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Field Collectingcataloging collection - software help

13th Jul 2016 13:40 UTCDeborah Nickerson 🌟

My apologies if this question should be somewhere else. I wasn't sure where to put it, though, and this seemed closely related...collecting and cataloging.

For the last several years I have been putting my collection details into a freeware product, Minerals, created and shared by Carles Milan. While I can't compare it to other software cataloging programs, I can say I just loved it. If I had a question or thought about any piece, as long as I'd put it into the software, I could quickly find it and have the pictures and the details at my fingertips. In mid June, I opened it and was prompted to update to the newest version, 3.0.4. I backed up my data by downloading it to an Excel file, then proceeded with the update. The program hasn't worked since. Mr. Milan has an excellent FAQ which included the good advice to not panic and offers steps to take if updating to 3.0.4 resulted in this situation. While I followed all instructions for the download exactly, have uninstalled/reinstalled, and yesterday brought my laptop to an IT person who's an ace with PC's running software on Windows 10 who spent two hours trying to find a fix, it still isn't working. This was a great program while it lasted, it encouraged me to finally begin cataloging - now 75% of my minerals have an assigned number and associate photograph(s) - and I have all the data I'd entered into the program on a spread sheet.

Has anyone had the same problem with this, but come up with a fix? In case I can't come up with a solution, I've requested permission to upload photos to mindat so I can start the process cataloging my minerals here.

13th Jul 2016 15:39 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert

Hi Deborah -

I've had the exact experience: including loving the software up until Windows 10 came on the scene. I've tried the fixes suggested by Carles, but they didn't make a difference on my computer. I've had to resort to installing the software on an old Windows 7 laptop.

My hope that in due time, Carles will be able to tweak the program to meet Windows 10 fussiness.

Maggie

13th Jul 2016 22:32 UTCDeborah Nickerson 🌟

I'm actually glad to hear it wasn't just me.

That's a good idea. I have an old laptop with 7 on it, I'll give it a try tomorrow. Did a reindex work to get all the data back into the program?

If I need to re-enter everything I'm going to think hard about it. Windows won't stop updating.

Thanks.

13th Jul 2016 22:47 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager

A clean install will work on Windows 10 machine (program not previously on computer)

14th Jul 2016 00:49 UTCAndrew Debnam 🌟

Hello all, I am not familiar with this software. Any comments? Pros cons etc

Thanks

Andrew

14th Jul 2016 01:34 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert

David Von Bargen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> A clean install will work on Windows 10 machine

> (program not previously on computer)

I agree - to a point. In the spring, I got a brand new computer with Windows 10. I installed the Minerals software and it worked fine - fine, that is, until I restored my data from backup files. I deleted the placeholder images that come with the program and then... crash.

14th Jul 2016 01:50 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert

Deborah Nickerson Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm actually glad to hear it wasn't just me.

>

> That's a good idea. I have an old laptop with 7

> on it, I'll give it a try tomorrow. Did a reindex

> work to get all the data back into the program?

>

> If I need to re-enter everything I'm going to

> think hard about it. Windows won't stop updating.

>

>

> Thanks.

Hi again - you know, I cannot recall if I needed a re-index on the laptop - it is running on the unit, so I guess that's all that matters.

The setup is not ideal as I need to perform the photo editing on my desktop, transfer the files to the laptop and take it from there. But at least I have my files. Like you, having to re-enter my data on another program is not a job I want to consider.

Maggie

14th Jul 2016 02:01 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert

Andrew Debnam Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hello all, I am not familiar with this software.

> Any comments? Pros cons etc

> Thanks

> Andrew

Hi Andrew - Since Minerals is the first cataloging software I've used, I cannot compare it to anything else. It suited my needs just fine.

Some of the features that I liked about it:

You can link the software to Mindat (or other mineral web pages) for the locality and species information.

There is space for 5 (or is it 6?) photos

You can track the price you paid for the specimen - there's an inflation calculator, too.

Multiple fields that you can modify for your own personal use - my needs are plain vanilla, and I don't need or want to enter all the possible data, but that's me.

Oh yeah, it's free.

And up until Windows 10 came on the scene, Milan's webpage was all I needed for the very rare query.

14th Jul 2016 02:39 UTCAndrew Debnam 🌟

Thanks Maggie, I just down loaded it and will give it a try. I am still on Windows 7 because the Win 10 install failed multiple times on my ASUS PC. I am also trying out MIneralDesk as well.

Andrew

14th Jul 2016 06:26 UTCJohn R. Montgomery 🌟 Expert

I'm wondering why you aren't using the cataloging programme here on Mindat? Not that I have. But I'm thinking of cataloging and wondering if there is some advantage to using the the Milan one?

Thanks

John

14th Jul 2016 12:22 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert

John Montgomery Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm wondering why you aren't using the cataloging

> programme here on Mindat? Not that I have. But I'm

> thinking of cataloging and wondering if there is

> some advantage to using the the Milan one?

> Thanks

> John

I started cataloging before the Mindat option was offered.

Plus, I prefer to have access to a database that is available offline, or one that isn't tied to a site that (god forbid) may one day disappear. Though I see that Mindat offers an export option, which answers those concerns.

14th Jul 2016 13:12 UTCJohn R. Montgomery 🌟 Expert

THANKS Maggie... that explains it well.

John

14th Jul 2016 13:39 UTCDeborah Nickerson 🌟

Hi John

"I'm wondering why you aren't using the cataloging programme here on Mindat?"

Your question wasn't aimed at me, but I will add my opinion to the mix too. It will be of limited value, because I have only made two entries into the "My Catalog" feature here, but will provide additional information about Carles' program.

I wasn't a member of Mindat when I started cataloging and Carles' program, Minerals, was free, simple to download and use (before Windows 10), and provided - at least for me - a more useful format than I'm finding in the Mindat catalog. It has a 'description' field as well as a substantial 'notes' field, and also offers a number of customizable fields - for example, I used one to note type locality specimens, another I used specifically for ex collections the mineral had resided in, and I have been planning to add one specifically for MinID's. You can also sort the list that's presented when you open the program by a number of different fields. Sometimes I'd want to see everything I'd acquired from one dealer over the years, so I'd just click on the dealer tab at the top of the form and they would all sort by dealer - you could do the same by specimen ID, date acquired, locality, and species. You're right Maggie, it takes as many as six images, and you can scroll through them and double tap them to enlarge. And you can export the data to Excel to back up.

After a couple of years of working on it every night and most weekends, I'd entered just over 700 pieces with the 3500+ associated photos before the catastrophic update last month; I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The thought of entering all of that again into a newly downloaded version on an old laptop knowing full well I could lose it again when either Carles or Windows update or when that old computer finally gives up the ghost seems foolish. Beginning my catalog over again on Mindat looks like the smart move. There's some question about whether or not a Mindat catalog is in the cards for me though. I've requested permission twice now over the last year to upload photos, but never gotten a response from the admins. I wrote again last night, hoping at least to confirm I've been denied, so I can move on. (Or, hopefully, find out it's just that my submissions never made it to them for some reason.) As safe a spot as this would be to create another catalog, I don't want to spend several more years creating one unless the program lets me associate my mineral info with my mineral photos.

14th Jul 2016 15:16 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager

Your activation requests never made it (from your home page? I just activated it).

14th Jul 2016 15:38 UTCDeborah Nickerson 🌟

Wow! Thank you so much!

Having to do all the work to recreate the catalog again is mind boggling, but Mindat has staying power so if I'm going to do it, I want to do it here; after realizing how at risk the data is using software associated with Windows, putting it somewhere where it has a better chance of staying put is really great. I'm psyched.

Yes, I sent them from my home page. The very first one was directly from the home page. The second one, from four days ago, was also sent from there after I was redirected to it after trying to add a picture to one of the two specimen pages I'd created in my try out of the catalog function. In both cases, and again yesterday when I geave it another try, I filled in the box where it asks you to say a little about what you hoped to upload and contribute to the site, and then submitted it (I'd thought) by clicking where it told me to just below the box. The instructions were to check back there occasionally to look for progress.

Thanks again very much. I appreciate it.

14th Jul 2016 17:01 UTCJohn R. Montgomery 🌟 Expert

Hello Deborah,

Thanks for your explanation ....very helpful.

Glad you are now "activated"... I hope you will post your specimens. I look forward to seeing them.

Regards,

John

22nd Oct 2016 00:52 UTCMaggie Wilson Expert

Deborah et al

I was ready to throw in the towel with the cataloging software as Windows 10 seemed to have messed it up for good. My plan B to use my old laptop didn't pan out, either.

As a last straw, I sent a note tonight to Carles and he answered almost immediately.

It turns out I had overlooked a vital instruction on Carles Milan's FAQ page. He wrote:

Make sure you are registered in Windows 10 as Administrator, and you are running the program as Administrator as well. They are really two different things. Please, go to http://carlesmillan.cat/min/faqs.php and read Q&A #54 and #71.

I am the only user on this computer, so I am Admin - what I didn't know is that to launch the software, I must right click on the name or icon then select "run as administrator."

I'm back in business. As much as I was looking for a big project to keep me occupied this winter, I'm glad that I can continue the catalog rather than have to rebuild from scratch.

22nd Oct 2016 03:33 UTCDeborah Nickerson 🌟

Hi

I had turned off auto-notification and just saw this late last night, but had to get back to work.

I haven't tried it in a month - it got too depressing! I had even downloaded the program on an old laptop running Windows 7. I got it to work on that one, but it wouldn't re-populate the data when I'd do a reindex. I'm going to try this right now, though. I was checking in the control panel and would see that I'm listed as administrator, but I wasn't right-clicking and choosing 'run as..."

I'm going to try it right now. Thank you.

deborah

22nd Oct 2016 03:58 UTCDeborah Nickerson 🌟

Hi again Maggie

Thank you! The program is running without the dozens of error messages and then locking in run mode (I used to have to kill the program using AltCtrDlt.)

I tried a reindex and it said it "performed a regular reindex on 687 records in four tables". I can't see them, however, so it's a new mystery. That said,I'm a lot more hopeful .

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