1. Where is Tainlab software installed?

Tainlab Wintec is installed in C:\Program Files\Tainlab. If you are using Windows 2000 or XP, then you should read FAQs 4 to 10.

No. Tainlab software keeps track of all of its settings using ini files kept in the C:\Program Files\Tainlab folder (or in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Tainlab on Windows 2000 and XP, if the user does not have write permission to C:\Program Files\Tainlab).

No. The installation setup file must be run on each local machine and the program executable file must be located on the local machine.

4. Why do I need administrator privileges to install Tainlab software?

You must be logged on with an administrator account so that you have write access to the C:\Program Files\Tainlab folder and to allow the desktop icon and Start Menu shortcut to be installed properly.

Users who do not have write permission to the C:\Program Files\Tainlab folder will be able to save experiment files and results files to any local folder or network folder, as long as they have write permission for that folder.

The Save Experiment and Save Results file dialogues will default to folders below the Shared Documents folder.
The experiment file default folder is : C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Tainlab\shared settings
The default path for results files is : C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Tainlab\shared results

If you wish to select another folder, then use the Save in: drop down list to change folders.

WinTec will remember the last folder used to save experiments and results files for each user. Next time the user saves a file, WinTec will default to last folder used.

Saved experiments will appear in the Quick Start menu and saved results files will appear in the Results Finder menu - even if the file is saved to a network drive.

If a non-administrator user opens a standard experiment (one that is located in the C:\Program Files\Tainlab\settings folder) and then modifies the experiment settings, then when the experiment is saved the experiment title and file name will be automatically be modified to include your user name in brackets. This prevents multiple entries with the same experiment name in the Quick Start menu.

For example, if user ‘smith’ loads the experiment Huddling Animals, then modifies the settings and saves the experiment file, WinTec will automatically change the experiment title to Huddling Animals (smith) and the experiment file name to Huddling Animals (smith).exp.

The "Shared Documents" folder on Windows 2000 and Windows XP is
        C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Tainlab

Yes. WinTec creates some temporary files while running experiments. When WinTec is started, each of the following folders is examined in turn to see if the user has write access. The first available folder with write access will be used for temporary files.
    UserProfile             C:\Documents and Settings\current user name\Application Data\Tainlab
    All Users Profile     C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Tainlab
    TEMP                      C:\Windows\Temp\Tainlab

To see a list of folders, Run Wintec, then on the QuickStart menu main menu, click Help About. Click System Info.
All of the folders used by wintec will be displayed. The type of file access that you have is also displayed for each folder.

Note: The folders for experiment files and results files are default folders only. Users may save their experiment and results files to any folder that they have Write permission.
 

If you have added your experiment to the Quick Start menu, then when you highlight that experiment, the file folder and name is shown in the File Name box at the lower right hand side of the screen. If you can only see Description and Equipment boxes, then click on the More Info button on the menu bar.

If the experiment is not in the Quick Start menu, you can use Browse to open an experiment file.
The experiment file could be located in the following folders...
-  For standard experiments (provided by Tain Electronics) or experiments saved by the teacher (or a user with administrator permission)...  C:\Program Files\Tainlab\settings
-  For experiments saved by student users...  C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Tainlab\settings (or the alternative Shared folder specified by your system administrator)

We recommend that you always add your experiment to the Quick Start menu.

Yes. If your security policy does not give students write access to the local Shared Documents folder (C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Tainlab), then you may select another folder. You can use either a local or network folder, as long as the folder allows students Read and Write access to students.

Run WinTec. On the Quick Start menu, select any experiment or click Close. The main WinTec screen will be displayed.
This selection is made from the main menu, Edit Preferences. Click the Shared Folders tab. Instructions for use of Shared Folders
are given on the screen. This selection can only be made by a user with administrator privileges - the Shared Folders tab will not be visible to student users.

The default shared folder on Windows 2000 and XP is the alias All Users Profile  C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Tainlab. If you select another location, then the WinTec program will create a folder \Tainlab under the selected folder. This folder will be used to store user preferences and program settings.

The Shared settings and Shared Results folders will display as the default when users go to save experiments/results. Users may select another folder, as long as they Write access to that folder. WinTec will remember the last path used by each user for experiments and results files and will default to the last path next time the user saves a file.