V9 and Windows 7

[Bonjour]

Hi,

Is anyone having problems running Catalog V9.0.5 in Windows 7?

I have upgraded from 8.0.5 in XP to V9 in Windows 7 and seem to be experiencing all sorts of problems. I have a new laptop with 320GB so it is not bogged down with loads of programs, but my actinic has crashed 6 times in 5 weeks and always after editing products.

Also when editing, it is very slow after hitting the 'apply' button before it takes it and I can move on.

I sometimes jams when uploading the site and sometimes takes several uploads for changes to take, such as stock.

It is also slow to open as well and some of my script changes which worked fine in V8 are not working properly in V9 although they all look correct and I have tried re-applying.

Just wondered if others have had the same experiences or whether it could be other things causing these problems, not that I have a clue as to what it could be

Thanks

Hx

[Duncan Rounding]

v905 works fine in W7 so unless you are having security issues you can rule that out.

It is much likely that you have a database issue or that some off-site code is slowing down the page preview. Try 'block'ing any scripts that are off-site when in preview such as AddThis or Trust Logos etc.

Also you say that Actinic crashes in W7 - does a dmp file get created or does it just pause and say not responding for a long time before W7 refreshes the application again?

If a dmp file is created I would contact Actinic support and get your database checked.

[Bonjour]

Hi Duncan,

Thanks for feedback.

Actinic have looked at the database and cannot replicate any problems, although I feel it is a DB problem and yes I do get dmp files each time and have tried to send to support, but each time I have ever sent a dmp file I've had no feedback so I've sort of given up sending them, even though i do pay for cover!

I may try sending my DB again as it is not working right. I blocked all the external links before in V8, but will double check that they have taken in the upgrade.

Thanks

Hx

[software4ed]

I use 7 and 9.0.2 without problems. That said, I'd be happy with only 6 crashes in 5 weeks. I link 700 products to an excel database and it often crashes or looses the link. A restart is usually all that is required.

However, I don't suffer the problems with stock updates or script errors, but then again I haven't needed to change scripts and stock changes apply through the excel link.

Most common problems occur when my long description field contains a hidden control character or exceeds 256 characters.

[Bonjour]

I do have a lot of products.

Are any of your customers experiencing timeouts when trying to pay?

This has only happened since upgrading too and I've experienced it myself when testing.

It's happened both in HSBC and Paypal and I have lost customers because of it, they have gone elsewhere and purchased no problem on another site.

HSBC said they use a different payment gateway than others and it's the browser settings that need changing, but customers have had this in paypal as well, although it does seem to happen more often in HSBC.

Problem it doesnt matter who you talk to, Actinic, your hosting or the PSPs they all pass the buck and it never gets resolved and you end up living with abandoned carts all over the shop!

Hx

[software4ed]

How did you upgrade your operating system? Do you do a clean install or did you upgrade and then use the tool that Windows provide to migrate data?

I had all sorts of problems when I tried to migrate settings. A clean install and a reloading of all software gave me a stable windows 7.

That said, it sounds as if you have problems with both PC and host. Actinic is not a particularly power hungry program and as it worked fine before the upgrade I think it may not be the culprit.

Timeouts would appear to me to be a hosting problem. I tried HSBC once and gave up because of the complexity of their PSP set-up. I never had timeouts with PayPal. I use Actinc Payments now.

[Bonjour]

hi,

I installed V9 on my new laptop and then took a snapshot off the old one and imported it to V9. I wondered if it was the change from Xp v8 to W7 v9 but Actinic say not. I didn't use any migration thingy between computers for anything.

Anyway I am seriously considering changing from HSBC to some other PSP, but not sure which is best aa I'm sure they all have their quirks. The only thing that put me off Actinic payments is that it is an unknown to most people, at least they have all heard of the major banks and can trust them (tongue in cheek).

Is it still the case that you cannot personalise the payment page to make it just look like your site rather than say Actinic? If you can now change it in Catalog then I will defo give it a serious look.

Hx

PS if anyone is getting a lot of abandoned carts with HSBC you may find it's because HSBC don't know how to set the Verified by Visa up properly and have missed the 'no thanks' option off so customers cannot opt out. This is a particular pain if a customer uses a card that is not yet allowed to be registered as they cannot get out of that screen. HSBC business cards are an example of cards that cannot be registered! If you need help I know a man at V by V who can!

[saucysal]

3D Secure

Hello Helen. Customers should not be allowed to opt out of the Verified by Visa (3D Secure) part of the payment process, unless you have set your settings with the gateway to allow it in certain cases; otherwise it defeats the purpose of its existence. With our gateway (SagePay) we can set the settings to allow cards that are not part of the scheme, so they go straight through that part. I suspect you would have the same option with the HSBC gateway.

We use HSBC as our merchant provider and SagePay as the gateway.

Sarah

[Bonjour]

Problem is some customers are so impatient they will abandon rather than register, but also if they forget their details as I did once, there is no way out unless you can select the 'no thanks' or 'exit' button. The error messages are pretty vague and don't explain the error, so you could keep trying without knowing why it won't take it.

Yes you're right, there is supposed to be an option to allow you to bypass for those cards not allowed, but HSBC don't know how to set it up right, or rather they haven't on my site nor on 2 other sites I have tried to purchase from.

When I rang HSBC they passed me round the houses for an hour not knowing what to do with me, and finally told me to ring V by V. A very nice man there explained to me that they had not set it up correctly. I still don't have a contact in HSBC who knows about this and have been directing emails to them via the V by V man and finally got the no thanks button, but not the other part working.

As I understand it from reading some small print, if a customer chooses to opt out, then it is at their risk and they are not given visa protection, so the merchant is covered if there was a chargeback claim, but not sure how this works in practice.

If I can keep my HSBC merchant account I will look at others for sure. How's Sagepay been for you? Wasn't this called something else?

Hx

[saucysal]

SagePay

It used to be called Protx. It is one of the most well-known payment gateways, which makes it better as people are familiar with it and possibly trust it more.

We have customers with timeout problems, but we do not know whether this is the fault of SagePay or the customer's system/internet connection/settings.

We have a number of customers, though a tiny proportion of the total, contact us saying they are having some kind of problem at some point so can they place the order by 'phone instead. We do not accept this. Firstly, all our payments go through the same SagePay system, and secondly, they may be just trying to skip the anti-fraud and security stuff, defeating the purpose.

We have in general been very happy with the SagePay system. Most problems customers have are their own doing, like putting a comma in their email address, omitting entering something in the postcode field, mis-typing their details, not clicking the "forgot password" if they have forgotten their password, etc, etc.

[saucysal]

Sage Pay page 2

We opt to have all payments go through the 3D Secure system other than those whose cards are not part of the scheme. This way we are covered - we cannot receive Chargebacks other than the customer saying that they didn't receive the goods.

Another benefit is the Third Man, where customers are checked for likelihood of fraud, with each aspect given a fraud score. With those that come up in red (high risk) we check the details. Often it is because their delivery address is high risk, multiple cards and multiple users, and we check the delivery address and find that it is RBS (very funny), for example. Where the customer's home address and/or telephone number (or delivery address if residential) comes up with a high risk of fraud, we make sure that we despatch the goods requiring the signature of the addressee (no safeplace, no neighbour).

Sarah