We run virtual machines to test our POS Software on different OS platforms. After some recent Windows updates on my Vista SP1 system, some of my Virtual Machines started giving an error upon starting stating 'Virtual PC Could Not Open the Virtual Machine Network Services'.

I found several solutions online, but none worked in my case. What worked in my case was to do the following...

1. Open the Settings for the VM with the error
2. Select the 'Networking' entry
3. Change all the adapters (I only had 1) to 'Not Connected' (make note of the assigned entry)
4. Change the adapter(s) back to their original entries
5. Select OK to close the settings window
6. Start the VM

If this did not resolve the issue for you, try the following...

1) Reinstall Virtual PC - check to see if issue is resolved.

2) Disable/Remove and Enable/Add 'Virtual Machine Network Services...

1. Right Click on 'My Network Places' in the Start Menu and select Properties or Open
2. Right Click on your network connection and select Properties
3. Uncheck the entry for 'Virtual Machine Network Services' and select OK
4. Right Click on your network connection and select Properties
5. check the entry for 'Virtual Machine Network Services' and select OK

Note if 'Virtual Machine Network Services' is no longer listed, you will need to 'install' it by Selecting Install - > Services -> Virtual Machine Network Services

We recently purchased a HP TX2500 Tablet PC (laptop) to use with our POS Software for demo's, tradeshows, etc and prior to the laptop being 1 week old, the keyboard stopped working. The touch screen and the touch pad both worked, so we were able to 'use' the laptop and access the menus, but the keyboard function was not restored even after removing and re-installing the drivers.

To resolve the issue, do the following

1. Put the laptop in Tablet Mode by rotating the screen away from the keyboard
2. Reboot the computer
3. While the laptop is rebooting, turn the screen back around to 'normal' mode'

I encountered the above error when installing Ubuntu 8.04.1 Desktop version on a Windows Vista Ultimate host PC using Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. To complete the install, I had to do the following...

• From the main CD menu, press F4-Modes
• Select Safe Graphics Mode
• Press F6-Other Options
• The boot options line will read 'Boot Options eed boot=casper only-ubiquity initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash --'. Change this to be 'Boot Options eed boot=casper only-ubiquity initrd=/casper/initrd.gz vga=791 noreplace-paravirt -'.

Note - the only change that is required is the nonreplace-paravirt option, but the vga=791 entry will allow faster loading due to not having to scan graphic modes.

Another option is to use the Open Source VirtualBox which can be downloaded at VirtualBox.org. When using this virutalization program, which runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris, I did not have to use any parameters or optional settings.

Excel can be a bit too 'helpful' at times and once such case is with long numbers. If you have a number in Excel longer than 14 digits, Excel will display the number in Scientific Notation. To 'fix' this, you can format the cells as Numeric with 0 decimal places, but, what if you need the cells to be formated as Text? Again Excel tries to be helpful and puts the Scientific Notation back in the cells. Not what is desired.

If you only have a few row of values, you can press F2 to enter edit mode and then press ENTER to exit edit mode and the text is formated correct. This, however, is not a desirable way when you have many rows of text which needs to be 'fixed'.

To 'fix' many rows, use the Macro feature of Excel to convert the values to uppercase. Yes, I know it sounds strange to convert numbers to uppercase, but this works. To create the macro do the following (based on Excel 2003)...

On the Menu go to Tools -> Macro -> Visual Basic Editor

This will open a new application.

Right Click on the VBAProject(Book1) entry in the Left Pane. Where Book1 is the name of you Excel file, so the entry may be worded slightly different.

Select Insert -> Module

In the right side, you will notice two drop down lists at the top with the labels '(General)' and '(Declarations)'. Copy the text below into the right side pane...

--- Copy Text below this line ---

Sub ConvertToUpperCase()

' Macro to convert text in cell to uppercase
' change the value in the 'Range' entry to the desired range of cells

    Range("A1:A2200").Select

    For Each cellObject In Selection
        With cellObject
            .Formula = StrConv(cellObject, vbUpperCase)
        End With
    Next

End Sub

--- Do not copy This line ---

Once the above is copied into the editor and the 'range' value (you can change this later if needed) is correct, close the editor. If prompted to save the changes select Yes.

To run the Macro, go to Tools -> Macro -> Macros on the menu. Select the 'ConverToUpperCase' macro and select Run

Morton Golf, the leader in golf merchandising at public golf facilities in the United States, has implemented ProphetLine’s Point of Sale(POS) Retail Management Software in all of its Sacramento facilities. ProphetLine, a national retail technology solution provider and four-time Microsoft Developer of the Year award winner, was selected to bring standardization and control to Morton Golf’s retail operations.

ProphetLine for Windows POS Software, replaced existing retail systems at Haggin Oaks, Bing Maloney and Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Complexes. The implementation was started in 2006. Since then an advanced retail stock ledger, open to buy planning system and many other features to streamline the purchasing and receiving process have been added. ProphetLine will continue to work with Morton Golf to provide enhancements designed to save time and increase productivity as developments occur.

“ProphetLine’s continued customer support and updates keep our ever-changing software requirements in line,” says Terry Daubert, President Morton Golf. “We have found ProphetLine to be very good at “personalizing” each application with each location. Each facility usually has a different twist, and that’s where ProphetLine shines.”

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Finding good advice when purchasing Retail POS Software can be often be like talking to a used car salesman. It can sound almost too good to be true. Retail Software Advice aims to assist in answering questions from a neutral view point and give the consumer the information needed to make a more informed decision.

Here is a summarized list of their '10 Best Practices for Selecting Retail POS Software' article. For more detail and/or to read the entire article, click here.

1. Get management involved.
2. Determine your needs.
3. Get the Right Package for your industry.
4. Buy for your size and growth plans.
5. Focus on ease-of-use.
6. Assess support and upgrades.
7. Demand accountability.
8. Consider vendor viability.
9. Be smart about your budget.
10. Plan your hardware needs.