On Monday we discovered that the servers we use ( hosted offsite ) to handle our website and auto updater services were not working properly.  As we delved into the problem, it became clear they had been fouled for several days, and this likely led to people not receiving their updates on time.  In some case we were seeing 48 hour lag times.

We also found that the hosting company had been taken over and all of the quality techs who had been working there were gone.  They were replaced with untrained people who could only fill out a support ticket.  Consequently we needed to find a new hosting company and move a rather sizeable site.

The work has now been completed and our testing would indicate that everything is working fine.  This time we were able to make the move without requiring a change in our updating software ( which contains the actual server address ).  Initial tests show that is working also. 

If you received an alert about this bulletin, then your system is probably happy with the new server.  We would appreciate if you would check the Process Log and be sure your system is now updating on 3 hour intervals.

We also want you to be sure it downloaded 9.54.40 ( there will be an entry saying this ) if you are paid up with your DPP through 2015.  You can also check ( go to Help – About ) the version number you are running on each workstation.  It should show 9.54.40.

 

Email Addresses Needed

Many of you have never provided us with a valid email address, or have one that you never check.  We would like to create an email group so that we can notify you when problems arise.  You can use a personal email, or even multiple ones.  Please send an email to support@masterlinksoftware.com with the shop name and email address(es) you would like us to include.  This will only be used when we have a concern that our bulletin system might not be working ( or being read regarding critical notes ).

Are you on the right version ?

In ASW, on the top right side, you see a menu item that says Help.  Click on that and go to the bottom of the dropdown list to About.  Click on that and make sure it says 9.54.40.  Do this on every computer that uses ASW.

We have found some people are still running very old versions of the software.  This is because someone has changed the shortcut and is pointing at the wrong file.  If this is the case you won’t be getting the benefit of the latest updates.  Point your mouse to the ASW shortcut, and click the right button.  Select Properties.  In Target it should point to c:\ASW9c\ASWrun.exe.  If it points to ASW9 or ASW92.exe, then someone “did their own ( incorrect ) thing”.  Simply change it to point to the ASWrun.exe and all should be well.

Of course, sometimes the wrong ( very old ) run command is in there.  You want the one dated 6/13/2013.  If it is older, it likely points to ASW9 instead of ASW92.  You can copy the newer one ( probably ) from the ASW92s\MLS folder on the server ( using a standard Windows copy method ).  In a few days we’ll actually place a new copy of it on your server ( through the updater ) to make sure you have it.

Being on the wrong version not only eliminates newer features, but it also can be the cause of data errors.  Lets get 2016 going correctly by being “in the same place”.