Document 737

Using SWP, SW, or SNB with Windows Vista or Windows 7/8

Version: 5.x - Scientific WorkPlace, Scientific Word, & Scientific Notebook

Although SWP, SW, and SNB run under Windows Vista and Windows 7 or Windows 8, you may encounter occasional difficulties depending on your version of the program.

Version 5.x of SWP, SW, and SNB

We have encountered these issues with Version 5.x.

Startup message

Note: This issue has been addressed by the install program used for Version 5.5 Build 2960. If you used the Build 2960 install you will not see the startup message referenced in this section.

Because Vista's security provisions prevent our programs from updating the system registry, you may get this message when you try to start SWP, SW, or SNB:

Failed to update system registry. Need permission to add?

You can safely ignore the message. Choose OK and continue working.

If you don't want to see the message each time, run the program one time as Administrator to update the registry and turn off the messages:

1. Right-click the SWP, SW, or SNB program shortcut on the Desktop.

2. Select Run as administrator, providing the password your system uses.

3. Exit the program.

4. Start the program normally, and the message will no longer appear.

Ligature issues with OpenType fonts

Note: The font issues referenced in this section have been addressed by Build 2960. If you have an earlier build of Version 5.5 you can apply the patch update. See Patch update 2960 for Version 5.5.

Because OpenType fonts in Windows Vista do not strictly follow the OpenType standard for the Windows Glyph List, you may notice ligature problems when you compile a DVI or PDF document.

In DVI documents

If your document uses the Times package, instances of the fi ligature do not preview or print correctly in TrueTeX. The .tex and .dvi files produced are correct and unaffected.

You can resolve the problem:

  1. Download the self-extracting file vistaligaturefontfix.exe and save it in the directory where SWP, SW, or SNB is installed.

  2. Run the download and use the installation directory as the target directory.

  3. Overwrite files when prompted.

In PDF documents

The updated file winfonts.map seems to fix the problem when compiling for PDF.

  1. Find WinFonts.map in the TCITeX\pdftex\config directory.

  2. Save the existing version of the file (rename it or move it to another directory).

  3. Download the updated version into the TCITeX\pdftex\config directory.

Windows help

The Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) program is not included in Windows Vista. This means that help is not accessible for several ancillary programs, including the SW Document Manager program, MuPAD's VCAM application (SWP and SNB), and TrueTeX (SW and SWP). Microsoft does offer the Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows Vista as a download. See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 917607 for further explanation and a download link.

100% CPU Usage

Any time the cursor is in an edit window that allows entering mathematics, CPU usage jumps to 100%. The edit windows that allow mathematics include the main document window and other windows like the Search or the Special Appearance field of the Index Entry dialog.

We have attempted to track down the problem, but have been unsuccessful. We believe the problem is at a low level in the Vista or Windows 7 operating system, but we have not been able to find an exact location for the cause of the problem. We are unable to resolve this problem.

The problem is unchanged when using Vista Service Pack 1, Service Pack 2 or Windows 7. If a multi-CPU processor is used, the effect seems to be spread across all processors. With multiple core processors, CPU usage seems to be spread across the available cores. For example, with a quad-core processor CPU usage jumps to about 25% when the cursor is in an SW edit window.

Customer suggested work around: A customer discovered the work around of using Windows XP mode under Windows 7. The customer described this is a relatively comfortable way to circumvent the problem. The first part of the work around is to install Windows XP Mode with Virtual PC and then install SWP into the Windows XP virtual machine. When SW is run in this environment under Windows 7 the CPU load is back to normal.

The wmf2eps program

Additional files are needed to install the wmf2eps printer driver when using Windows Vista or Windows 7. The wmf2eps home page now includes the additional files. The new files and steps to use the files are included in a self-extracting download file.

To add the needed files:

  1. Download the self-extracting file wmf2epsvistawin7update.exe and save it in the directory where SWP, SW, or SNB is installed.

  2. Run the download and use the installation directory as the target directory.

  3. Overwrite files when prompted.

  4. Start SW and from the Help menu select Search.

  5. Enter wmf2eps to locate the wmf2eps index entry and then open the topic Installing and Configuring the WMF2eps Printer Driver.

  6. Follow the information in the help topic for the version of Windows that you are using.

Older versions of the program

Version 4.1

  • This version requires a special license file. Only the web registration method will provide the correct license file.

  • When using Vista, the DVI ligature issues with OpenType fonts are also present in Version 4.1. Follow the instructions given above.

  • When using Windows 7, the TrueTeX Previewer does not recognize Times New Roman as an installed font. Characters using the Times New Roman font appear in the previewer as blue dots. There is no solution to this problem except to avoid typesetting specifications that use Times New Roman.

  • See the above information regarding Windows help and 100% CPU usage.


Version 4.0

  • Version 4.0 installations using Vista experience the DVI ligature issues with OpenType fonts. When using Windows 7, the Times New Roman font is not found by the TrueTeX Previewer. Follow the instructions given above.

  • See the above information regarding Windows help and 100% CPU usage.


Version 3.5x

  • Version 3.5x installations using Vista experience the DVI ligature issues with OpenType fonts. When using Windows 7, the Times New Roman font is not found by the TrueTeX Previewer. Follow the instructions given above.

  • See the above information regarding Windows help and 100% CPU usage.


Version 3.0

  • Version 3.0 installations may require an update to work with Vista or Windows 7. Either

    • Install using the Build 1079B CD.

      or

    • Install the Patch for Smart Heap if you used an older CD for the original installation.

    See Patch Updates for Version 3.0 for a description of CDs and available updates.

  • You must follow the instructions for Using SWP or SW Version 3.0 with Windows 2000 or XP.

  • You may experience problems displaying certain ligatures when the document typesetting specification uses the Times New Roman font. There is no solution to this problem except to avoid typesetting specifications that use Times New Roman.

  • See above regarding Windows help and 100% CPU usage.


Version 2.5

See the above information regarding Windows help and 100% CPU usage. Version 2.5 uses only Windows help. No other issues have been noticed with Version 2.5.

Last revision 04/30/2012

This document was created with Scientific WorkPlace.