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Frequently-Asked Questions
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What's this about a "free 45 day trial"?
Q: How do I get the free trial version?
A: Simply click this link to the download page. Detailed instructions are there.
Q: A free "trial" version... what's the catch?
A: The catch is that the product will stop working after 45 days. This gives you plenty of time to try it out and decide whether or not it's worth the price. If you want to keep using it, when you send us the payment we send you an activation code that "unlocks" the program permanently. Other than the 45 day limit, the product is fully functional with no restrictions or missing features.
Q: Will I loose all the data I enter during the trial period?
A: Absolutely not! Everything will be right were you left it.
Q: Why are you offering the product this way? Can I purchase a "real" product?
A: Distributing the software via our web site is very efficient and cost effective. Prior to using this web site we had to purchase numerous supplies and duplicate diskettes, all of which cost time and money and resulted in a price of US $50 for TroopManager Plus alone. The web version of TroopManager Plus is only US $30... we passed those savings on to you. The web site is the only way to get any of our products. We no longer provide them any other way.
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The product says I have ZERO days left in my free trial period.
That's wrong! I still had plenty of days left.
This happens sometimes. The trial period is very sensitive to your computer's clock, as you can imagine. If the date gets changed backwards for any reason the trial period automatically expires. If this happens to you, just drop us a line at FSC@tds.net and we'll reset it for you.
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Where's information about price and payment options?
Where are all my scouts? Some (or even all) are missing!
TroopManager Plus does not filter scouts by program level, so you're probably accustomed to seeing all of your scout names all of the time. BadgeManager Plus needs to limit you to looking at one program level at a time because badges are different for each level.
For example, if you have a troop with eight juniors and two brownies, you will see only the two brownies if BadgeManager is set to view brownies.
Also, keep in mind that inactive scouts can be filtered out of all lists, so it's possible that the missing scouts have been marked as inactive. See the Preferences screen for details.
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Why can't I download the file? It always terminates before completed.
See the Download Problems page. When you understand how complex the internet really is, you'll be amazed anything works at all.
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Why does the installation program halt with an error?
This is related to the complexity of internet download, coupled with the complexity of modern Windows configurations. See the Installation Problems page.
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It looks like some badges/activities are missing!
We strive to stay on top of changes to badges and activities. Updates to the badge database are FREE. You can check on the availability of the update on the download page.
If you would like an e-mail notification about a specific update, send an e-mail message to FSC@tds.net and we'll let you know when it's available.
Also, some badges have been moved into a Discountinued group. This was done so troops working under the old handbooks could still use the new master badge database.
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Does BadgeManager Plus require TroopManager Plus?
Yes. BadgeManager Plus adds to and extends TroopManager Plus. BadgeManager Plus depends on TroopManager Plus for your lists of troops and scouts, and uses the report viewing/printing system.
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What did you use to create BadgeManager Plus?
BadgeManager Plus was created with Microsoft Visual Studio version 6.0, specifically the Visual Basic 6.0 development tool. BadgeManager Plus uses the Microsoft Jet database engine version 3.51, which is backwards compatible with Jet 2.0 which is used by TroopManager Plus.
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What did you use to create TroopManager Plus, and why change?
TroopManager Plus was created with Microsoft Access version 2.0 and uses the Jet database engine version 2.0. At the time TroopManager Plus was first conceived, Access 2.0 was the cutting edge in database development tools for desktop-based applications like TroopManager Plus. We switched to Visual Basic 6.0 because Access 2.0 is just not where it's at any longer. We are not making this change for the sake of change -- VB 6.0 allows us to create better software, faster. This makes it possible for BadgeManager Plus to be powerful yet inexpensive.
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Other than version numbers, what's the difference?
TroopManager Plus will run on any nasty old PC platform. We tested it on Windows 3.1 machines with 386-class CPU running at 33 MHz and only 8 MB of RAM, and the lil' bugger actually worked. That's amazing, considering 386-class boxes are sold by the pound these days. While we strongly recommend that TroopManager Plus run on Pentium-class machines with lots of RAM, this is not a requirement.
BadgeManager Plus on the other hand will only run under 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows, which means Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows XP, etc.
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Where did you get all those zillions of badges and activities?
There are over 200 badges and over 3,000 activities! Dedicated TroopManager Plus user Theresa Davis spent a good portion of her life entering each character of each word of each badge and activity for Brownies and Juniors. And, wow, do we appreciate it! Thank you, thank you Theresa. Her diligent data entry work is one of the reasons we finally got rolling with the development of BadgeManager Plus. The thing has been on the drawing board (so to speak) for a long time. Cadette/Senior badges were entered by a team of dedicated BadgeManager Plus beta testers, whom we also hold in high esteem.
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Where are the "Sign of..." badges?
Since there are so few of these we tucked them into the "Miscellaneous/Other" category. You'll find Sign of the... badges alphabetically sorted with the rest of the badges, or under the Miscellaneous/Other category.
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