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Running PLS Software on Windows Vista, 7 and 8

With the release of version 12.26 Power Line Systems has completed implementing support for Windows 8 (Windows 7 support started with version 10.20 and Windows Vista with 8.16). All functionality works as you would expect so long as you only use version 12.26 (10.20 for Windows 7, 8.16 for Vista) or newer. Significant changes to the file structure and organization of the PLS software had to be made to accomodate Vista and these changes carry through to Windows 7 and 8. As a result, it is not safe to mix pre-8.16 versions with 8.16 and newer. If you are going to run on Windows Vista you must perform a new install of 8.16 or newer versions for all of your PLS applications. You may find the following notes helpful in navigating the new operating system environment.

• When User Account Control (UAC) is enabled you will need administrative privileges for both the initial installation and also any upgrades.
  
  
• Windows Vista is only supported for new installations (in place upgrades will not work). If you are upgrading a computer to Windows Vista then first remove the existing PLS software (including the pls_cadd.ini file) and then reinstall it after the Vista upgrade is complete. Upgrading a computer to Vista (as opposed to purchasing a new computer with Vista pre-installed) is generally considered a bad idea.
  
  
• When installing on Windows Vista/7/8, the default location of the following files changes:
  • The software is installed to C:\Program Files\PLS\<Program Name>
  • Examples are now installed in C:\Users\Public\Documents\PLS\<Program Name>\Examples
  • Each user now has their own pls_cadd.ini file: C:\Users\<user name>\Appdata\Roaming\PLS\pls_cadd.ini
  • Each user now has their own PLS temporary folder: C:\Users\<user name>\Appdata\Roaming\PLS\Temp
  • Each user now has their own schema file for each application stored in: C:\Users\<user name>\Appdata\Roaming\PLS\<Program Name>.sma
  • A template pls_cadd.ini file that is used when a user first runs any PLS application is stored in: C:\Users\All Users\PLS\pls_cadd.ini
  
  
  
• The online help system is only supported with Adobe Reader/Acrobat version 8.1 or newer. Adobe Reader verison 8.00 is unstable.