Common SkyTools 1.x Problems & Solutions

1. Reinstallation of SkyTools 1.0 followed by the V1.x update appears to fail to update to V1.x.

In order to completely reinstall from scratch it is necessary to delete the SkyTools folder and all the files within it after performing an uninstall. This is necessary because the uninstall program leaves behind any files that have been added or changed since the original installation of SkyTools 1.0.

2. Problems with printed charts: page prints partially, a GPF is reported or nothing prints at all

(1) This is very likely a problem with your printer driver. HP laser printers appear to be particularly troublesome. In other cases the printer driver is either incapable of drawing bitmaps, or is a 16-bit driver still limited in addressable memory. Contact your printer manufacturer for an updated driver.
(2) Another possible solution that has worked for some with B&W printers: open a chart and right-click on it. Select Color/Font preferences. Select the printer tab. Now change all the colors to black except the background which should be white.
(3) There is another problem related to printing complex graphical images on HP LaserJet Printers in Windows 95 which involves insufficient memory in the printer. Here are the solutions step from the MS web site:
1.In Control Panel, double-click the Printers icon.
2.Use the right mouse button to click the printer you are using, and then click Properties on the menu that appears.
3.On the Details tab, click Spool settings, and then click RAW in the Spool Data Format box.
4.On the Graphics tab, click the Use Raster Graphics option.
5.On the Fonts tab, click the Print TrueType As Graphics option.
6.On the Device Options tab, move the Printer Memory Tracking slider all the way to the right (to the Aggressive setting).
7.Verify that the Printer Memory setting matches the amount of memory installed in the printer.
8.If the Page Protection check box is not unavailable, click the check box to clear it if it is selected, or click the check box to select it if it is cleared. The check box may be unavailable, depending on the printer model you are using and the amount of memory installed in the printer.
9.Click OK.
NOTE: This workaround may cause some documents to be printed more slowly. This decrease in performance does not occur with all documents or on all computers, and is typically not noticeable.

3. Atlas Chart or Planetarium charts: sometimes when I zoom out all of the deep sky or solar system objects are displayed, even though I had this display turned off.

This comes about when your target object is too faint to be displayed with the normal settings. SkyTools assumes you want the target object displayed, so it turns on the "display all objects" for the type of object you have targeted.

4. Sometimes the observing list displays objects with dashes for the optimum times even though the object appears above the horizon on that date.

The optimum visibility is a complex computation involving the brightness of the sky and object. Dashes indicate that SkyTools has determined that even though the object may be above the horizon it is not generally visible. In a very few extreme cases, such as observing Omega Cen from northern latitudes, the object may actually be visible (with some work), even though SkyTools says it isn't. In these cases, use the Rise/Transit/Set setting and make your observation at the time of transit.

5. Update does not take -- SkyTools stills reports a previous version

This is a very rare problem of unknown origin related to the installation package. First, ensure that you are installing the update to the proper folder. Second, ensure that the self-extracting archive that you downloaded (skytoolsv1x.exe) is not in your SkyTools folder. It must be in an another, temporary folder.
Otherwise, proceed as follows: Install the update to a temporary folder. After the installation is complete, use Windows Explorer to copy these files to your SkyTools folder, taking care to copy the contents of sub folders to the appropriately named SkyTools sub folder.