Applet Tech Support

[Glen]

Got a new cheap PC running WinXP and Explorer...Can't download w/ the applet...Anybody got a solutioin?

[km]

Glen, this is becoming more and more common due to the war between Microsoft and Sun. XP users don't usually have the problem though, it is Win98 combined with IE 6 that goes south.

Right now, we are about 90% effectiveness on the 'download cart' - obviously your new computer is in the unfortunate 10%. You can try (1) Netscape, (2), tweak the Java and cookie settings in your browser or put your computer at the lowest security level; (3) go to microsoft.com or any support site for IE and wade through all the patches and service packs and see if one of them was a solution to your situation.

Ron and I are working to overcome the entire download problem by adding a special device into HTR2001 that will allow you to download directly from the program - no browser needed.And you can download 1000 files at once if you want - no limit. We hope to have it done in the next 60 days, but it requires some tricky programming from my end. I'll keep you informed.

I know its a pain to download files one at a time - hope one the solutions above helps, but if not, we will get that new thing into HTR2001 before long and maybe this entire issue will go away.

[fred4now]

format C:\ enter

just kidding:D

[MikeDee]

KM and Ron

boy that sounds like a great idea a direct download with no limits. I take back every bad thing I ever said about ya:D

Since no good deed goes unpunished would it be possible to have a preference option that would let you select tracks once and it would remember your track selections until yo change them? Then all you would need to specify is date and the type of files you want b, q, or c ?

[Ron Tiller]

Hi,

This post has nothing to do with the "Deconstruction of Relativistic Hermeneutics"; I just like that expression (whatever it means).

1. The download cart employs a java applet that we purchased - I am not, nor will I ever be, a java programmer. Java applets are little java programs that your browser downloads. By themselves, they are completely useless. They require a java virtual machine (JVM) to run and do what they were designed to do. Your browser almost certainly has at least one JVM: Internet Explorer, in any version, has the Microsoft JVM; Netscape 6 and up has the Sun JVM. It is this JVM that ultimately determines whether or not you can use the download cart successfully, since there is no tweaking or reprogramming that I can do to the applet. So for anybody having problems with the Download Cart, I can't make it work by fixing something here.

2. The applet works with the Microsoft JVM but it works sporadically with the Sun JVM. Until last April, people who had problems with the Download Cart could go to Microsoft's website and download the latest Microsoft JVM. Most of the time, taking 30 seconds to reinstall the JVM solved the problem and the Download Cart would start working again. Why? I do not know. Sun Microsystems invented java and won a lawsuit against Microsoft, so as of last April, Microsoft no longer made the JVM available for INDEPENDENT downloading. It is still bundled in their browser and they have made at least one update available via their web based automatic browser update program. But if you just want to reinstall it to get our applet to work again, it is not available from Microsoft. I have a copy of the installation file on my computer, but 1) I don't want HDW to get sued for distributing it and 2) it is not the latest JVM, so it might react unfavorably on a computer I don't have complete knowledge of or control over.

3. The alternative, the Sun JVM, works for a few but for most it does not. I installed the Sun JVM and I can use the Download Cart fine, with one difference: When it gets ready to start downloading the files, it prompts me for my username and password again. After that, it downloads just fine. I have talked to others however who get all sorts of strange errors I do not understand. If you want to try it out, it is at http://java.sun.com/getjava/index.html. The installation is quick and easy . It will put an entry in Tools | Internet Options| Advanced called Java(Sun). If this is checked, your browser will use the Sun JVM to try to run all applets. To use Microsoft's JVM, you must check JIT compiler for Virtual Machine Enabled. Check one or the other, not both. Incidentally, sometimes, when visiting a website, you might install the Sun JVM and not even realize it. Many investment and financial sites use the Sun JVM, so if you are having problems with the Download Cart, check Tools | Internet Options| Advanced to see if you have a Java(Sun) entry that is checked.

4. Upshot: there is very little that can be done to fix an ailing Download Cart, short of formatting C:, or, if you have a pre win XP operating system, reinstalling the broweser.

5. The best solution is what Ken mentioned: download files right from inside the program, without using a browser. This bypasses all browser and JVM compatibility issues. Bob Purdy's Synergism and Cynthia Publishing's latest version of FastCapper both retrieve files from us this way, from within the program, and it works very very well. Now that Ken has publicly posted his reponse, he is officially on the hook to get this thing done (AND within 60 days!). That was a very brave and confident announcement by Ken!

6. Ignore this irrelevant point.

Ron Tiller
HDW

[LOU M.]

My download cart works but it takes about five minutes to generate an applet.Getting dsl next week will it help? P. S. Ron I was so looking forward to a lilvely thread on DECONSTRUCTION OF RELATIVITIC HERMENEUTICS oh well.:D

[Glen]

Thanks for the response:

Guess I kinda have a new computer/old Win XP version. Purchases a stiped down new PC with out an OS on it. Installed an older version of XP onto the machine. I guess that is what caused the confict.

The solution: I downloaded an old version of Netscape 4.78. Funny cause Netscape has made it real difficult to find the older versions...So I did a quick search on their site and found a 4.78 Version from the Jap web site...Downloaded it and my netscape is in Japanese...But I was able to recognize the symbols enuf to put HDW in my bookmarks and now it downloads fine...

[LOU M.]

AH -SO!:D

[C_Martin]

I was waiting a long time for the applett to download until one day I deleted a bunch of race files from HTR dir through the program and it was fast again. I download to another file and then copy to htr but I delete them from htr on a daily basic.
CM

[LOU M.]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[Donnie]

Glen (and all),

Go out to www.download.com and search for a program called websnatcher. Can be used on the download site to grab multiple files at once and it is FAST! I may use it all the time after I register it!

[km]

Hey that's a nifty little tool Donnie - thank you.

The WebSnatcher program is similar to the control we want to add to HTR2001 to snag the files directly from the site. WebSnatcher is a little messy because you have to look at the entire directory structure and find the files by hand. The new control I want to add to the software will automatically go to the correct HTR file directory, find current file listing and place them into an easy list for fast access.

But WebSnatcher is a good method for now of downloading more than 75 files at a time from the site.

[Donnie]

Ken....
if you go into the options and change the filter to htr (don't use the "dot" as in .htr!!) it will bring back only the data files needed for the program...way sweet! Not to mention in the options you can directly load them into your HTR directory as well! Had the same problem as Glen earlier!

[Donnie]

...ohhh one more little tip..once you go to the racefile page, then copy and paste that .asp page into the websnatcher....all you will get back are racefiles, do the same if you want the trainer files, etc. It will ask you for your user name and password once as well!

[km]

Good stuff Donnie - thanks again - but beware, it is SPYWARE!
Here is a message from Ron about it =
Try www.spycop.com to purchase spyware detection program


-----------------------from Ron Tiller ----------------------------------------------
Ken,

I downloaded the Websnatcher program. It does work quite well and it is a
very good idea. The only tricky part in the programming is probably the
web page parser. Only one catch: Websnatcher is on the list of notorious
spyware programs - several spyware cleanup programs I employ have it on
their lists of dangerous programs. I installed it and have my firewall
logging every attempt of its websnatcher.exe file to access the internet.

Here's where it gets tricky. It only seems to log the initial access to the
page with the file lists. When I check the boxes to download 10 files, it
downloads them lickity split but my firewall does not record those 10
additional downloads, just the original url to get the list of files. So
I'm wondering if the downloads somehow piggy back on something else, to
avoid detection (this would presumably allow the spyware to similarly avoid
detection). Or perhaps this is just an issue with the way my firewall logs.

It is a tribute to the ingenuity of these spyware and addware programs that
I even consider such screwy scenarios. I have read much about all the
tricky and sophisticated techniques used by spyware and addware and it makes
me very paranoid about installing any program that has a verified history of
being spyware, whatever they may say now about the current version. I can't
verify that it is still spyware but I'm uninstalling it immediately anyway.
I only installed it on a computer that I am getting ready to reformat
anyway.

The spyware issue is not moot, as you are probably aware. The programs,
once installed, have free roaming access to all files on your computer and
can do text searches of documents to get social security numbers, bank
accounts, etc., and then send them back to another computer. I installed
Cute FTP Pro about 6 months ago and noticed that my firewall log was filling
up. It turns out that it was attempting to connect to its "mother ship"
every 20 seconds, starting at port 1000 something and cycling all the way up
to port 60 something thousand. I then read the Cute FTP Pro, along with
Real Jukebox, were the 2 most notorious Spyware programs out there.

[Donnie]

DRATS!! Just when you think someone has put out a nice utility!!

Guess I will have to continue the quest!

[MikeDee]

think I will wait for the new downloadersoftware.

[Ron Tiller]

Hi,

First, I just want to clarify that I do not know that the current version of websnatcher is spyware. I have not been able to catch it spying on me, like I have other programs, but I am not an expert on these matters; I know enough to get myself into trouble. I believe, after checking with several lists of known spyware, that at the very least, previous versions of it were. I choose to error on the side of caution.

Second, all spyware is not created equal. The companies that incorporate such technologies in their programs state that it is only for innocuous purposes, like tailoring advertising, better product support, etc. They would NEVER use it for anything nefarious. Some, maybe most, probably mean it. When you realize what they have access to (anything on your computer), I tend to be less trusting. Many state that they are spyware (they don't use that term) in the 20 page license agreement that most people just click right through, so they cover their legal butts by telling the truth, embedded of course in 20 pages of legalese.

Third, if you have a firewall, like Zone Alarm, Tiny Personal Firewall, Norton Firewall, etc., you can set them to allow programs like websnatcher.exe to only connect to certain IP address, like the HTR download site: 65.214.103.232. This stops them from connecting to their "mother ship", if indeed they even try. This is what I did with Cute FTP Pro. I worry that for every firewall feature that stops spyware, people come up with 10 ways to circumvent them. Since most people with firewalls allow Internet Explorer unlimited access to the internet, I read that spyware and trojan horse programmers can use their program to start Internet Explorer "invisibly" and send data out at the end of the url,like:
"http://45.167.65.15/?bank account # is 4567-9675831". So how do firewalls stop that? I don't know.

If you try to stay up with this stuff, you end up so paranoid that you end up huddled in the corner of a panic room, rocking back and forth, thinking of the good old days when all you had to worry about was global nuclear war with the USSR. I you do decide to use websnatcher (or any other program like it), I would just make sure to set your firewall settings to only allow it acces to the htr download site. That probably gives you enough insurance.

What's a firewall, you ask? Uh Oh.

Ron Tiller
HDW