RELEASE NOTES ======================================================= PowerChute Personal Edition 3.0.2 for Microsoft(r) Windows(r) ======================================================= ______________________________________________________________________ What's new in PowerChute Personal Edition v3.0.2 For v3.0.2, the product has been localized to nine languages: French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean (documentation only), and Simplified Chinese. ______________________________________________________________________ System Requirements The system requirements for PowerChute Personal Edition are as follows:- Operating systems: For information on supported operating systems please refer to the following link: http://www.apc.com/wp/?um=300. Graphics: Resolution of 960 by 768 or greater with 32-bit colors. Disk space of 104 MB is required for the installation and uninstallation processes. The installed program files take up 17 MB of space. Fonts and DPI Scaling:- For best results, you should use the default font settings for Windows Vista and ensure that Windows XP style DPI scaling is enabled. Configure this as follows: 1. Personalize your settings by right-clicking on the desktop in Vista and choose Personalize. 2. Click on "Adjust font size (DPI)". 3. Click on the "Custom DPI..." button. 4. Select the "Use Windows XP style DPI scaling" check box. 5. Set the DPI to 96. ______________________________________________________________________ Issues resolved for this release These issues have been fixed. • With Windows UAC enabled, when a user logged on to Windows Vista or Windows 7, the UAC dialog always asked the user to approve starting the PowerChute Systray icon. • After un-installing PowerChute, hibernation was not restored. • The PowerChute Technical data screen was very slow to display and sometimes the internal PC fan made a lot of noise (indicating over usage). ______________________________________________________________________ IMPORTANT: Event Logging All PowerChute Personal Edition power events are logged to the Windows Event Viewer. ______________________________________________________________________ Known Issues The user interface (UI) crashes or stops responding This can happen when the computer is turned on after an extended power outage when you launch PowerChute, disconnect and re-connect the USB communication cable, and then use the PowerChute UI. To fix this, follow these steps: 1. Launch the Windows Task Manager. Consult your Windows help for information on how to do this. Examples of how to do this are right-clicking the toolbar along the bottom of your screen and choosing Task Manager, or pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. 2. Click on the Processes tab of Task Manager. 3. Select “PowerChute.exe”, and click the “End Process” button. 4. Launch the PowerChute UI. Your PowerChute settings should not be affected by this. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- When PowerChute is uninstalled on Windows XP, the Windows Power Meter is not restored. This means that users do not get notified when a power event occurs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Systray Icon Error: APC Data Service failed to start:- This means that PowerChute is not collecting the data necessary to fully monitor your system. The reason is that the Windows event log is full. You need to clear the log. The exact steps will vary according to your operating system. Check your Windows help for further information by searching for "clear event log". You should restart Windows after you have cleared its event log. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Managed PC Shutdown cannot be provided:- On Windows XP Media Center, or XP, PowerChute sometimes reports this message. It only happens for Windows guest users (those logging on to Windows with restricted privileges). Despite the message, a managed shutdown IS provided during an extended power problem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Contact APC" option not working:- This option, under the PowerChute Help menu, enables direct feedback to APC. The feedback is disabled if you are a Windows guest user (logged on to Windows with restricted privileges). PowerChute displays a message asking you to "check network connection". ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uninstalling PowerChute fails:- This could result from a missing Windows.NET framework. If this has been uninstalled, you need to re-install it in Windows. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uninstallation hangs during the re-enable hibernation stage:- This happens if the USB port cannot be detected by the Windows device manger. Restart Windows and try uninstalling PowerChute again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Changing energy cost doesn't work after installing:- If some power event occurs before you specify your energy costs on first installing, then some confusing messages and screens can display. If this happens, go to the "Energy Usage" screen page, click the "Change Energy Cost" button, and enter your unit electricity costs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disk space requirement for installation:- During PowerChute installation, if a message says it's checking for the disk space requirement, and PowerChute subsequently fails to install after you select the drive, you should click the Return button. Create some more space on your hard drive - 104 MB is recommended - and then re-commence the PowerChute installation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- While installing on Windows Vista, you might see a dialog stating that Vista is required:- If this happens, go to the link below by copying the text and pasting it into your browser: http://emea-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/emea_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=8532 (Alternatively, in the APC Knowledge base on the Web site, search for the answer ID 8532). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Installing to a non-default folder on your computer:- Do not install the software to: * a restricted access area of your computer such as "Documents" * on the root of your computer, e.g. C:\ * a network folder ------------------------------------------------------------------------- USB Cable and Hubs:- You should not connect the USB cable through a USB hub. Any battery backup should be connected directly to the PC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keyboard Access:- It is not possible to navigate through the application using the Tab key. Use your mouse to navigate around the application. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Error Messages from USB Devices:- Turn on the power to all USB devices before starting your computer. This will prevent driver error messages and reduce compatibility issues between devices. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Restoring Native Power Management to Vista on Uninstallation of PowerChute Personal Edition:- When you uninstall PowerChute Personal Edition on Microsoft Windows Vista, the Native Power Management feature is not always re-enabled. This means that you cannot display the Power Icon on the task bar and cannot configure Power Options. If you require these features, perform the following steps:- 1. From the Control Panel, Open the Device Manager. 2. Expand the "Batteries group" to display "APC Battery BackUP". 3. Right-click on the "APC Battery BackUP" and select the "Uninstall" menu item, select the "Delete the driver software for this device" check box and confirm the action. 4. After a few moments, select "Action - Scan for hardware changes" menu item. The "HID UPS Battery" node should appear in the "Batteries" group. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Installing and Color Schemes:- Non-default Windows Color Schemes are not supported for the PowerChute installation procedure. It is possible that some installation text will not be visible if you are using a non-default scheme. ============================================================= All trademarks, product names, and corporate names are the property of their respective owners and are used for informational purposes only. =============================================================