CRASH!

I downloaded the windows XP update (monthly hotfix) and now beersmith will not start!  I am going to do a system roll back, but will uninstall and reinstall the program first.  Just doing a re-install did not work.

More to come,
Dan

Ok, turns out the update corrupted the beersmith database, so once beersmith is uninstalled or just deleted and re-installed you can import the data and it works again.  Just copying the beersmith data files back and forth did not work.  Whatever changed I don't know.  But rolling back did work as well.  Just a cautionary tale.  I will keep messing around and see if it recurs.

Dan

I just installed the new Windows XP update, and except for some funny behavior with Explorer after the reboot(explorer hung for a while before it finally came up) I did not notice anything else wrong...

 I have two theories...

 1. Did you happen to have BeerSmith open when you did the update -- it is possible this caused problems in the OS...which then caused problems when saving the data.

 2. It appears they made some changes to explorer which could affect BeerSmith indirectly (BeerSmith uses explorer for preview displays for example) - for example I noticed that BeerSmith would not open immediately while explorer was hung up immediately after the update.  This appeared to be a transient affect - once explorer opened properly, BeerSmith was able to load and everything was fine.

All I can recommend is to:
 1. Periodically back up your recipes -
     http://www.beersmith.com/how_can_i_create_a_backup_of_my_recipes.htm
 2. Make sure you close BeerSmith before updating the operating system.
 3. After downloading the new XP update make sure Windows explorer is operating properly before you try to open BeerSmith - it appears something occurs right after the update and reboot that affects explorer.

BTW - after the Windows XP update and reboot finished - everything appears to be running normally with BeerSmith again.  I did not have to reinstall BeerSmith or recover/restore any data.

Cheers!
Brad

I think the problem stems from running beersmith after loading the update but before rebooting (my mistake, but I forgot about the update.)  It worked fine but then when I rebooted, and tried to run beersmith it said that only one copy of beersmith can be run at a time.  I believe that it caused a sharing violation.  Fortunately I had a backup of recipes, and everything else.  The import function works like a champ, and I have had no problem since.  Thanks.

On my system, I noticed that after I loaded XP SP2, the Beersmith app runs fine, but if I try and do an Update from Internet it hangs the application during checking grain.bsm.

You have to go into task mgr and terminate the application.

I didnt have beersmith open when I ran the SP2 install, nor did I open it prior to rebooting after the update.

Any ideas?

Chris,
 Most likely your Windows firewall (which is on by default in SP2) is blocking BeerSmith from accessing the internet.

You need to add "BeerSmith" as an exception to the windows firewall, or it will be blocked every time you try to run the update.

Open up your Windows Firewall dialog from the Control Panel->Internet Settings window.

Click on the "Exceptions" tab.

Click on the button "Add a Program"

Select "BeerSmith" from the list of programs.

Click on the "Change Scope" button and make sure BeerSmith can access "Any Computer"

Push OK, then OK to close all of the open dialogs.

Note that BeerSmith uses port 21 (FTP port), so you may also need to enable that depending on your firewall.

I hope this helps.  The rapid proliferation of firewalls makes it difficult to automatically update software.  The next version will be available for direct download from our web site as well as over the "autoupdate" feature.

Cheers!
Brad

Brad,

Thanks for the quick reply.  I had checked those settings and the application is set to allow beersmith to access any host.

I did some packet captures, and found that the program was actually talking to beersmith.com's FTP server, albiet slowly.  Going into taskmgr show beersmith pegging the CPU at 100% (in my case P4 2.26Ghz) and the Internet update does in fact complete, but it takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Prisor to SP2 it worked fine.  I wonder if Microsoft found a way to break your program in the latest update. (not that that ever happens

Anyway, I can live with it for now, but wanted you to know about it in case others see the same symptom.

Thanks for a great application!
Chris

BTW, I have the packet capture if you want to see it let me know and I can email it to you.

Chris,
 I noticed mine is running slower under SP2 as well.  Not sure why - since I'm using Microsoft's FTP classes under visual C++ to access our FTP site.

 As I mentioned, you will still have the option to download the upgrade directly from our download page and install it "in place" without having to uninstall the old version.  

 As always, we recommend making a backup of your recipes periodically and before any major upgrade.  Just pick the Export command from the File menu while you are in the main recipe view, and all of your recipes can be backed up.

Cheers!
Brad