Help! My workspace makes QCharts crash when I open it!!!
Ack!
What to do?

Ok - we've all been there. You launch QCharts to a blank workspace (like you're always supposed to do) and then, once the status bar lights go all green - you open your main workspace....and QCharts bombs - absolutely crashes and then closes. So you mutter some choice words and close the Data Manager and launch QCharts again - and get the same results. Ugh... Now what?

There's a possibility that the workspace you are trying to open may be corrupted.

First, try this:

- Close QCharts and the Data Manager out. Make sure they are shut down. Then, re-launch QCharts normally, which means launching to a blank workspace on startup. So QCharts is up, and then, instead of trying to open your workspace, try and open another one - maybe even one of the ones that installs with QCharts like "Buffett Watch" or "Dow Industrials". Do they open? I'll bet they probably do. If they do, then the other workspace you were trying to open is corrupted.

If that's the case, do this:

- First off, make certain you can see the file extensions on your computer.

Do this:

In Windows XP

In Windows Vista

- Open "My Computer" - Double click the C drive so it opens - Click the "Tools" menu, then "Folder Options" at the bottom. - Click the "View" tab inside of the Folder Options dialog box. - Look under the section called "Hidden Files and Folders" and make the radio button be on "Show hidden files and folders". - Then look just below that and take the checkmark OFF of "Hide extensions for known file types" - Then click the "Apply to All Folders" button at the top and answer "Yes" to the popup that results. - Then click "Apply" (lower RH corner) and click "OK" to close this dialog box. - That will take you back to the C drive window which you can leave open to do the next step in this procedure (cont'd below this table).

- Open "Computer" - click "Start" and it's on the RH menu. - Double click the C drive so it opens - Click the "Organize" button, then "Folder and Search Options" in the lower part of that menu. - Click the "View" tab inside of the Folder Options dialog box. - Look under the section called "Hidden Files and Folders" and make the radio button be on "Show hidden files and folders". - Then look just below that and take the checkmark OFF of "Hide extensions for known file types" - Then click the "Apply to Folders" button at the top and answer "Yes" to the popup that results. - Then click "Apply" (lower RH corner) and click "OK" to close this dialog box. - That will take you back to the C drive window which you can leave open to do the next step in this procedure (cont'd below this table).

- Navigate to the folder that has your bad workspace in it. The default folder for storing workspaces is C:\Program Files\QCharts\Workspaces\. But you may have your own folder that you store your workspaces in - if so - go to that folder.

(obviously from here on out you won't see the "" marks on your computer.)

- Now, find the bad workspace. For this example, we'll use a pretend file called "badbadworkspace.qcw". When you find that file, make certain that you have a filed called "badbadworkspace.qcw-bak" - it'll probably be right next to it. This "-bak" is a backup file that is automatically created by QCharts.

- Right click on "badbadworkspace.qcw" and select "Rename" from the menu and put your cursor just past the "w" in the "qcw" extension. You can press the right arrow key on your keyboard to do that if you want. Backspace three times to erase the letters "qcw". Then type in the letters "old" and push Enter to finish renaming the file.

Turn your attention to the backup file - the one with the -bak on the end of the filename.

- Now right click on the file "badbadworkspace.qcw-bak" and select "Rename" from the menu and put the cursor just past the "k" in "bak" and backspace over the "-bak" so the filename just reads: "badbadworkspace.qcw". This backup file now becomes a full fledged QCharts workspace file that can now be opened since the program will recognize the qcw extension.

Now go launch QCharts (to a blank workspace.....right?) and then once it's up and running with all green status lights (except maybe MktDepth) try and open the newly renamed workspace. It'll probably open. If it doesn't, email in to tech support at qqctech@mail.esignal.com or call 510-785-1254 to get help.