Windows 7 and Vista are a major departure from previous versions of Windows because it enforces security issues at a higher level. In this topic, we'll discuss some of the ways this affects TPC running on a Vista computer.
Vista introduces us to something called User Account Control or UAC. UAC was built into Windows XP but was not enforced as it is in 7 / Vista.
UAC limits access to certain parts of your computer to someone called the Administrator. To access these areas, you must have Administrative Rights. If you don't have them, you can't access that area. The idea is to limit the exposure of critical parts of your computer to potentially harmful sources like viruses and hackers and you. As a user, this can be frustrating.
Fortunately, TPC understands the issues surrounding UAC and works behind the scene to navigate you through them. For the most part, you should be able to make the switch from running TPC on a Windows XP computer to running it on a Windows 7 / Vista computer with little or no interruption.
By default, TPC places all of its program data in \ProgramData\TraversePC\TPC Desktop 2008\. Within this folder a subfolders for Blocks, Templates and Point Codes. You'll also find the user defined symbols, line types, dictionary, traverse groups and other user editable program data files.
The folder is available to everyone who uses the computer TPC is installed on. It is Vista's preferred location for files that a user might edit to personalize or customize an application. TPC lets you select an alternate folder in the Program Data dialog. To access thie dialog, choose Tools | Program Settings from any view then left click the Program Data tab.
Surveys are stored in the Survey Data folder. In Windows 7 / Vista this is \Documents\Surveys\. Each user has their own Documents\ folder, so your surveys are your own unless you put them in a shared folder. TPC lets you select an alternate folder in the Survey Data dialog.
Vista uses Groups to organize items in a view. The file folders allow you to group files by name, size or modified date. TPC uses this group feature to give you Traverse Groups in the Traverses Manager.
If you haven't done so yet, just plug your Windows CE data collector into a USB port on your Vista computer. The data collector becomes another drive on the computer, allowing you to Imort and Export data directly from TPC to the data collector. No more uploading, downloading or synchronizing data.
You need to be aware that importing data this way from the data collector does not automatically copy the file from the data collector to the computer, giving you a backup or archive of the file. Instead, the file is opened, read then left on the data collector. You may want to copy the files manually.