Products, software and advice for planning family, military, and class reunions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Before going further, you may want to download the latest software patch for Reunion Planner.

Q. How can I send emails to the my alumni list?
A. The upcoming version of the Reunion Planner will have this capability built in. However, currently the best way to do this is to use Outlook (or another email client) to import the email addresses. In Outlook 2000, follow these directions:

1. Make sure the Reunion Planner program is closed
2. In Outlook, create a new contact folder by right-clicking on Contacts in the left pane, then clicking New Folder. Name it Alumni (or whatever you'd like)
3. Click on File, Import/Export
4. Choose Import from another program or file, click Next
5. For the file type to import, choose Microsoft Foxpro, click Next
6. At the File to Import prompt, click Browse, and find your Alumni.dbf file, which is located in your reunion data folder, which is under the c:\Program Files\Reunion Planner\Data\ folder, click Next
7. At the Select Destination Folder prompt, choose the new folder you created in step 1, click Next
8. Click on the Map Custom Fields button, and map the fields on the left to those on the right, Last to Name/Last Name, First to Name/First Name, and Email to E-Mail/E-mail Address, click Ok, then Finish
9. Use Tools, Mail Merge to email to all or some of the contacts (see Outlook help for further details)

Q. When trying to install the program, I get a message similar to "System not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows Applications". What do I do?
A. To resolve this issue, please check this article or do an Internet search for the words in quotes above.

Q. My computer froze or was shut off unexpectedly and now when starting the program, I get a message similar to "Error could not open data file c:\Program Files\Reunion Planner\Data\REUN03" or "Error Opening Data Files". What can I do?
A. Try this first:

• Close the Reunion Planner program
  
• Go into Windows Explorer and find your reunion data folder, which is normally a sub-folder of C:\Program Files\Reunion Planner\Data -- it will be the one with your reunion code (for example, LINC65, for Lincoln High Class of '65)
• Find the files that end with the extension CDX and delete them (WARNING: DON'T DELETE ANY FILES WITH A DBF EXTENSION - THOSE CONTAIN YOUR DATA!)
• Restart the Reunion Planner program
• Click on File, Maintenance, Reindex Current Database
• You can continue using the program normally now
• Remember to make regular backups!
• If the above did not work, try restoring from your most recent backup and if no backups (shame on you!), please email your data files (all files in the folder described above) to help@reunionplanner.com and we'll try to fix them.

Q. I'm running Windows XP and am getting a message similar to "c:\winnt\system32\autoexec.nt. The system file is not suitable for running ms-dos and microsoft windows applications."
A. Try this first:

1. Go to this link and follow the instructions.
2. If following the instructions in the above link does not solve the problem, try this link next.

Q. I downloaded the demo version, then ordered the full version and installed it, but it still says Demo. How do I activate the full version?
A. If you installed over the Demo, you'll need to add your registration key into the program (under Help, Add Registration Key). Just send us a quick email with your order number to help@reunionplanner.com and we'll send you the key.

Q. How do I import data from Excel or a comma-delimited text file?
A. Please follow these directions:

1. In Excel, make sure your columns have data in the correct order (press F1 for Help while in the Import screen and it will tell you the correct order) or click (or right-click) here to get a sample Excel file as a template (erase the header and sample rows after adding your data). Leave any columns blank where no data exists (look at the Alumni Information Screen using the Demo Reunion to match up the Excel Columns with the fields on the screen).
2. Make sure any phone numbers have the dashes (hyphens) excluded. (Hint: Highlight each phone column and click Edit, Replace. Put a dash in the Find What: field and nothing in the Replace With: field, then click Replace All)
3. If copying data from another Excel sheet, make sure your city, state and zip columns are combined into a single column. Use the formula: Trim(A1)&", "&A2&" "&A3 -- where A1 is the city column, A2 is state, A3 is zip.
4. From Excel, click on File, Save As and change Files of Type: to CSV (Comma Delimited format file) and name it "import.txt" (Note: you MUST include the quotes)
5. Close this file in Excel (File, Close) and say Yes to save it in that format (it'll make you save again). Go into the Reunion Planner, and either create a new reunion (File, New) or make sure the one you want to import into is open (File, Open)
6. Go into the Import screen (File, Import)
7. Leave the first box checked (Import Names and Addresses from a Text File
8. Find the file import.txt and hit Ok
9. When it's done, click on the Data button and check your data

Q. I'm trying to run the Backup and get a message similar to "Error copying file ALUMNI.DBF". What's wrong?
A. It's possible that your data has grown larger than the space on your floppy disk or that there was something on your floppy disk previously. Try erasing everything on your diskette first, then running the Backup again. If it's still a problem, you'll have to use PKZip or WinZip to compress your data files (which are in the folder c:\Program Files\Reunion Planner\Data\[your reunion name], by default), then copy the Zip file to a floppy disk using Windows Explorer. In any case, Keep Backing Up!

Q. I'd like to transfer the program from one computer to another. What's the best way to transfer the program and all data?
A. Follow these steps:

1. Backup your data just to be safe. See the program's Help for instructions.
2. Install the program using your CD to the new computer in the same folder as on the original computer (e.g. C:\Program Files\Reunion Planner)
3. Install the latest patch from http://www.reunionplanner.com/software/downloads.cfm
4. (Note: See step 5 if you're unsure how to follow this step) From your original computer, using PKZip or WinZip, create a zip file containing the C:\Program Files\Reunion Planner\Data folder and all sub-folders, then unzip the file on your new computer in the Data folder (so that it creates all the original sub-folders)
5. If you are unsure how to create a Zip file, then using Windows Explorer, browse your original computer in the C:\Program Files\Reunion Planner\Data folder and write down each sub-folder name. Then, on your new computer, create each sub-folder in the same place. Then copy all files from each Data sub-folder on the original computer to a diskette or CD, then to the corresponding folder on the new computer.
6. Copy 2 files from your main program folder (C:\Program Files\Reunion Planner) on your original computer called RPMAIN.DBF and RPMAIN.CDX and overwrite the corresponding files on your new computer
7. That's it !

Q. I just installed The Reunion Planner software and I get a General Protection Fault in module MACXW4.DRV. What can I do?
A. This is a video driver problem that can usually be solved by downloading the latest drivers from http://support.atitech.ca/drivers/index.html.

As a temporary work-around, you can also try to reduce your video graphics acceleration setting:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
   
2. Click the Performance tab, and then click Graphics.
3. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider to one notch from the left (the Basic accelerator functions setting).
4. Click OK, and then click Close.
5. Click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer.

Q. Why when I'm printing labels that are supposed to be 2 or 3 across, it's only printing 1 or 2 across?
A. Some printers' margin settings are a bit too large for the standard label size. Try using the Margin settings at the bottom of the Label Form and reduce the left and right margins until all columns will fit.

Q. Why can't it find the help file when I click the help icon in the program group?
A. It was necessary to change the name of the help file at the last minute. When you click on it, a screen will appear saying Windows is searching for it. Either click the Browse button on that screen and choose "rpw_man.hlp" or wait and Windows will find the file itself. Just say Yes when it asks to accept the nearest match. From then on, it won't ask again.

Q. When I put the CD in my computer, why doesn't the install program come up?
A. On some computers, the AutoRun feature is turned off. Just click on Start, Run, then put in D:\SETUP and hit Ok (if your CD Drive is something other than D, put in the appropriate letter).

Q. How do I import data from a previous Reunion Planner program?
A. First, create a new (blank) reunion, filling in all the necessary fields (i.e. Reunion Name, Location, etc.). Then, go to File, Import and select the items you wish to import. After hitting Ok, you will be able to select the file(s) where your old data file is (e.g. RP101GST.DBF). Follow the directions to continue importing.

Q. How do I export data to Excel, Word or other programs?
A. Select the report whose data you wish to export and print it to the screen. While it's displayed on the screen, click on the little export (envelope) button at the top of the screen, then choose the export format.

Q. What if I want to narrow down my alumni list for reports, but the item I want to narrow them down by isn't on the alumni entry screen?
A. On the alumni entry screen, there is a field called Misc. This is where you can put any information you wish (military unit, graduation class -- i.e. summer or winter, etc.). Then when you run reports, you can narrow down the list based on that field.

Q. I installed the version 3.5 CD and am trying to print Name Tags. I get a message saying ERROR114: Report not Found.
A. This is a known issue. Please download the latest patch and the problem will be resolved.

Q. I'm running Windows NT and I get an error when I try to start the program (EReadError... Metafile is not valid). What is wrong?
A. There is a issue with some NT configurations loading the startup image in the program. We have a patch you can apply that solves the problem.

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