Tutorial: How to install and start Abacus SE for MS Word 97-2007.


1. Download the Abacus installation program from our web site at:
http://www.theabacus.biz/AbacusSEexe.zip

2. After the file downloads to your computer, double click on it to unzip it, 
then double click again to start it (or "Open" it); and click on the "Install" 
button. The Abacus SE files will be copied to their 
correct locations and an Abacus folder will be created ("C:\Abacus").

3. After the installation program runs, you should get a message telling you 
that either:
a) the installation was successful, or
b) the installation was not successful, what went wrong, and what to do.

4. If the Abacus SE installation is unsuccessful (eg, if you get installation 
error 12), check first to see if the Abacus SE program was installed on your 
computer. Sometimes the program is installed, but the program group folder and 
icons are not successfully created. If this is the case, the program will work 
fine and you can go ahead and use it.

HOW TO TELL IF THIS IS THE CASE:
Using Windows Explorer or My Computer (or any other file management program, 
including the DOS or C: prompt), look to see if the Abacus folder was created. 
It is located at "c:\abacus". Within this folder/directory you will find a file 
named "Abacus.exe". (It may appear as just "Abacus", depending on how your 
computer is configured.) This is the main Abacus SE program. It's icon is the 
letter "A" colored blue, white and orange.

5. Once you locate the Abacus.exe program file, double click on it to start 
Abacus SE. If it starts, then your installation is successful. If you want, you 
can go ahead and create an icon on your desktop to start Abacus SE.

[6. To create a desktop icon, RIGHT click anywhere on the desktop where it is 
blank, ie, where there is not already an icon or program. This opens the desktop 
menu. Click on "New" and then on "Shortcut". Where it says "Type the location of 
the item", type in:
c:\abacus\abacus.exe
and then click on "Next". On the following screen where it says "Type a name for 
this shortcut" enter:
Abacus SE
and then click on "Finish".
That should do it!]

7. Once Abacus SE starts, you can purchase a license which will convert your 
trial version to the full featured version. To do this, click on "Help->About" 
on the menu bar. After buying your license, we will send you an unlock code via 
email. Enter this code in the About box where it says "Enter Unlock Code", and 
you're all set.

8. With Abacus SE started and open on your desktop, you will notice that the 
main screen can be divided into 4 quadrants:

- UPPER LEFT:
Here you will identify the drive and directory (folder) that holds your 
documents to be counted. The first drop down box should initially say something 
like "Local Drive C:", but you can open this box and change it. Next to this box 
is the document type selector. It should say "doc", which is the default file 
extension for MS Word documents. However you can change it to whatever you want.
Beneath these two dropdown boxes is the directory selection box. Just double 
click your way to the name of the directory that holds your documents to be 
counted.

- LOWER LEFT:
Once you have navigated to the directory that holds your documents (see above), 
the document names will appear in this box. If you double click on a document, 
it will appear in the lower RIGHT part of the screen, which is the listing of 
documents to actually be counted (see below).

- LOWER RIGHT:
This part of the screen, entitled "Files to Count", is a listing of the 
documents that Abacus SE is now ready to count for you. Click on the "Count" 
button to start the counting process. As the documents are counted, the results 
are written to the Batch screen, which you can view by clicking the "View Batch" 
button along the bottom of the main screen. If you have elected to have the 
results written to the log file (see below), you can view the log file by 
clicking on the "View Log" button.

- UPPER RIGHT:
In this part of the main screen you select a counting method, such as counting 
gross lines or counting character lines (or words or pages). Within these 
counting methods you have more options, which you can access by clicking on the 
"Options" button.
You can also save all of the current setting, such as the selected default 
directory and counting method, by clicking on the "Save Settings" button.

9. There are multiple options available on the Options screen, including...
- If you are counting gross lines, see the upper left part of this screen. If 
you are counting character lines, see the upper right part of this screen.
- In the middle left part of this screen, select your charge in cents per line. 
Note that this needs to be cents per line, not dollars per line. If you charge 9 
cents per line, enter "9" and NOT ".09".
- If you want to add your counts to the log file as the count is being done, be 
sure to check the option to "Automatically add my line counts to the log file" 
in the log and invoice section of the Options screen. If you don't select this 
option, you can use the "View Batch" screen to add your current batch of counts 
to the log file.

If you need more help, start Abacus SE and click on "Help->Contents" to open the 
Help file.

Finally, we can be reached at:
support@theabacus.biz
If you need our help, please include a detailed description of your problem, 
your Windows and Word versions, and your Abacus SE build number (which you can 
get by starting Abacus SE and clicking on "Help->About").

- Bill
bill@theabacus.biz
Abacus Medical Systems