Can any one help? I recently bought a new PC runnning windows xp. On installing Casmate (my main sign design program) I discover it will not run as the computer does not recognise the dongle plugged into the printer port.

I have a number of vectorial files that were created eons ago with a software called CasMate Pro(above) for the purpose of cutting those vectors with vinyl cutters. Converting CasMate Pro files to a vector format, workaround. Ended up acquiring CASmate. Programmu dlya modelirovaniya prichesok. Believe me, I know the pain here as Im upgrading a companies hardware from Windows.

When plugged back into an old PC with casmate - the dongle is recognised without any problem - so I haven't got a faulty dongle. I also use Signlab which installed and ran without any problems. On looking for information about this on the net - I am advised that Casmate is not suitable for Windows xp or 2000 (Windows 98 being the last o/s suitable for Casmate). However, on installing the demo version of Casmate pro - I find that this runs fine on Windows xp. (The demo version doesn't need the dongle - but cannot save files). Is there somthing about Windows xp which stops the dongle being recognised by Casmate? Can I install windows 98 onto a new PC to use alongside windows xp when running Casmate?

Am I overlooking something obvious? Any suggestions or advice would be welcome. (Casmate is no longer supported by Scanvec Amiable so good advice is hard to come by) • • • • •.

HI phil Sorry to Hear about your problem. I had simular probs when I first had xp and it took me about a fortnight to find all new drivers for me printers and I had trouble with signlab till I loaded a different dongle patch.

But Back to your problem I havent done it for ages but it should be possible to partion your hard disk This will give you another drive virtually IE if you got a 80mb disk you can split it in to 2 say a 60mb and a 20 mb so you get another drive which might show up as C: and D: then your cd drives move up a letter E: and or f: then you need to write a little prog in your autoexec.bat file so when you boot up your computer you get a choice to use xp or 98 the pit falls will be a) it might not work b) it might make matters worse c) you cant use them both at the same time without rebooting. If it was me I think I would run 2 computers and try networking them so you can swop files etc.

Hope this helps.FB. Thanks for your suggestion FB - I have heard of this before. I'm not sure how to go about it but it's something I shall investigate further if I can't get Casmate to work on windows XP. Some questions about doing this though:- 1/ Can I create a partition on the hard disk without reformatting the C drive (I'm a bit worried about re-installing windows XP and all the other software that came pre-installed)? 2/ If I do partition the drive as you suggest - when switching on and electing to boot up from the hard drive with windows 98 installed - will I be able to open and save files installed on the drive with windows xp?

(and vice versa) or do I need to boot up again everytime I want to access files on one or other drives? Your network suggestion is what I am already doing - but I was hoping to be able to run Casmate from the new PC which is a laptop - and therefore easily transported to work at home when I want to. Hi Phil You can partion the hard disk without losing your information but you need special software for this and they do state that it is still high risk.

Most of the cheap progs need to format the hard drive first unless thier is better software than when I last done it I would think that there has to be a casmate genius that can sort this out for you somewhere. The other point you raised about being able to swap files would be a no no.But lurking in my head is a discussion I had once about duel booting a machine so that you can. I suppose you would be networking between the two systems on one computer But how the hell you achive that I'm afraid I dont know. I will be seeing a guy who works in uni tomorrow I'll have a word and let you know or maybe you have someone local. One other option maybe if its a lap top is by a second hard disk keep the first. And just load 98 onto it and just run it wont have xp but if it does the job. Wish you luck mate but you live save in the knowledge that in the next couple of years it will happen to us all as the up and outdate these programs and systems.