NG TOPO Help

[gary c.]

I'm having problems with my NG TOPO software and thought I'd ask some of your opinions before I start shopping around for something new. I'm having all kinds of problems getting my computer to read the disks supplied for the different areas of the state. The computer just doesn't seem to be able read the disc when I put in the one that it calls for. I get different pop ups at different times but the result is always the same, no map. I'm not at all computer savvy (that's my wife's job) so I probably can't answer questions that would be obvious to many of you. We got a new computer last year and I have used the software since then with out any problems. Just the same I'm guessing that my problem is that the computer received an update and because the software is so old it no longer communicates. Not sure of exactly when I purchased the software but it had to be close to 10yrs ago. The copyright on the disc is 2007. Do you think I'm right or should I keep looking for a solution?

[mschnaidt]

I still use NG Topo also. I bought mine in 2004 and run it on a Windows 10 PC without issue. I copied the content of the disks to my hard drive (it's legal). It speeds things up a lot. Clean your disks before copying them.

Best of luck!

[bobby49]

Yes, I use NG TOPO! also. Mine has a 2000 date on the first disk. Mine runs fine on Windows 10.

If you get into this again, find out whether you installed the main program to your computer. I install only a few of the main utility files and high-level database, and most of the database stays on optical disks.

Do your NG TOPO! optical disks have labels that they are for Windows?

"The computer just doesn't seem to be able read the disc when I put in the one that it calls for."

Does your computer read other optical disks successfully?

When you put in the correct disk and the computer fails to handle it correctly, exactly what happens?

[AlmostThere]

If the computer isn't reading any disk, there are reasonably priced external USB drives - I use one with my Mac, that writes and reads to DVDs.

I had NG Topo, but an older version that doesn't work with the latest Windows. Any more I just use Caltopo. Same functionality with a variety of maps old and new.

[Wandering Daisy]

Are you sure it is not the disc drive? My disc drive is really quirky- got to get that disc set in "just so". This gets worse as it ages.

Other possibility is a virus.

I use my old TOPO just fine on Windows 10.

Perhaps re-load the software from the originals.

Thanks for the suggestion of putting the disc on the hard drive. I think I will do that. Every time I use a disc I get pretty nervous that one day it will not work.

[gary c.]

Thanks for the suggestions. It's helpful to know that some of you have even older versions and that they still work. I'll check another disk to see if it's my computer. I had meant to do that already. When I put the disk in I can hear it start up and run but nothing opens up on the screen. After about 20 seconds I can hear the computer make a sound like it is restarting the disk or at least trying to run/read the disc. It will continue to cycle like that until I take the disk out. If the computer will read a non NG disc I'll try removing the software from the computer and reload it to see if that helps.

I also like the idea of downloading the discs to the hard drive. 90% of my maps use just a single one and that would be nice.

[AlmostThere]

Sounds like classic "bad drive" behavior to me...

[John Harper]

Sounds like classic "bad drive" behavior to me...

I agree. Try another CD of something and see if it has trouble reading it. Clean the CD really good and if it's one of those vertical drawers, try to load it in a couple times, it could get a bit off center and not read. You can also probably check it through the Control Panel, but you say you're not the computer half of the household. Good luck.

My new notebook has no CD drawer, so I'm going to have to get an external drive sometime. I'd like to load my NG TOPO! files to a 64G thumb drive if possible since I have a small SSD drive internally.

John

[rlown]

or you need to load a cd drive lens cleaner disk to clear itl. I've used them in the past and they work ok.

[gary c.]

or you need to load a cd drive lens cleaner disk to clear itl. I've used them in the past and they work ok.

Thanks for all the replies everyone. My wife got it to work today. It was something on the disc. I had tried cleaning it a couple of times and there was nothing on it that I could see. She did something to work her magic and at least for now it's reading it ok. I'm thinking that the lens cleaner or something like the one that Russ mentions would be a good idea to try still.