...TROUBLESHOOTING...

I can't submit material to the Discussion Forum? My submissions don't ever show up.

This is a program set-up issue, not a bug. Here are a few suggestions that may help:

• Contact your local Internet Service Provider and make certain you are using the correct SMTP Server address and port numbers. If these are wrong, your submissions will never make it to the Discussion Forum. It's possible that even if your ISP might tell you an incorrect port number. If the settings they give you fail, call them again (get someone else to help you) and ask for a new set of SMTP server and port settings. If the settings they suggest the second time are the same, try the next step below.
• If you have confirmed that the address and port numbers are correct and your submissions still don't appear in the Discussion Forum, try changing your SMTP server address to: solar.spacew.com and the SMTP Server Port number to 25. This should work for almost everyone.
• Remember that in order to receive new postings that are made to the Discussion Forum (including your own postings), you must either wait until the software auto-fetches a new batch of data (you can determine how often to fetch new batches of data by clicking on the Options tab and setting the "Data Refresh Rate" to something suitable. A value of zero means that the software will never attempt to fetch data itself. OR, you can click on the Refresh button (or Refresh All button) to force the software to fetch the latest Forum Discussions.
• Also remember that you should already be connected to the Internet. The STD Aurora Monitor won't automatically dial out to your Internet Service Provider or hang up when its done. You are expected to do that. Failure to be connected will, of course, prevent your submissions from being sent to the Forum Discussion list and will prevent new submissions (including your own) from being received. So make certain you're on-line first.
• If, after all of this, you still can't get the software to submit to the Forum Discussion list, contact STD@Solar.Spacew.Com for assistance.

When I run the software, it reports the error: "Can't open yellowlight.jpg" or "Can't open greenlight.jpg" or "Can't open redlight.jpg". Then when it's running, the status lights aren't filled in with any colors. What's wrong?

This usually happens when you try to run the software from a newly created short-cut on your main Desktop instead of through the Windows menu system (ex. by clicking on Start, Program Files, STD Aurora Monitor and selecting the STD Aurora Monitor program file). The problem is that the shortcut doesn't contain the correct working directory or "Start in" information. The "Start in" box (which is the working directory) must be set to the same directory where you installed the software. Right-click your mouse on the Desktop short-cut and select Properties. Select the "Short cut" tab and look in the box labelled "Start in:". If it's blank or doesn't point to the same directory where you installed the software (such as: C:\Program Files\Solar Terrestrial Dispatch\STD Aurora Monitor) then type in the path to that folder in the "Start in:" edit box and click OK.

The proper way to create short-cuts on your desktop is to right-click the Start button with your mouse and select Open. Then double-click on Program Files, and STD Aurora Monitor. When you see the STD Aurora Monitor icon, click the right mouse button on the icon and select Copy from the pull-down menu. Next right-click your mouse somewhere on a blank area of your main Desktop and select "Paste Shortcut" from the pulldown menu. This procedure establishes a valid short-cut file on your Desk-top with the "Start in" box appropriately filled in.


The software ran fine for days/weeks. Then one day, it stopped working. I click on the software icon, it then runs the hard-disk, but no windows pop up to indicate that it is running. It's as though the program loads and then exits immediately. What's up?

This problem will most likely appear if you are running the trial version of the STD Aurora Monitor. The non-trial Version 2.0.0.32 of the software contains patches which are supposed to prevent this problem from occurring. If you are running the non-trial version of the software and notice this problem, either upgrade to the most recent release, or if you already have Version 2.0.0.32 (you can tell by clicking on Start, Programs, Windows Explorer, then navigate to the STD Aurora Monitor installation folder and right-click your mouse on the Aurora.exe Application file and select Properties; the version is given under the Version tab of the properties window), then contact STD@Solar.Spacew.Com and notify them of the problem you are having. To resolve the problem, Version 2.0.0.32 of the software is shipped with a utility called reset.exe (click here to download reset.exe if you do not already have it) that, when run, will search for bad or corrupted images that may be causing the software to abort when run. Run this program (use Windows Explorer by double-clicking on the reset.exe application file). Then re-run the STD Aurora Monitor software. It should operate properly. If it doesn't, send us an e-mail immediately.

The reason for this problem is explained below...

Under rare conditions, it is possible for an image from the Internet to be corrupted when downloaded by the software. This might happen, for instance, if you terminate your internet connection while the software is busy downloading an image, or if you prematurely terminate the software. When you next try to run the software, it is unable to load that specific image and may produce a fatal error in the process of trying to load it. If this occurs, the software will terminate, possibly without any notice to you that it has terminated due to an error.

Another possible cause of this type of problem may occur if you install another type of software that inadvertently overwrites one of the dynamic link library (DLL) files that the STD Aurora Monitor relies upon. When installing new software, Windows usually warns that you are about to overwrite a newer DLL file with an older one. If you are presented with such a prompt, make certain you do not allow the installer of that software to overwrite more recent DLL files. Doing so could prevent other software packages like the STD Aurora Monitor from functioning properly (or at all) and may end up producing errors such as application "exception" errors or other fatal errors that inadvertently cause the software to terminate.

End of troubleshooting help.