Windows 7 and RoboHelp 7 or 8

[karen_impro]

I am using Windows 7 with RoboHelp 7 and it seems to work ok until I have to add something to my project which takes a very long time and half of which RoboHelp forces itself to close and not run properly.  Does anyone know if RoboHelp 8 would solve any of these occurances or not?  I have verified that all updates for RoboHelp 7 are installed.

[RoboColum_n_]

I haven't tried running RH8 under Windows 7 but as even that RH version was released before Windows 7 I'd expect there to be issues with it. It's a bit like buying a Porche and installing a Ford Escot engine in it and expecting it to work 100%.It won't!

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Read the RoboColum(n) for a tips,  tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.

[Peter Grainge]

Sorry to contradict but RH8 in a basic test did seem to run without any problems and I know someone else found the same with a bit more testing. That doesn't mean everything will be perfect as it hasn't been tested to the limits and obviously you will be on your own if something does break as it is not Adobe approved for Windows 7.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[Guy_Lapierre-NQknda]

It works fine for me in Windows 7. I've been using it since the beta. I am currently running it on the RTM version. The only thing it doesn't do is support the pin to taskbar option which hopefully it will at some point.

[Guest]

Hello Guy,

Are you using RH7 or RH8 in Windows 7?

I am using RH7 and the Tech Comm Suite 1 in Vista (successfully) and considering upgrading to Windows 7 but am a bit reluctant to do so.

[Guy_Lapierre-NQknda]

I am using RH8 in Windows 7 x64. I came from RH5 previous so I skipped a few versions.

[johndaigle]

Here's a summary of my successful experience with Win 7 and the Adobe family. I used Thankgiving holidays to give it a go.

This install was a Windows 7 Professional upgrade but I used the "clean install" option on a formerly XP Pro OS (32-bit). For this reason, I made sure to "deactivate" all my Adobe apps before the Win 7 install. I also did a full backup (using the free Macrium Reflector app to create an image).

I then installed Adobe TCS 2 (RoboHelp, FrameMaker, Captivate and Acrobat Pro Extended), CS 4 Master Collection (PhotoShop, Premiere Pro, Flash, Soundbooth, After Effects, InDesign, Illustrator - the whole 9 yards.) Re-activation went just fine. I then made sure to apply the RoboHelp 8.0.1 and 8.0.2 updates (FrameMaker and Captivate as well via Adobe Update Manager)

http://www.adobe.com/support/robohelp/downloads.html

Next, I wanted to install both RoboHelp Server 8 and RoboSource Control 3.1. To prepare for that, I installed the free version of MS SQL Express 2008, The Java DK and JVM, Apache Tomcat web server. The only hiccup was that Tomcat required a copy/paste of msvcr71.dll to the windows\system32 folder. Once I did that, Tomcat started right up.

That went smoothly so then I installed RoboHelp Server 8 which rides atop the Tomcat Web Server. Joy on the first try (thanks to Adobe, this is a far cry from the old eHelp RoboEngine days).

It was then time to try RoboSource Control 3.1 (using SQL Express as the database). Checking project files in and out works great.

As my first RoboHelp test, I created five WebHelp Pro projects plus a Master Project and publish this merged system to the RoboHelp Server 8. It worked, first time.

The whole thing (including the Adobe apps) took about 6 hours because I needed to find a Windows 7 graphics driver for my 3 year old adapter.

Again, everything is stable and working fine. All apps are opening and performing much more quickly than Vista or XP. I especially like the quick reboot of Win 7 even though I have a LOT of server overhead to load on startup.

I have a RoboHelp class to teach tomorrow in Ft. Worth, Texas with my "old" Vista laptop. After that's done, I'll repeat this whole process on the laptop. Vista will be good riddance for sure!

John Daigle

Certified Adobe RoboHelp and Adobe Captivate Instructor

www.showmethedemo.com

@hypertexas

[Peter Grainge]

Randiwrite

I believe that you have to have RH8 and the 801 patch for Windows 7.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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