Networking & Installation

TOPS Software Networking & Installation

*All operating systems should be loaded with the most recent service pack and the Framework for .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0 must be installed. (These can be found on our installation CD or on Microsoft's web site.)

Network Configuration:

Networking in TOPS™ works in much the same manner as the standard configuration, except it allows more than one user to work in the program at the same time. The number of users allowed is determined by the number of user licenses you purchase with the software.

Standard network configuration requires loading TOPS™ separately on each workstation in the network with all the community data being stored on the network server. A data path connects each workstation to the server so TOPS™ knows where to find the data files for each community on the server.

In a peer-to-peer network, workstations connect directly with other workstations to exchange information. We recommend that you select one system in the network to perform as a pseudo-server.

Due to the use of .NET Framework, TOPS v3.2.1™ no longer supports a 'Client Install' option. All workstations must be running a full local installation of the software.

Windows Vista Installation

We have been able to successfully run a fully functional version of TOPS in both Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate editions.

For installing and running TOPS™ on Windows Vista, the following is the bench test we used:

• Logged in with the Administrator account.
• Went to Control Panel, User Accounts
• Disabled User Account Control and rebooted.
• Did full install of TOPS to local drive, retrieved Internet Key, and ran the TOPS Internet Updater.
• Went back to Control Panel, User Accounts, and enabled User Account Control, rebooted.

We recommend disabling any antivirus/spyware real-time scanning software during installation of TOPS. For best results users should be setup as Administrators, as restricted user accounts can impact functionality of TOPS.

It has come to our attention that a number of new computers being sold with the Home Basic edition of Windows Vista pre-installed do not provide administrative rights to the default user. In order for any TOPS Software products to be correctly installed, the user must have administrative rights to Windows and the system registry on the machine. Vista Home Basic Edition is not a server operating system, and does NOT work well when set up in this manner. For this reason, TOPS Software strongly recommends AGAINST Windows Vista Home Basic Edition for any installation of TOPS™