Vista Issues for DBT

DBT Version Alert

Only DBT Version 10.6 SR1 and above are supported for Vista. Any earlier version of DBT is not supported for use on Vista.

You might have an earlier version of DBT and be entitled to a free update. If you have DBT WIN 10.5, then please open DBT WIN 10.5. go to HELP, then click on Check for Updates. This will inform you if you are eligible for a free downloadable upgrade to 10.6 SR1 or above, and result in a smoother experience for you.

Administrator in Vista

In Vista, unlike Windows XP and previous Windows versions, "running in an administrator account" and actually "running as an administrator" are two separate things and need to be distinguished. Before there is any confusion, make sure you understand the distinction.

Installing DBT on Vista

There are no special instructions on installing DBT on Vista except to note that you must run from an administrator account to install. Installation doesn't require "run as administrator". Note that Vista may, at a certain point in the installation, ask "A program needs your permission to continue." You need to click on "continue" for the installation to complete. The same request is made immediately when you right-click DBT to "run as administrator". (This behavior is the default in Vista, but you won't see these requests if "User Account Control" has been disabled.)

Activation of DBT on Vista requires that DBT be "run as administrator" (on the right click menu). Also, defining embossers for all uses requires that DBT be run as administrator (DBT won't complain if you forget to do this, but other users won't see the embosser definitions).

Vista - Upgrading

At this time, it is recommended that you deactivate DBT before upgrading to Vista to avoid possible re-activation issues.

Vista - Running DBT

You may find when clicking on the DBT desktop icon that you get a message along the lines of you not being an administrator and therefore you cannot run the program.

Try right clicking on the DBT Icon and select "Run as administrator". You might also want to see "Turn User Account Control on or off" at: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/58b3b879-924d-4e08-9358-c316055d3eae1033.mspx.

This page also explains how to get rid of those annoying messages asking for permission to do various things.

And you'll presently get no error messages or helpful tips from DBT at runtime.

Vista - Shared Printers

By default, Printer and File sharing is Passworded.

This makes sharing a printer (or embosser) a somewhat tedious process, especially when accessed from an XP system.

Go to Vista's Network Control Center and turn off "Passworded Sharing".  Bear in mind the possible security issues here.

Vista - slsService

At the present time the slsService has yet to be updated for Vista. If activation is to be shared among many computers, the computer holding the activation must not be running Vista. A computer on your network not running Vista can be the one holding the activation. This would only be an issue if there was a requirement that all computers on your network must be running Vista.