TowerBase - Windows 7 & 8

TowerBase Home > Windows 7 & 8

Windows 7 & 8

The current release of TowerBase was not written for or have direct support for Windows 7 & 8. In particular the installation program does not work on Windows 7 or Windows 8. This seems to cause two problems. First, no shortcut is installed on the Desktop and second the files are installed in a different folder. So if you are running Window 7 or Windows 8 do not use the SetUp program on the CD.

How to set up TowerBase on Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers

1. Create a folder in the root folder called TowerBase.
2. Copy the file towerbase.exe into the TowerBase folder
3. Copy the file towerbase.hlp into the TowerBase folder
4. Create the following folders in the TowerBase folder.
   • Photos
   • ExportMasks
   • Grabs
   • Notes
   • Thumbnails
   • TowerSets
5. Copy the snaps.pix file into the Photos folder
6. Copy the thumbs.pix file also into the Photos folder
7. Copy any grabs files that you want into the Grabs folder
8. Copy any notes files that you want into the Notes folder
9. You now have to tell TowerBase where these files exist. Start TowerBase by double clicking on the towerbase.exe file in the TowerBase folder.
10. Click on the Configuration option on the main menu bar at the top of the TowerBase window. A window named TowerBase Configutation should appear. Click on the Folders tab. You should see the names of the folders that you created. However, the actual path names to these folders is probably incorrect and includes the words Program Files. You need to change those path names so that they are like 'C:\TowerBase\Grabs\'.
11. This is done by clicking on the appropriate Browse button (which should cause a window named Select Directory to appear. Double click on the icon next to C:\ and scroll down until you see the icon next to TowerBase. Double click on the TowerBase icon and then double click on the appropriate folder name (e.g. Grabs). Then click OK.
12. Repeat the above process for each of the folder names.
13. Ignore the Convert to Windows 7 button even if you are running TowerBase on Windows 7.
14. Then click on OK to close the TowerBase Configuration window.
15. Close down TowerBase and restart it. Hopefully it will work.

It is fairly easy to install a shortcut button on the Desktop. Locate the towerbase.exe file in the TowerBase folder and right mouse button click on the TowerBase icon. You should then click on the Install Shortcut menu option.

Help Files

There is an issue with the Help feature in TowerBase. The TowerBase help files were developed using Microsoft's .HLP format. For some reason, Microsoft dropped support for .HLP help files in Windows Vista. However, Ted Steele has found a way round this problem: I got the help download from the Microsoft site here. It requires you to accept an Active X control and to run the Windows Genuine Advantage check, so it won't install to illegal copies of windows. A stand alone installer comes first in the download then it looks for updates and downloads the actual file. At one point it offered a choice of two files to download, with instructions to select the appropriate one. I had no idea what the file names meant but as one was highlighted I guessed that this had been identified for me. Anyway, it worked.

Ben Duke reports that there is no support for .HLP files in Windows 8 (64 bit version).