Is PowerChurch Plus Compatible With Windows Vista/7

We have thoroughly tested our products in the Windows Vista environment and have found the following issues:

Display issues (affects all PowerChurch Plus versions)

Windows Border Display Issues [Resolved in versions 9 and higher]

There is an issue with the way that Visual FoxPro (VFP, the language that PowerChurch Plus is written in) renders forms for display. The borders on some screens do not refresh properly when the "Aero" theme is used in Windows Vista.

With border display issue

Without border display issue

This is a documented issue with Microsoft Visual FoxPro. A service pack is expected that will fix this issue in VFP 9, which PowerChurch Plus version 10 was written in. Microsoft will not be updating prior versions of VFP.

In the meantime, we have issued a Maintenance Release for version 10 (dated 4/3/2007) which works around this problem, using additional code in the forms. We have also issued a Maintenance Release for version 9 (dated 4/12/2007). Prior versions of PowerChurch Plus will not be updated.

Main Program Window Loses Aero Theme

This is a new issue that we have found and reported with VFP in Windows Vista. PowerChurch Plus will recall the "state" the window was in when you last closed the program. If the program was maximized, the next time you start PowerChurch Plus, the title bar will not be displayed in the semi-transparent "Aero" theme. However, if the program was in normal, windowed mode, the next time you start PowerChurch Plus, the title bar will be displayed properly. Currently, there is no plan to address this issue in PowerChurch Plus. A simple work-around would be to switch to Normal mode before closing the program.

Moving Dockable Windows

Moving "dockable" windows causes a similar border display issue. While the window is in motion, the borders are refreshed slowly, one by one, making them appear to "dance" across the screen. Examples of dockable windows in PowerChurch Plus are the new Quick Tasks window in version 10, as well as the floating toolbars in the Report Designer. The Report Designer is used in custom check, custom label, and custom report layouts.

This issue will be fixed in the aforementioned VFP 9 Service Pack update from Microsoft. This will fix the issue in PowerChurch Plus version 10. Prior versions of PowerChurch Plus will not be updated.

Themed Dropdown Lists [Resolved in versions 9 and higher]

In themed dropdown lists, a minor display issue can be seen using the "Aero" theme in Windows Vista. When the dropdown list is expanded, all items in the list will show as highlighted. Some dropdown lists in PowerChurch Plus are set to inherit Windows themes. Most, however, do not.

Themed dropdown list display issue

In the example above, the Mailing Category field will drop down properly without the issue, whereas the themed "Phone type" lists experience the problem. This issue will be fixed in the aforementioned VFP 9 Service Pack update from Microsoft. This issue was resolved in a Maintenance Release for PowerChurch Plus version 10 (dated 9/17/2007). A Maintenance Release will be published for version 9 before the end of 2007. Prior versions of PowerChurch Plus will not be updated.

Other Issues

Program Compatibility Message (affects all versions)

Some users have reported a prompt during installation that reads "This program may not have installed correctly." There is an option on the dialog to "Reinstall using recommended settings", which is the suggested fix for this issue.

Check Reader not recognized in 64 bit Windows (affects all versions)

MagTek has not yet published 64 bit drivers for the USB check reader. Until the time that 64 bit drivers are available, the check readers will only work with 32 bit Windows versions. Drivers for other operating systems are not available.

Crystal Reports Errors in 64 bit Windows (affects all versions)

In 64bit Windows installations, the Crystal Reports system files are properly installed in the "Program Files (x86)" folder, but PowerChurch Plus does not look in this directory for the files, it tries to open the files from the "Program Files" folder, which causes a File Not Found error when running reports in PowerChurch Plus. A temporary solution to this problem is to copy the folder called "Seagate Software" from the "Program Files (x86)" folder into the "Program Files" folder. Versions 9 and 10 will be updated via Maintenance Release to resolve this issue in 64 bit Windows versions. Prior versions of PowerChurch Plus will not be updated.

Installation Directory / User Permissions (affects all versions)

Installing PowerChurch Plus into the Program Files directory in Windows Vista will cause multiple sets of data files to be written. Because of default security settings in Windows Vista, each user of the computer will have program data written into the user-specific "AppData" folder. This means that multiple users on the same computer would not be able to share information within PowerChurch Plus.

One such issue is documented in the following article: QM_UPD.UPD Error in Windows Vista.

Installing to the default directory for your version of PowerChurch Plus will resolve this issue.

PowerChurch Plus' Word docs won't open in Office 2003 & higher (affects all versions)

When trying to open a report file, which was created using the built-in "Word for Windows" file type in PowerChurch Plus, Word 2007 will display a message saying that this file type has been blocked from opening. This issue is addressed by Microsoft at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA100319991033.aspx. The fix for this issue can be found by clicking the "Create a trusted location" link on that page.

Microsoft has since installed this functionality in Office 2003 Service Pack 3. However, the above fix is not possible with Office 2003. This issue is addressed by Microsoft at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938810.

Currently, there is no plan to address this issue in PowerChurch Plus.

Online Help Documents won't open (affects versions 9 and prior)

Help files in PowerChurch Plus versions 9 and prior were built in the Windows Help format (.hlp files). Version 10 was built using the newer Compiled HTML Help format (.chm files). Windows Vista no longer ships with the WinHelp32.exe program for reading .hlp files. This issue is addressed by Microsoft at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917607. The fix for this issue is to download and install the WinHelp32.exe program, which is explained in the page listed above.

Defining Custom Paper Size (affects all versions)

Users of Windows NT, 2000, XP, and now Vista are unable to define custom paper sizes, which is required to print labels or checks on a tractor-feed printer. This is an issue that goes back to the beginning of the Windows NT platform. Printing other documents to a tractor-feed printer will still function properly, as long as a custom paper size is not required.

Insufficient Memory Error (affects version 7)

PowerChurch Plus version 7 was written in Visual FoxPro 3. There is a limitation in VFP 3, which restricts users to having a maximum of 768 MB of RAM. The minimum requirement to run Windows Vista is 1GB (1000MB) of RAM, which exceeds the maximum 768MB limitation of VFP 3.