual PC. Locate the menu called "USB" and your thumb stick name should be listed. Select it and click "Attach."
To Print, you have to "Attach" printer from menu at the top of the Virtual PC screen. Locate the menu called "USB" and your printer name should be listed. Select it and click "Attach." You'll have to do this attaching the printer thing each time you start Virtual PC.
If you ever need to email WinPower data, please notice that outside of Virtual PC (your Windows 7) doesn't quite know you are running Virtual PC or WinPower so you can't see your file from "My Computer" in Windows 7's Windows Explore. You need to go to Virtual PC window to see your files. From there, you can copy file and paste it to your Windows 7 directory like C:\temp\... and then you can email as an attachment.
If it was working until few minutes ago or till yesterday, power off printer, reboot computer, then power on printer and try again.If that didn't solve the problem, we suggest you try "System Restore" to the point it was working.
IIf this didn't solve the problem and/or it was working until recently but you don't remember when it was, then we suggest you install newest printer driver from the printer's manufacturer's website.
On the other hand, if this is a new computer and you are trying to print for the first time from WinPower, the remedies differ depending on your setup. So keep reading...If this is Windows 7 and you are running Virtual PC on it, and running WinPower from XP mode, then you have to "Attach" the USB printer from the Virtual PC menu. You'll have to do this every time you start Virtual PC. If you don't see any printer listed in "USB" menu, you may have to install your printer driver in Virtual PC.Or, if this is Windows 7 computer and you are successfully running WinPower (except for printing problem) without Virtual PC, then you have to change the printer ports. Go to "Control Panel," then "Printer," then select the printer you want to use. Then, from "File" menu, select "Properties" and go to "Ports" tab. Here you have to check both "LPT1" and "USB." That should do the trick.This works every time: If you still have trouble, there still is another way to go about this. You can download a free program from this site to create PDF document from WinPower instead of directly printing to printer. After PDF is created, then you can print this PDF document from Virtual PC or outside of Virtual PC. http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/writer.asp You can name the document different each time, so you can keep a copy of the printed material, or you can name them same to overwrite so you don't clutter the hard drive. This PDF method requires added steps but it's very reliable. We ourselves use it for number of reasons. One big advantage is that you always get to see what the document will look like before printing from WinPower, like PO1 print preview, for the other parts of the WinPower function.