APC Powerchute Personal Edition v2.1 for UPS: Not recognising Vist

[Guest]

I have recently upgraded to Vista (what a nightmare) and when doing so, I
needed to update my drivers for my UPS - APC Powerchute Personal Edition
v2.1, for Vista.

Yesterday my PC cut out; there was no power cut, but the PC shut off
completely in an instant and the UPS the alarm was going off. It did not
switch to battery?

Rebooting the machine, it seemed the UPS was not talking to Vista properly.
This morning I have uninstalled the UPS drivers, downloaded again, now when
installing I get

"You are attempting to install software that is intended for Microsoft
Windows Vista"

So now Vista is telling the UPS driver that my OS in not Vista? Anyone any
ideas?

Thanks.

 

[Richard Urban]

I can not understand at all why people "ALWAYS" blame the operating system
for problems that have absolutely nothing to do with the computer at all!

I don't have any PowerChute software installed on my computer yet my APC UPS
switches to battery fine. Even with just a desk lamp connected to the UPS
(nothing else at all) it switches to battery just fine.

You have issues with the UPS - like maybe a dead battery. Unplug everything
from the UPS with the exception of just a lamp. Then pull the UPS power plug
from the wall. The lamp should run for many hours before it goes dark. The
UPS should switch based upon whether the internal UPS circuitry detects the
mains. If the mains go out the UPS switches. Nothing to do with a computer
at all. It will work with a TV or radio or toaster oven.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Steve Thackery]

I agree. Further, the PowerChute software is probably the most primitive,
crude and basically useless piece of software I've every used. You'd be far
better off just sticking with the basic UPS service in XP (presumably
there's an equivalent in Vista).

Last time I was using PowerChute it told me the battery was fully charged,
but as soon as I unplugged the mains the computer died. In fact the battery
was completely knackered.

I'm certain this is what is happening here, funky_boogaloo. The battery is
knackered.

By the way, be careful when performing the desk lamp test Richard describes.
A tired battery may well support a low wattage lamp for ages, and yet still
not cope with the higher power demands from your PC.

Finally, most "big" programs have some sort of auto-save functionality these
days. That, combined with the inherent resilience of NTFS against power
outages (it 'journals' everything) means that it is really quite hard to do
any harm from a power cut. If you don't believe me, try it a few times.

If you are worried about line transients and surges, use a suppressor
instead, and use your UPS for a boat anchor.

Steve

 

[Richard Urban]

Replacement batteries cost almost as much as a newer UPS.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Paul Shapiro]

From APC that's true. If you get the replacement batteries from a reseller
the price is much more reasonable. I think replacement batteries at
www.provantage.com are about 20-25% of the cost of a new UPS.
Paul Shapiro

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys, well the UPS is only 6 weeks old, so it's not the battery...

I didn't realise it'll run fine without any drivers, I'll give it a go and
see what it's like.

 

[Guest]

I can not understand at all why people "ALWAYS" blame the operating system

for problems that have absolutely nothing to do with the computer at all!

To be fair, in the case of Vista, making that assumption first doesn't put
you far from the truth.

I mean, come on, the upgrade from XP to Vista was one of the hardest things
I ever did. I rebooted my machine after a three hour install to find I had no
mouse or keyboard (no USB support for them at first) and no support for my
network card. I had to buy a new network card that was supported, use a PS2
keyb/mouse to install it and get updates, then found out that my PDA, UPS and
Printer no longer worked as they used to.

Round of applause for Vista. Not the OS at all...yeah right.

 

[David Vair]

Didn't the Upgrade Advisor inform you of the hardware issues that you might face before going ahead
and doing the upgrade?

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately not, it did warn me about issues with software however, which
was nice to know.

 

[Richard Urban]

Suggest you read the whole thread where you are told that serial cable is
not supported for UPS.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Guest]

Where does it say that?

 

[Richard Urban]

So sorry. There was another thread along the same lines where I mentioned
that serial port USP systems will not interface with Windows XP. Vista has
dropped most support for serial port devices. If the manufacturer will not
supply what is needed (they won't - it's dead technology) the UPS can not
interface with the O/S.

My APC UPS works just fine without any communication connection to the
computer.


--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Richard Urban]

That should be "serial port USP systems will not interface with Windows
Vista".

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Richard Urban]

Working 100% ??

If you have accomplished this, posting exactly what you have done to allow
this to happen would certainly help many people.

Why hide your accomplishment under a basket? Post what you did. This IS a
help group after all.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!