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Upgrading Isn't Always the Best Act

By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 01:01:26 AM PDT

Sometimes upgrading to the latest version of a software product can be a big mistake. That's the situation one reader found herself in when she upgraded to Act! 2005, the contact management program now owned by Best Software.

"I have used the previous three versions of Act," the reader wrote. "When the new version was released, I waited a few months before upgrading, as I always do, hoping the bug fixes would be done. I guess I didn't wait long enough."

After upgrading to the 2005 (7.0) version of the software, the reader began experiencing a number of problems. "The newest version is slower than molasses -- even on a P4, dual processor, with one GB of RAM, with 35 GB of available hard drive space that I regularly defragment, on a system that is spyware and virus free," the reader wrote. "If you leave the software open ... overnight, say ... it does not respond when you try to use it. You must kill the program, and you must kill SQL Server as well, to restart the software."

The reader also found one fuction to be missing in the new version. "Act 6.0 did a two-way sync with a Palm," she wrote. "Version 7 can only send to the Palm, so if you add something to the Palm during the day, it does not get picked up in Act. This was not disclosed prior to purchase. I assume that a patch will eventually come out to fix this, but we're still awaiting it."

Hoping it would contain some of the patches she needed, the reader downloaded the 7.01 release of the software, with disastrous results. "Afterwards, Act would not open at all, so I lost the ability to get to my contacts and schedules," she wrote. "But Best Software said they only provide 30 days of support after purchase of the upgrade. I was told to contact an independent Act consultant -- at $100-plus an hour -- even though it was their update that caused the problem. My only resolution was to do a System Restore with the back-up, which resulted in the loss of some data. Why should I pay premium dollars for a product that does not work, then have to pay for assistance?"

So Best best clean up its Act, or it will soon be out at least one customer. "I would like to go back to Act 6.0, but the database has been changed so you cannot export it back to the previous version," the reader wrote. "I requested that Best add that as a 'new feature' -- the ability to export to prior versions of Act -- but I doubt they will ever do that. I am seriously considering exporting to text, painful though that would be, and moving my data to Outlook Business Contact Manager."

< History Writ Small | How Trusty is Industry Self-Regulation of Privacy? >

Upgrading Isn't Always the Best Act | 70 comments (70 topical) | Post A Comment

Re: Upgrading Isn't Always the Best Act[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#1)
by Anonymous User on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 06:30:28 AM PDT

This is precisely the reason why I do not upgrade a product if it doing what it is supposed to be doing and doesn't have any security issues or serious bugs that need to be addressed.

Allen Tate
www.AllenTateComputing.com

[ Reply to This ]

ask[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#199)
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[ Parent | Reply to This ]

ask[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#206)
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[ Parent | Reply to This ]

yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#227)
by maderikapapa on Sat Jun 28, 2008 at 02:12:49 AM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]

ask[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#209)
by masa on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 05:35:22 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]

Reminds me of Polaris PackRat...[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#2)
by welkerdp on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 11:20:19 AM PDT

Yes I'm old enough to remember Polaris PackRat 4, the Windows 3.1 software that allowed you to link every object in your PIM to anything else (Outlook/Exchange can't touch this because it doesn't assign GUIDs to its objects.) Sadly they botched the next version wherein they attempted to add fully customizable forms, and that was the end of them.

[ Reply to This ]

Polaris PackRat 4.1 (Still going...)[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#26)
by Anonymous User on Fri Dec 09, 2005 at 11:22:33 AM PDT

Polaris PackRat 5 was a disaster, but 4.1 has been incredibly robust. After 15 years, I'm still using 4.1, currently in Windows XP. Any other PackRat users out there?

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

PackRat runs on Windows XP?[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#27)
by Anonymous User on Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 01:05:01 PM PDT

A friend of mine is using PackRat 5.0. She is under the impression that it won't run under Windows XP. But it sounds like you are able to run PackRat under Windows XP?

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#222)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 10:50:12 PM PDT

Packrat v4.107[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#60)
by BigEd on Sat Sep 16, 2006 at 07:45:00 AM PDT

Incredibly robust describes it, man. I've been using it for about 15 years too, and it's still my PIM! I looked into v5 years ago, but avoided it because v4 did (and still does) everything I need. I too am running it on XP. I'm missing a dll I think for using the KEYS.EXE function - musta lost it in some OS upgrade over the last decade and a half. Dude, if you ever see this, please post here and we'll get in touch. P.S. Don't forget to "compress" those data files now! Ed

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

Packrat 4.1[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#184)
by Anonymous User on Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 02:13:39 PM PDT

Still using it and going strong. Would never think of changing.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

PackRat and XP[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#202)
by MikeD on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 08:57:51 AM PDT

I am stil using PackRat Pro as well. I tried version 5, and as you all noted it was a bust. But v6 was a success (too late to save the company though) and that is what I am still using. It works fine on XP, though I haven't tried VISTA yet. I unfortunately lost the disks for it, and would love to find a set so that when I buy a new computer (soon) I can add PR to it. Anybody have a set or know where I can get them for version 6?? If so email me at Michael.Devous@UTSouthwestern.edu. Thanks!

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#223)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 10:50:28 PM PDT

Polaris PackRat 4.1 (Still going...)[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#185)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 11, 2007 at 08:49:00 AM PDT

Have been happily running PackRat 4.1 in Windows 3.1, 98, and XP. Testing in Vista gives mixed results: PackRat seems to run OK, but a general protection fault error message follows every time I exit from PackRat. Also Vista does not display the PackRat icon. Is anyone else running PackRat 4.1 in Windows Vista?

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

Interesting -- Personal Brain[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#191)
by Anonymous User on Sat Nov 17, 2007 at 11:38:36 AM PDT

Humm, just stumbled on these comments about Packrat. I have a copy of 4.1 somewhere (have the mouse pad) -- I think I gave up on PR when ver 5 blew up so badly. I'm encouraged by your comments to go dig it out and give it another chance. I've continued to use Ecco; I hate Outlook, particularly for stopping development of other PIMs. I've just tried again Personal Brain, and so far, I'm impressed with the new 4.1 version. As another person who mourns the demise of Agenda, I continue to search for the perfect information manager. I think I've tried most of them. Trying Info Select again, and just took another look at Zoot, but I don't think they are likely to be keepers (i.e., beyond the trial) for me. Personal Brain may be. Anyone know what happened to Mitch Kapor's effort to make a super new PIM? http://blogs.osafoundation.org/mitch/000007.html> BTW, I use OneNote regularly, which is nice for clipping things, but it still lacks much of what is wanted in a PIM. Let us know about your efforts with Vista and PackRat. Thanks. Pat

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

Mitch Kapor -- Chandler[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#192)
by Anonymous User on Sat Nov 17, 2007 at 12:27:09 PM PDT

I'll answer my own question about what happened to Mitch's super PIM project -- apparently now called Chandler and some four years later -- see http://chandlerproject.org/ -- I'm going to download it and see what it's all about.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#225)
by maderikapapa on Sat Jun 28, 2008 at 01:03:39 AM PDT

Packrat v4.107 in Vista.[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#195)
by BigEd on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 12:55:46 PM PDT

I'm running it with no problems. I created my own icon. I get the same error you do with the protection fault...I just close my PR database before I shut down and then let the OS close it. I'm sure it still has the error, but my data is safe and I don't have to click 2 more times.

BTW, the data files don't get harmed when that error comes up...sometimes I forget to close them. But it never hurts to ere on the side of caution.

I'm missing a DLL or two for the KEYS.EXE program. Can one of you guys help me with this?

BigEd

"Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few." - George Bernard Shaw

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

PackRat in VISTA[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#240)
by Anonymous User on Fri Oct 10, 2008 at 02:07:03 PM PDT

I'm a die hard PackRat, ver. 4.1 user too. Just bought my 1st VISTA machine, against my free will. PACKRAT won't run... get error message saying 32 bit & 64 bit conflicts. Has anyone ran it succesfully on a dual core processor machine

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#224)
by maderikapapa on Sat Jun 28, 2008 at 12:58:08 AM PDT

yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#220)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 09:31:27 PM PDT

yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#216)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 09:04:16 PM PDT

If it ain't broke...[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#3)
by Mason on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 09:10:17 AM PDT

don't fix it.

[ Reply to This ]

yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#221)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 09:31:32 PM PDT

The name says it all[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#4)
by Anonymous User on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 01:52:25 PM PDT

A name like "Best Software" rings many large alarm bells in my head as a re-seller. I make a strong point to stay away from companies that use their names to make vague (and always untrue) claims. If they were required to have a name representative of their buisiness, it would be "Worst Software"

[ Reply to This ]

Worst Software[ Parent |