Manual  >  Overview and Installation  >  Installation

Installing and Upgrading N1MM Logger

1. First-Time Installation Instructions

Not your first time?

These instructions apply both for first-time users and for users who are jumping from one base version to another. That is, if you previously installed Version 9.x.x (or earlier) and want now to update to Version 10.x.x, then you need to go through this process with the Version 10 Base Install before you install the latest and greatest. In particular, this is needed to update the files used for recording and playback of .wav files.

Installing under Vista or Windows 7

By design, version 10's default installation location is C:\N1MM Logger. If you are installing the program under Windows Vista or Windows 7, and wish to place it in the Program Files directory, you will need to take some special steps. This is because these operating systems do not approve of writing to the Program Files directory, which is how N1MM Logger works. You have three choices:

• Run the Base Install, the N1MM Logger program itself and any subsequent upgrades the first time as Administrator. If you have not set up individual user accounts on your computer (if you do not have to log in as a particular user) then both operating systems default to running as Administrator. If you have individual user accounts, then you will need to right-click on the program icon, and select "Run as Administrator." After you have done this once for each upgrade, it is not required in normal operation.
• Log in to Windows as Administrator whenever you install or run N1MM Logger. If your PC has USER or OWNER Icons upon startup and NO ADMINISTRATOR Icon, you need to enable the ADMINISTRATOR account in order to run the N1MM Logger program.
  • Open the command prompt with Administrative privileges by opening the Start Menu, and typing cmd in the search box, and then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter or click the Start orb, All Programs, Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator. Type the following in the command prompt and press Enter: net user administrator /active:yes . Restart your computer and login as Administrator. Note: You might want to set a password for the administrator's account for at least a little protection.
• Disable the operating system feature that normally prevents writing to the program folder. This is called User Access Control (UAC), and disabling it is not recommended.

Download the Base Install here. Run the Base Installer

Full = Base

Wherever you see the terms Base Install or Base Installer and Full Install or Full Installer anywhere in this manual, they are referring to the same things. With Version 10.0.0, for the first time the Base Install will not run by itself, but rather must be immediately updated to a later incremenetal version (such as 10.2.5, for example). For that reason some felt it was no longer correct to call it a "Full" Install. That led to the term being changed in some places but not yet in others. Please bear with us!

Next, you will be asked to agree to a straightforward, freeware license.

Next, you will be given a choice of files to install, which looks like this.

Unless you have a good reason not to, just go ahead and leave everything checked. If you plan to use parallel port(s) for CW, PTT, or SO2R control, and you are running a 32-bit operating system, be sure to install the DLPORTIO port driver.

In the next screen, note that the default location for installation of the program is C:\N1MM Logger. This is new, and was done in order to work around operating system restrictions that caused problems for users with Vista or Windows 7. If you have previously installed N1MM Logger, for instance in C:\Program Files, the default location will not be used; instead, the last previous program directory will appear here.

When you click Install, the Full Installer will

• Install all needed files on your computer to run N1MM logger
• Update your system files where needed

You will find that certain parts of the Full Installer installation routine take quite a long time. The installation program has not failed, so just let it run to completion. Subsequent updates are orders of magnitude faster.

Do Not Overwrite Newer System Files

When running the Full Installer your computer may report that certain system files are already installed on your system and are newer than the ones you are trying to install. It asks if you want to replace a newer, existing file with an older file in the Full Installer. Select 'No'. You do not want to overwrite newer system files.

After the installation process is complete, if you have opted to install DLPORTIO, you will be invited to install it as a separate process. just follow the on-screen instructions.

The first time you try to run the Full Install version of the program, you will be prompted to update to the latest version.

Where is the program installed?

For version 9 and before, the default installation location was in C:\Program Files\N1MM Logger. Because this caused inconvenience for users of Vista and Windows 7, beginning with Version 10, the default location is C:\N1MM Logger.

If you are making a first-time installation of the Version 10 Base Install, the installer will automatically choose this location. Thereafter, the update installer should point to the same place. However, some experienced users have chosen to continue to install to Program Files, and a few of them have reported that the update installer insists on pointing to C:\ regardless. As you can imagine, putting the Base Install in one place and updates in another can cause all sorts of problems. It's worth a double-check.

Click the button at the bottom of the window to go to the web page, and download the latest version you find there. Run the version installer, and follow its simple steps to get fully up to date. Each update will take literally 2 minutes to install.

If you are installing N1MM Logger on a computer that does not have internet access, you will need to download the latest version from a computer that has internet access. This procedure is described in the section "Subsequent Install Instructions / Upgrading to a New Program Version". After downloading the latest version, copy and install it on the non-internet computer.

2. Using the Program the First Time

• The first thing to do after starting the program is setting up the station information
  • This can be done in the 'Change Your Station data' dialog
  • The first time the program starts automatically with this dialog
  • This dialog can also be found under >Config >Change Your Station Data
• After that configure the radio and packet and/or telnet connection
  • Choose >Config >Configure ports, Telnet Address, Other
• The packet buttons and main window function buttons can be changed
  • See the Config menu
• Alt+H is help
• Space is the preferred Tab character (see Help)
• Read the Quick Start Guide
• Read the Manual, particularly the following key sections.
  • Quick Tour
  • Setting up the Program
  • Entry Window
  • Key Assignments
  • Basic Functions
  • Key Assignments Short List
    • This one should be printed and placed near the radio

3. Subsequent Install Instructions / Upgrading to a New Program Version

An e-mail will be send out periodically to announce new versions (updates) of the program to the Yahoo reflector members.

File Naming Conventions

The Base Install for each year is named: N1MM-Fullinstaller.exe. The update files will be named: N1MM-newexe with a suffix that denotes the date. The annual release of the Full Installer will be given this name and replace the previous one.

• Download only the N1MM-newexeVx.x.xxx upgrade file (Example: N1MM-newexeV9.12.0.exe is the first update of December 2009). Use the link contained in the announcement e-mail to the Yahoo group, or open this web page and select the update you want
  • This file contains the latest .exes and other necessary files
  • Run this file and let it copy all the program files into the N1MM Logger program directory, replacing any old versions.
  • When a new cty.dat file is added to the program directory, import it by selecting >Tools >Import country list from downloaded file
  • The version number Vx.x.x is also shown in the description of the file
  • Only the most recent update file is necessary, not all updates in between...

Update philosophy

Many of us are used to always being "one version behind" in our software use, in order to avoid bugs that may have been introduced in the latest version. But because N1MM Logger is updated so frequently (typically, at least 50 updates per year), the opposite is true. You are always encouraged to use the latest version — in general, bug reports and feature requests should always be made after checking to make sure the latest version does not already include the bug fix or feature that you want.

4. Uninstalling the Program

If you are thinking of uninstalling and reinstalling the program in order to fix a problem you have encountered, you should know that this is rarely the solution. Try looking at the Troubleshooting section before you do that.

However ... if you want to uninstall N1MM Logger entirely, including any registry entries, the best way is to navigate to the program directory and find the program cleverly titled UninstallN1MM.exe. Run the uninstaller and follow any prompts you see.