markrobinson

Only Windows 7 Professional offers multitouch (not Home edition) after that you may want to check that Enhanced Windows 7 mode is active in the driver. Go to the ActivManager > Control Panel from the taskbar near the clock and choose this mode under the Pens tab. You may need to replug the board. The Computer > Properties should show that Pen and Touch (multiple touches) are now available. Multitouch is limited in Windows without special applications that use it such as ActivInspire. But standard MS Paint should now allow multiple touches to draw and you should be able to use a zoom gesture and panning in Office applications, Image viewers and Web Browsers like a tablet device. MS also have a pack of free multitouch apps that you can also install if your board is connected when you run the installer. This includes a neat globe app, a physics game and a great picture viewer. Download: Touch Pack for Windows 7 - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

As others have said - Inspire will read the older files but not write them. You can install the new software alongside the older software with no issues. ActivInspire also has a skin swapping function - which allows it to emulate both ActivStudio and ActivPrimary interfaces. It is currently a free upgrade and a new and FREE Personal Edition license is available that means a fully save enabled, rich tool can be put on any student computer at school or home, or indeed used with ANY make of IWB. http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.17010 Staff trying the new version may want to see the free courses for the software. There are free online courses specifically for teachers moving from one to the other and plenty of free training videos on Promethean Planet, iTunes or via the Promethean iPhone/iTouch app:http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.19689 Online : ActivLearning : Professional Development : Promethean Planet There are several reasons for this strategy. The new software is a completely new codebase for common functions on MAC, PC and Linux and for working with the latest OS's on MAC and PC inc .Win7. We will not be maintaining the older code. There are several new object types such as connector objects, etc. that are not in the earlier versions and that would be difficult or confusing to strip out. Objects can now have graduated fills, popups, etc, attached that would not work backwards, etc. Over 6 millions lessons have been shared on http://www.prometheanplanet.com - with that level of sharing, issues of things not working with older software are significant. Inspire combines the previously separate Expression software with ActivStudio/ActivPrimary functions. This allows students to send words and numbers to the board using Expression devices using the new functions. The original .flp files used a .zip type compression which caused some issues when sharing via some web servers. The new .flipchart format addresses this. The whole application is also developed and architected around multi-user operation. Note: by upgrading older Activboards (ones without the black oval top left) or getting new ones, you can have a couple of students work at the same time using Inspire.

Promethean has worked directly with Edugeek to set up a Direct Support Section on the Edugeek Forum. This is intended to help streamline and improve the support Promethean provide and it contains a lot of useful information and links. You can find the new direct support page here: EduGeek.net - Promethean Support A new Edugeek forum area is also organised here: Promethean Support Direct There are a lot of very old threads now about Promethean products on Edugeek, so hopefully a unified section will allow the most up to date information to be always available and easy to find. Look forward to the feedback.

Vista has several Tablet PC options and Windows 7 versions even more. In the latest driver settings there are toggles for Pen / Mouse and Win7 optimisation.

Promethean have worked with Edugeek to set up a Manufacturer support section. Some of these comments are old - but with the new section we hope to have all the latest downloads and relevant information for those supporting Promethean Products only a click or two away. http://www.edugeek.net/?pageid=mfs_promethean_index There are also dedicated forum areas. Do let us know if it is working out and offering what you need. I personally work on the Product Strategy and futures side of Promethean so I am also interested in your ideas and observations about technology in the classrooms you support.

Promethean are delighted to be working with Edugeek to develop a Promethean Manufacturer Support section of Edugeek. Promethean and Edugeek hope this will further improve the support Promethean offers its users and will help those maintaining Promethean products by providing quick access to upgrades, drivers and other services directly from this leading technician's community. A couple of essential bookmarks we would recommend. Promethean Knowledgebase - Promethean's 24/7 online support knowledgebase. This is available in several languages and has answers to many common questions. Promethean Planet - a 450,000+ user online community for Promethean users that has free lesson plans, software ugrades and extensive forums. Both Promethean and Edugeek look forward to your questions and comments. We have started some threads on some of the most common support questions Promethean deal with. From: Mark Robinson, Steven Briercliffe, Tracy Robinson and the rest of the Promethean team

This is the most common issue of all that we hear from our users. There are numerous things that could be causing this but if you ‘troubleshoot’ this problem in the way you would troubleshoot any other issue, you will normally resolve the issue quite quickly. Our recommendation is to do the most obvious things first – A common ‘checklist’ that our support teams go through are: Ensure the board is plugged into the mains power (The no. 1 resolution to calls to our helpdesk!) Ensure the cables are connected correctly from the board end and the computer Check for latest versions of software and driver If these don’t resolve your issue, it may be worth checking our dedicated 24x7 self help knowledgebase at Promethean Knowledgebase, where you can also submit queries to the technical support team for further guidance.

Promethean have traditionally only ever provided LCD projectors with our Interactive Whiteboards (up until the release of the PRM25 DLP Projector earlier in 2009), and there are several ways in which you can extend the life of your projector, most notably outlined in this document on our knowledgebase: http://uk.prometheankb.com/article.asp?article=203769&p=10121 There is a filter warning built into the Promethean driver. This is there to try and help reduce costs, and extend the life of your LCD projector. A lot of schools do stick to a ‘regime’ whereby they will clean the filters on their projectors regularly, but there are also a lot of schools out there who either a) don’t know about the filters at all, or b) don’t realise that without cleaning them, their projector will not perform efficiently or indeed economically! If you are one of the schools that have a regime that is working for you, there is an option within the driver to turn this message off completely, or extend the time period between the message being shown.

If you need any spares for your Promethean products, whether that be a pen for your board, a lamp for your projector or another product, please contact your regional Promethean reseller.

If you are experiencing issues with any Promethean product, the first port of call would be to visit our customer Knowledgebase at Promethean Knowledgebase. The knowledgebase is constantly updated with the latest information on how to resolve common issues. It is available 24 x 7, and we find that by going here, most people can resolve their issues quickly and easily without having to contact our Support team. If the answer to your specific problem isn’t on the KB, you can also contact the support team through the KB in the form of an email, where an a member of the team will get back to you as soon as possible. If the query is from a teacher and relates to classroom use of the products there are extensive user forums at Promethean Planet. Promethean Planet Forums - Powered by vBulletin

If you ever have the need to contact Promethean Technical Support, you may need to provide the serial number of the product you are enquiring about. The serial numbers are located: ActivBoard – either on the pen holder (V1 ActivBoards), On the side of the electronics box on the back of the board (Early V2 ActivBoards), On a small plastic tag behind the bottom left hand corner of the board (Later V2 ActivBoards) or on the left hand side of the board (V3 ActivBoards). ActivPen – There is no serial number on your ActivPen – however, support may ask you for the serial number of your board that the pen was provided with. ActivWand - There are no serial numbers on these devices, therefore you would need to provide the sales order number of the order that the kit was purchased on. ActivExpression Handset – There are no serial numbers on these devices, therefore you would need to provide the sales order number of the order that the kit was purchased on. ActiVote Handset - There are no serial numbers on these devices, therefore you would need to provide the sales order number of the order that the kit was purchased on. ActivSlate – The serial number for your ActivSlate is located on the back of the slate in the top left hand corner ActiView – Serial Number is located on the bottom of the base ActivPanel – Serial Number located on the product information sticker on the back of the ActivPanel