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R
resonator801-Visitor
1-Visitor
January 19, 2012
Question

Mathcad 15 help file not available; Mathcad Prime 1.0 won't convert files

  • January 19, 2012
  • 1 reply
  • 15446 views

I recently bought Mathcad Prime 1.0 which comes with a copy of Mathcad 15.

I installed both, but at first Mathcad 15 did not work. I believe this is a continuation of the problem I had with Mathcad 14 not working on Windows 7. (By the way, I got email from people who had the same problem.) Recently, however, M15 told me to reinstall, so I did, and it worked.

Two problems.

1. The help file does not work for M15, and M15 tells me "The path to the specified file, C:\Program Files (x86)\Mathcad\Mathcad 15\doc\help_en\help\mcad.htm, is incorrect. Run the installation of the corresponding components to correct this problem."

When I go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Mathcad\Mathcad 15\doc\help_en\help, there is no mcad.htm.

2. Mathcad Prime does not convert files. It simply says failed, could not start Mathcad conversion process.

I believe I am entitled to tech support for 1 yr after purchase. Can anyone tell me how to do that? Is it possible to talk to someone about problems, or even do an online chat?

Help!

Thanks,
Bill Edelstein
Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore

1 reply

M
mzeftel1-Visitor
1-Visitor
January 19, 2012

Bill,

You may have done a custom install and not installed Help for Mathcad 15, try reinstalling Help. Make sure you install as an Administrator. I think you have to right-click on the install and pick Install as Administrator.

If Mathcad 15 is not fully installed, then the converter won't work.

You can contact technical support at http://www.ptc.com/support/mathcad_supportCenter.htm

Regards,


Mona

R
resonator801-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
January 19, 2012

Mona,

I reinstalled M15 as suggested, and now the Help File works.

Mathcad Prime 1.0 conversion still doesn't work.

Here are several error messages that appeared during installation.

========================

Mathcad PDSi viewable support

Setup has detected that you already have a more functional product installed. Setup will now terminate.

========================

Your handbook, template and userefi folders have been moved to C:\Users\Bill\Roaming\Mathsoft\Mathcad\14\Installation Backup. Please see the included Read This First document for instructions on how to restore this content after this installation completes.

========================

Install complete

========================

Windchill ProductPoint Client Manager

Unable to Start: Windchill ProductPoint Client Manager is already

Running on port 8989.

Please use WPP_Client_MGR_PORT Environment variable to

Specify a different port number.

========================

I don't see any Read This First document.

Please let me know anything I should do in response to these messages.

Thanks,
Bill Edelstein
Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

R
resonator801-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
February 11, 2012


Vladimir,

Thanks for your notes.

I found this company on the internet. I sent my academic proof to them. As you can see from their email,they are from California, and it doesn't look like they are hiding anything. However, I will write to them on Monday.

I spent 2-1/2 hours on the phone with a Mathcad helper (in India) last night, and we still could not convert xmcd files to Mathcad Prime format. This included a complete reinstallation of both Mathcad 15 and Mathcad Prime 1.0.

I don't understand why the developers of Mathcad Prime didn't just make it convert the old files directly. Having two pieces of software (M15.0 and M Prime 1.0) and a conversion program seems like poor software practice and a recipe for problems.

At first (last October when I bought this upgrade) I could not get M15.0 to work on my computer (Windows 7) but a couple of months later, inexplicably, it did work. I have had emails from other people who couldn't get M15.0 to work on Windows 7, so I don't think my struggles are unique.

The Mathcad system of license files, license keys, customer numbers, and service contract numbers, is extremely complicated, and I don't think it is justified in the name of security. It is far more involved than what is needed to install, for example, Microsoft Office. I have spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to make all this Mathcad software work. I only persist because I have used Mathcad for well over 10 years and really like it. However, right now I cannot justify telling students to use it.

Unless this situation is greatly simplified and cleaned up, I believe this software is going to die.

Thanks for your help,

Regards,
Bill Edelstein

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

www.mri.jhu.edu/~edelstei

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